Eddie Hansen

Very nice work Dave, looks great

bluecab

little primer

bluecab

And a coat of light gray

bluecab

Not much to report, I've been busy prepping another car I've had for sale for a long time.

The good news is that the sale will provide some funds for the continuation of this project as well as a lot of much-needed space in the garage.

I did find these on Craigslist locally



Also still working on cleaning up the A/C & Heat parts.

I could use some advice here.. How to get the rust chips out of the rubber gasket that I did save.. What to use to replace the sealant material.. how to treat the housings so they look at least clean

TripDeuces

Is that casing plastic/abs? If so I've had great results with Simple Green and a scotchbrite pad.
It looks like the rat droppings did a number on the inside. Will that fit in a blast cabinet?

I'm not sure saving that gasket is worth it at this point. I would look for some sort of replacement and forget about trying to pick rust out of it. My only suggestion if you're intent on keeping it might be to use a brass or stainless toothbrush to rub the sealing surface to dislodge the rust. Not sure what that will do to that material though.

bluecab

Hey George,
It looks like fiberglass to me.
Here's a shot with the deflector plates out.

TripDeuces

Ok that's just like mine on my 66. Similar to the fan shroud material which should be ABS plastic. I would use a coarse scotchbrite on the inside and a fine one for the outside. Just spray it with Simple Green and scrub away, hose it off.
You have a lot of work ahead of you.

TripDeuces

Here's some pics of the fan shroud before and after with Simple Green:

bluecab

Yep,

Elbow grease, simple green and Dawn did most of it. I'll still have to use some solvent to get the remaining glue off the gasket surfaces.

The worst of it was getting the heater core out as it is a super tight fit and it seemed like I was going to break the core or the housing getting it apart.

Still not sure what this material is: seems to have fiber of some sort embedded in it.

I just hope I can get it all back together after I test the core and evaporator

TripDeuces

Looks great

bluecab

Have not been getting too much done with work on other cars, but I did pull the diff cover and found out it had a couple of big dents.
I borrowed a jewelry hammer from my wife and spent half an hour banging out the dents from both sides.

I thought I'd share a masking technique I use all the time.
Tape off the item, leaving extra tape on the edge you are protecting.


Then use a sharp blade to cut around the edge.


I find this makes short work out of masking some things.



Here you can see that the POR bubbled up on the flange after the second coat, which I put on when the first coat was still tacky.

Have never seen this happen before, any ideas what would cause this?

bluecab

It's been too cold to get much done in the garage, so I decided to do a little work on the dashboard.

Here it is stripped of all components.



and then here it is after lots of cleaning and an hour of so of masking;



The masking is just a little different than the way the factory laid it out, but I think it will look good.

I am going to use VHT's wrinkle paint, which is a first for me. I plan to use some lights or a small heater to bake the wrinkles in.

Anybody have experience with wrinkle paint with some tips for me?

nonhog

I think its pretty temperature sensitive. I know if things are not right it'll
come out w/o much wrinkle.

harascho

That's an easy one, if POR 15 or KBS coatings stuff ( which are basicly the same..) shows bubbles then the paint layers are to thick. The outside is drying while the inner part is still not cured and will never cure 'cause the outside is dry..
The outside will dry and harden to a kind of foil ( where the bubbles were..) and the air stays trapped inside.
Best advice, let it dry, remove it and start over again. The manual says several thin layers not two thick ones.... learning by doing... I did the same mistake.

Keep the good work rolling

regards--

Harald

bluecab

Harald, thanks for the POR advice, I think the POR was pooling at the bottom flange of the cover.

Here is the dashboard set up in a cardboard box with an insulated box that was a mold for a boat battery box that will cover it to hold some heat.



and here with a coat of wrinkle paint or two. The first thing i noticed was that the paint made fisheyes despite the surface being cleaned and degreased twice.



and into the box it goes. I'll post a results photo after it cures. The lightbulb is making a around 170f in the box.

Eddie Hansen

I think the por 15 will cure even if askin formed over it might take awhile but I have had half a pint can harden like a rock once air got in . I have always had trouble using krinkle paint .

I also like the way the fiberglass housing came out I would spray a matte or semi gloss clear on it though.

As for the cold I spent bout 8 hours in the garage today had that propane heater blasting and it was still cold lol....but manageable.

Enjoying your build..

bluecab

Here's a shot of the dash as it came out of the box after baking all night.



Detail of wrinkle finish.



and a shot with the masking off.



It still needs some detailing and cleanup, but I thought I should get most of the tape off while the finish was still a little soft. The masking tape left behind a fair amount of glue from the heat

The instructions say to let it set for 48 hours before "handling" so I'll let it sit for a day before final cleanup and assembly.

bluecab

Back to the garage.

Still trying to get my air conditioning guy to test the evaporator before I put it back in.

I made up new gaskets for the heat and A/C boxes where they go against the firewall with adhesive-backed rubber foam.



Had to put two layers on to get the right thickness..

I wanted to test the heater core, so I rigged up this Rube Goldberg thing



It held 30 lbs for a while and I listened for leaks, guess it's ok for now.

bluecab

Also got this from ILT. I was expecting the worst when ordering from them, but nobody else has a set of tubes for a first series disk brake Toro.

The set came fast enough and look good. I got ss as I park near the ocean all the time.

I do wish they had labeled the lines, but I guess that it will be easy enough to figure out when the time comes...

bluecab

Here is the heater core cleaned up and with a bead of sealer that will go on the frame seen at the rear of the shot. it is held in with the two straps. one flat and one round with humps where the core spigots exit. the door flap is there as well. all this stuff was rusty and showed evidence of the heater box having filled with water at some time in the past. I used POR15 on the straps and the door.

Here it is assembled onto the frame with the straps and door.

Here it is back in the housing. I still have no idea how these went together at the factory. It took a rubber hammer and some small pry bars to get it back together.

The air conditioning evaporator is first in line past the fan and has these diverter plates to push the air thru the evaporator. These were also rusty from water sitting in the bottom of the box and I welded up a new bottom on one of the plates before I coated it with POR15

Here is the evaporator box with the diverter plates installed and new gaskets made from some stick on material from Home Depot

and finally, here is the fan with a fresh coat of paint

and the whole thing laid out ready to go back on.

I still have not pressure tested the evaporator as I need to find block-off fittings and adaptors to allow it to be pressurized.

Do any of you know what the working pressure is for an evaporator?

Charlie Jones

Working pressure is only about 30 to 40 PSI , However the pressure can go up to 125 PSI or more with the system off.
I would test the evaporator at 150 PSI or better yet, see if it holds 30 in. of vacuum for 1 hour.

bluecab

Thanks Charlie,

Guess it should be no surprise that a Floridian knows the answer to an air conditioning question!

Eddie Hansen

Looks great Dave

bluecab

Also got some primer and paint on the frame.
This is where I left off before I started with the heating and air conditioning work that was an unexpected diversion

Can't wait to start putting the front end back together!

I might actually make this back into a roller soon!!

bluecab

I was not satisfied with the sheen on the frame paint, so I scratched it up and re-mixed the paint more toward satin


Once that paint was dry I started on the A-arms. The uppers were easy, with the camber/caster eccentrics. I had made sure to clean up the areas where these pivot so that alignment would be at least possible, if not easy.
The bottoms were much harder. Once installed on the torsion bars the front mounting point would get close to the forward mounting point, but the rear mounting point was way off. Putting a jack under the A-arm did not get it too much closer, but did lift the frame right up off of the jack stands.
The spring rate is supposed to be 162b / inch on these torsion bars...
I ended up using a big ratchet strap and the floor jack to swing the rear mounting point into position.



and here we are with the uppers and lowers in place. I am still formulating a strategy where I can compress the torsion bars enough to attach the ball joints to the spindles without flipping the whole car onto it's roof.

Eddie Hansen

Definately like tgeremix black better really looking good

bluecab

I decided that I should get the transmission and final drive prepped and installed to put some weight on the front end. That way I can compress the torsion bars and lower A arms with a floor jack enough to install the spindles.

Here is the rear motor/trans mount being cleaned up.
Yes that is my kitchen sink, my wife is pretty understanding


Also scraped off the gasket on the drive, there is a hand scratched notation "AL4" on the gear. Here it is with the gasket surface cleaned up.
Would this have been a factory notation? Or maybe a sign that the drive has been rebuilt at some time?


How can I be sure that this is clean inside? should it be rinsed out with something or blown out with compressed air?

What else should I do to it before attaching it to the transmission and installing it in the car?

bluecab

Here are a few shots of the final drive mated to the th425 transmission with the big engine bracket that mounts to the crossmember behind the motor.
I chased the bolt holes before assembly, on one side there are two studs that are fine thread and then the bolt holes of which half are blind and the rest are thru holes. I used a bottoming tap and got quite a bit of gunk out considering the case had been hot tanked at the transmission shop.
I'll have to move a bunch of stuff around in the garage so I can assemble the cherry picker in order to drop this in, but at least it is together

front view with differential

Rear view of chain case and big mounting bracket that bolts to the crossmember with mounting blocks.

harascho

Your problem is the wrong assembly sequence.

Easiest way is:
upper A-Arms, lower A-Arms ( or vice versa), steering knuckles, torsion bars, torsion bar cross member with inserted torsion bar keys, then preload them by installing the adjusting bolts.

In that sequence you won't have any problems..

Harald

bluecab

Thanks Harald,

I am sure that would work, however my torsion bars were stuck in the cross member so I just left them as they were.

I did back the adjusting screws all the way out so I am certain that with the weight of the transaxle and possibly a few friends sitting on the front crossmember I will get the spindles hooked up.

They are only a few inches from mating up.

How is your '66 coming along? Do you drive it in the winter?

Thank you again for your comment and interest in my project!

bluecab

I'm jumping around here as I decided to finish up the welding on the lower windshield / cowl area that I started patching last winter.

It seems the angle on that area is wrong and I will need to change it by welding in some more material.

I don't want to have to stand on the transaxle assembly while I do this so I have enlisted the help of my buddy Mike to install the windshield with me.
His suggestion was to use some clay at the bottom of the windshield to determine how far off the existing repair is so I can get it built up properly.

Mike won't be around until tomorrow so today I spent putting boom mat and insulation on the firewall and front floor. The insulation is a recycled denim core with ripstop aluminum on both sides.
I was never quite sure what to do about the wire chases that run down either side of the floor except that I knew I would want access to them in case repairs were needed or wires needed to be added later.
I taped the center section down permanently and made a pair of "doors" that can be lifted to access the wire chases.
Here is the floor with the door down;

and with it up;

a little hard to see with the lighting and reflections.
Here is an overall shot;

bluecab

Well we dropped the windshield in and it turns out the repair at the base of the windshield is actually close enough that it just needs some minor touch-up.

I guess my fairly crude measurements were the issue.

It was really weird to see glass in there for the first time in a few years.

bluecab

Gas pedal studs from the Toro.

Are these shared with any other models?

All the repops I have seen online are much shorter...

TripDeuces

You can buy those hexagonal pieces in the hardware store for joining threaded rod together. The one inch long ones, small piece of threaded rod and the original gas pedal studs off a 66 Cutlass would do the trick.

bluecab

George,

The coffee in Middletown is clearly stronger than it is in Sharon today!

Haha, thanks for the idea. Hope it's warm in the garage, too.

TripDeuces

My garage is very cold and annoying this time of year and I drink decaf, lol.
I got this idea when I was modifying my Demons to get the air cleaners to fit properly. This is a bad pic but you get the idea.

harascho

David I guess you know about the TOA?
And there are also two Facebook groups about Toronados:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2350834317/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/6077214332/

good luck with your windshield..

Harald

bluecab

Thanks Harald,

I've joined them both!

Some great photos and I see that David North is a member as well...

bluecab

In another case of the well known MAW syndrome, I realized that the new stainless front to rear brake line would not go in without lifting the body off the frame.
This seems like a perfect excuse to get a half decent coat of paint on the frame and other areas under there that are normally hard to access with the body on the frame.

There are two rubber mounts on either side of the front and one on either side at the rear with those dam cage nuts. I had already tried to get the passenger side off and ripped the cage off the mounting spot as well as breaking the bolt.
The drivers' side was much easier, but I think I will leave the access holes I cut under the back seat and add some screw down cover plates.
I did leave the front of the leaf springs attached as it seemed like it would be nearly impossible to get the bolts out without further separating frame and body.
In fact, it was really hard to get the rear of the body off the frame, so we just jacked it apart and put some wood spacers where the body cushions would normally be

Most of today was spent on snow removal, but I did take the drag link to the basement to be cleaned up and coated with POR.
Two questions:
Do drag links wear out? ( I hope not as I just spent a bunch of time cleaning this one up)
Does anybody know what the original coating was on these? It was a gun-metal grey that was resistant to sanding but would chip off with a scraper.
There was enough rust and paint that I finally gave up and got out the grinder with a 36 grit flap wheel to clean it up.

bluecab

Well, this week I managed to wire wheel, sand, prime and paint both the underside of the floor pans and the frame.
An absolutely filthy thankless job. Dust and crap everywhere.. I think I am finally done with the dirty jobs on this project
In the final stroke of MAW's I took a hard look at the torsion bar bushings. These are not very accessible when the body is down. The assembly, for those of you unfamiliar with the toro suspension, has a transverse beam with sockets that the torsion bars fit into. The beam is mounted to the frame with round rubber bushings much like the body bushings used to mount the body to the frame.
I got lucky in ordering a set of poly bushings from Summit as the turned out to be a very close match to the originals that were seriously cracked, squished and just done.
Next week I'll put a final coat of paint on the frame and start putting things back together.