Finally got he floor painted. looking forward to being able to do a little interior work without getting covered in swill.

 

I'm preparing to weld in a new section of dashboard at the base of the windshield, this one was really just gone.
I spent a bunch of time today stripping out the soft parts of the dash so I can clean up in there and I needed to get the original dash speaker out.
Two questions:

For those who eliminate the dash speaker in favor of stereo, how or what do I do about the vents in the dash where the old speaker was?

Most of the ventilation tubing in the dash fell apart while I was dismantling: Is there a source for this? There seem to be 2 sizes.

 

On my 70 Cutlass it was 2.5"/63mm and 1.5"/38mm. Got some spiral backed Aluminium home ventilation flex pipe that can be expanded to 5 times it's original length - 2 feet of each were enough:

 

The floor pan looks great, nice job!

Cool to see you figured out the pics too

 

One of the repairs that I've put off was the lower windshield support.
I think this is similar to other Olds in construction and I tried to find out if there were repair parts available, even parts that would need to be modified, but came up empty.
So, I ground off the remnants of the lower part and cut back the dashboard to just past the bend where it turned down to the cowl.
I made a template out of heavy paper and got a 2' x 4' of 22ga sheet metal.
The patches had to be made out of two pieces as the overall width is nearly 6 feet.
I rough cut the parts a week ago and finally felt inspired to give this a try today;
I just started learning to weld at the beginning of the Toro project so my talent for joining rusty sheet metal to fresh is minimal.
This was set up as an overlap weld at the top where it meets the dash and with most of the pads and hoses out there was some access to weld the bottom side.
It's not pretty, but I think it will be strong enough to hold the windshield.
It will need some serious grinding as well as another pass of fill weld to smooth it out. it's not really as wavy as it looks in the pic.
As I was tacking in the passenger side patch I noticed there was a lot of smoke in the air, so I opened the garage door for a few minutes. At the time I was welding standing inside the car. It was not till later that I realized that sparks had ignited a bunch of paper towels that were on the ground soaking up power steering fluid.
As usual, I got bagged by the Mrs. on this one. Oh, well.
[IMG][/IMG]

 

Finally got a matched pair of disk brake spindles together, blasted and painted.


[IMG][/IMG]

 

The uppers control arms seem very flimsy compared to the lowers.

I'm using a polyurethane bushing kit and I will be fitting the widest tires that I can stuff in there.

Would any of you care to weigh in on if boxing the UCAs would be useful, necessary, or a waste of time?


Cleaning up the lower A arms and welding the seams.

 

Here is a shot of the upper A-arms I mentioned in my last post.

They seem very wimpy compared to the lowers. Can the stresses imposed on the uppers be that much less?

Would boxing the uppers provide a more stable alignment under dynamic loads?

Any mechanical engineer types out there who would like to comment?

 

My thought for the lower arm being more beefy is because the torsion bar is attached to it. That lower arm is supporting the whole front end weight along with the spring tension of the torsion bar. Considering my 70 Toronado weighed 4500 pounds empty it better be beefy. The upper arm is just making sure the spindle stays upright, hehe.

You must work in a shipyard in Wickford because that floor paint looks suspiciously like marine paint I used back in the day at the Newport Shipyard? Lol
I'm right down the road in Middletown if you ever need a hand or anything I can help with let me know. I'm in the process of restoring my 66 Cutlass.
George

 

Niiiiiice ride, coming together great.

 

67GS, thanks for the encouragement! I don't get as much time to work on the toro as I would like, but I try to keep the project moving.

George, I do work out of the shipyard, but the paint is just a light gray oil base mix. I wish I could find some free paint!

I finally gave in and sent the A arms out to be blasted as I could not face an afternoon with the pathetic pos 10b pumpkin blaster from HF.
They came back friday and on sunday I had some time to finish tacking the bushing shells in and do some final prep before the POR15 goes on.

I decided not to box the uppers as I have not heard any complaints from any of the guys who have hot motors in their toros; I have a spare set I could box later if I need to...

 

Here's a shot of a cleaned up lower:

 

That the reason for tacking in the bushing shells is because I am installing a polyurethane bushing kit that does not come with outer shells.

The manufacturer of the bushings is a little vague about the quality of the surface finish on the inside of the shells.

The bushings come with grease for installation

Can any of you give me some advice on just how sanded / shiny / buffed the inner surface of these should be?

Once I get the A - arms done I have to tackle cleaning up the frame and mounting points, but thats the last of the really dirty parts of the car!

 

It's my understanding that the center bolt bushing is what's moving on a poly bushing, not the bushing in the bore of the arm. When you torque the retaining bolts to spec you are compressing the frame mounts hard against the center bolt bushing which rotates inside the poly bushing. You don't want the whole ploy bushing rotating in it's bore inside the arm.
A stock rubber bushing is bonded to it's sleeve and the center bolt bushing and has limited flex. This is the reason they need to be torqued to spec at ride height so that you don't tear the bushing apart. They will flex with the movement of the arms but only to a point.
I would use a wire wheel to clean up the bore but not to a mirror finish, just remove the rust and scale. Since yours have already been blasted I would leave then like that. Then I would grease them inside and out to avoid any squeaking.

 

Dave nice to see the project moving along

 

Finished up the welding on the A arms and got them coated with POR15






Why grey?

Because I had an unopened can and because when the CV joints start spitting grease it will be nice to be able to see it.

I'll be test assembling the bushings and ball joints next and THEN I need to clean up the frame to mount all the parts

 

Did you use the metal conditioner before applying the POR 15? In my experience, the stuff won't stick well to clean metal.

 

I did not this time as I thought the heavy texture left from the sandblasting would provide plenty of "tooth" for the POR15 to stick to.

I hope it holds up as it would be a MAJOR pita to re-do, unless just spotting in.

David

 

Front end parts laid out for checking and assembly



Found NOS ball joints for the 1970 spindles which take a larger taper bolt than the later years

 

These NOS eccentrics came from Rock auto and are much beefier than the stamped originals

 

Also got the TH425 back from the shop



Rear cover off for a coat of paint. The chain always impresses me.

 

I've never had the rear cover off one of these. Wow, your right about that chain being impressive!

 

Finally dropped the car onto some dollies and slid it over far enough to get the passenger side fender and core support/headlight assembly off.



I'm trying to clean up and paint the frame and firewall in advance of assembling the front suspension and installing the trans and engine.

I noticed that the foam gasket around the heater box perimeter where it bolts to the firewall is sort of decrepit.

How important is this to the function of the heat and A/C?

How hard is it to take the box off the firewall and re-gasket it?

 

When I cleaned up my Toronado Frame I just used a drill and a 4 inch round steel brissel brush. Worked like a charm. It took a few hours every day for about a week or two.After I was finished sanding I cleaned it with a degreaser real good then followed it up with a kit Eastwood sales, it has a gray primer and a can of Extreem Chassis Black in a Super Gloss.I had a buddy of mine spray it with a spray gun for me. I couldnt believe it was the same frame when we finish. The paint is very durable. Its always a good idea to have a extra can for touch ups though. Let me know if I can help you in any way.

 

"How hard is it to take the box off the firewall and re-gasket it? "

It's pretty easy without the fender, you have to remove the entire box but be careful the plastic get some cracks in mine near the screw holes, use butyl for example as a gasket, then you can remove it when you need.

 

saw this in Central Jersey Craigslist

https://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/4812781983.html

 

Thanks for thinking of me Eddie.

I have pretty much everything I need, except for a part of the rear passenger wheel arch.

Hope somebody picks this up.

Your next Project, Eddie?

 

Dont think I didnt think about it lol... however I would need 2 so I could do that 4 wheel drive thing lol.... either a hurst hairy olds (1st choice) or a grant two engine toro lol


It looks good andnif I had the room... but at the rate my current resto is taking and the average life expectancy for a married man, I prolly only have just enough time for the cutlass

 

Got a set of sway bar bushings in.

Anybody know if there was more than one size sway bar used on the Toronados?

The one I have is 1 1/8"

 

Got the chaincase pan back on after a coat of POR.

At the suggestion of Bruce Roe, guru of all things TH425, I left the cork gasket off and used gray permatex.

Next I'll bolt up the diff.

Still cleaning up the firewall and frame.

 

Dave looks great, not sure I I mentioned the por 15 intercoat primer? It goes on when the por 15 is still tacky or if dry needs a scuff with a green pad leaves a great base if you wanted to spray parts other colors etc. It also has some kind of chem bond with the por 15, I also hear you can use an etching primer... just sayin

 

Thanks, Eddie.

I might try that in the future. I know POR needs to be protected from UV or it will discolor, but most of this stuff will be in the shade, so to speak.

I try to use the POR in places where it will make a real difference as opposed to slathering it all over. Its just too expensive to use like that.

For the frame I'll be using a satin oil base Rustoleum mixed out of 1/2 gloss and 1/2 flat. It should last as long as I do!

David

 

Nice Ride! I have one almost as nice!

 

Z,

I wish mine was that far along.

I got up this am thinking about finishing the frame so I can hang the suspension.

Was looking at the firewall and thought I should test out the fresh air blower as it is under the fender when the car is together

The blower came out ok, but the inside was PACKED with mouse nest.

There went my saturday..Took almost everything off the firewall except the brake booster.

The firewall has surface rust, but the inside of the ac and heater boxes were also packed with petrified mice and nests.

 

Those mice are dirty rats. Jeezus and there tinkle is probably corrosive I found a nest and a mouse mummy inside the rocker ! Now there was no rot no holes etc the only way mickey got in was the little factory vent hole he must of squeezed himself like crazy to get in there....

Better to get it out of the way now I guess but I am sorry for your setback

 

Thanks Eddie,

In the end I am glad I did not skip over this. It would be a hell of a lot more work with the front clip on and the motor in.

I think I can pressure test the heater core with a radiator kit I have and send the AC unit out to the guy who does refrigeration for me.

It'll be a few less things to worry about when I do get it all back together..

 

Your right better now when its accessible but looking at that nest gives me the heebee geebees I am getting itchy just lookin at it

 

Mice really gross me out, too. AND can be dangerous.

I've done my Hantavirus rant somewhere else here, I think.

Here is a link to the CDC's info on it.

http://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/

 

Just think how much better you ac/heating system will work now with all that nesting material gone. Looks like the fan for the blower is metal. Im sure with a little sanding with a dremel it will work/look like new,because I dont know if they reproduce the metal ones. I know they went to plastic fans in 71. You are really doing a great job with your restoration.

 

I finished stripping down the firewall today. Rather than re-seal the spot welded upper seam which sits under the seal of the heater box with compound, I welded it up and put a skim coat of filler on it.

Also filled some un-used holes, especially the ones for the push-in plastic fasteners that held up the firewall pad under the dash. That will be replaced by some sort of boom mat that is adhesive backed.