I see from your list that replacing the weatherstripping is on the list of things to do. What brand did you get? I replaced mine with Metro Rubber Products. Wasn't too happy initially because the corner piece on the passenger side split from the vertical piece. They apparently mold the 90 corner separately and then fuse it to the rear vertical and the top horizontal and that seam is prone to fail under the stress of pushing and pulling. But Metro stood by their product and send me replacements seals even though I bought mine from one of their distributors.
One of the issues I ran into with mine is that along the top and front the roof rail seal sits in a stainless channel and when I first installed the seal thinking it was a simple drop in ended up with 1/4 inch gap at the front of the window. Fortunately I had a retired local body guy who was able to remove the stainless channels - which are held in by screws and really strong adhesive and to reposition them so the window then made contact with the seal. Because he is retired and his shop is home based I was able to work with him on this job. It took the 2 of us a whole day to do both doors - roof rail and door seals.
Then let the vehicle sit in the hot sun for a few days and the glass and seals seemed to sit very nicely together with no leaks when I applied the garden hose.
Really hope that you install goes more smoothly than mine.

 

Very interesting. Obviously something from the factory, but why? What is this protecting against? You would think that if there were something seriously in need of protection here, they would have come up with something other than a flimsy piece of plastic that would more likely be expected to last a few months at most. The fact that these are still on our cars 40+ years later is interesting. These are not on my '78, but that's a '78, and these are '77s. I don't know.

 

Everything I ordered is Metro as well.

I'll let you know how it goes. I hope your experience will make mine go a little easier. Thanks.

 

Good luck with your install!
Here is a picture indicating the weak point where they fuse the corner piece in.


Here is a picture of how mine split at the point where it was fused to the vertical piece.


Needless to say trying to glue the joint back together with the 3M adhesive did not work.
Also in this picture you can see the black the factory used in addition to screws to anchor the stainless steel channels that the seal sits in. The back vertical channel did not need to be re-positioned on mine but along the top and the front pillar did. Getting them off without bending or distorting them took time, a lot of gentle persuasion and patience.

 

Thanks! All good to know.

 

Love it or hate it (and please let me know which side you're on), here are the replacement wheels on the '77. There is a story behind these wheels and why they're red. I like that they complement the barely-discernable red pinstripes as well as the red interior. My wife likes it, but she tends to go for funky coloring schemes. That's why she doesn't say much about my white hair.

Those dinner-plate size hubcaps are actual Oldsmobile hubcaps, presumably from a '60s-era Toro. They came with the '78 when I bought it out of Georgia.

 

Wheels gutta go

 

Thanks!

So far, that's

yes: 0
no: 1

 

Sorry my old friend but those wheels are just not attractive on that car. The full wheel discs even with blackwalls would look better. But if you have the whitewalls on the inside I would encourage you to then turn them out. Maybe the full wheel discs will hide enough that you won't really notice the red edge on the rim, so no need to paint them.

 

I hear ya, Byron, I hear ya. In the next day or two I'll put the full wheelcovers on and get a few photos of that. Another option is to switch these wheels with the wheels on the '78. I've had the red wheels on that car before.

I admit that whitewalls with full wheelcovers is the gold standard, but I think the red wheels on the dark red car is tolerable after you've had a few beers.

What do you think?

 

I would only ever say this because you asked.
The red rims and black walls don't look good to me. I'd have to get white walls and the normal hubcaps on her as soon as I could.

But, to each his own. If you like them, then let 'em fly.

 

You guys are tough!

Ok, let's look at the score.

Yes: 0
No: 3
Wife: 1


Who wins?

I'll probably swap them between the two cars so the whitewalls end up on the white car.

 

I'm only kidding.

 

Cool!

Later today or more likely tomorrow, I'll put the full wheelcovers on and see how that looks. I have found photos of other Toros with blackwall tires, and that can be an OK look. I think it looks particularly ok on an all-black car.

Of course, what I REALLY need are curb feelers!

 

Whitewalls and full wheel covers.

 

I don't know, Jaunty, the raised white letters on the tan car in the last picture makes it look like a race car. Pretty cool.

Red wheels and blackwalls, not so much.

 

On either car, the painted wheels with the small hubcaps and blackwall tires makes me think of the look of a police car. So, obviously I'll join others in voting for the wheelcovers and whitewalls to get back to the original Oldsmobile luxury look. Both cars are beauties.

 

I am too late to join the intervention to rescue these poor Toronado's from the dreaded red wheels and small hubcaps!

 

Now that's more like it!

 

I saw those same hubcaps on a '70 Toronado for sale on Ebay. I like the matching rims.


I still kick myself for not buying that blue '70 GT that was for sale by the good doctor in Illinois.

 

When I bought the '78, it came with the chrome wheels and the small hubcaps. But the chrome on the wheels was mostly pitted and scratched and didn't look great, so, since these weren't correct for the car, anyway, I thought I'd do something different. I had the chrome plating sandblasted off of all four wheels and then painted them maroon. Also, I didn't have the trim rings to cover the edges of the rims, which was another reason to try something different.

 

Now I recall you telling about that.

Your talk of date codes and mystery front bumper guards has me curious about my own. I'll be checking those on mine in the next few days. I suspect I'll find the tires are ancient.

When I was relocating my parts car, I had the passenger front tire let go while doing about 60 mph. I can do without that excitement again.
The only good news that day was that my wife found the hubcap that launched itself into the tall weeds on the other side of the ditch.

Your pictures make me look for the few pics I have of both of mine when they were both presentable.

You have a beautiful pair of cars, sir.

 

Thanks!

The 10-year thing on tires always bothers me a bit when you come across tires like the Hankooks that came on the white one. They're 10 years old by date code, but if they have more than 1000 miles on them, I'd be shocked. They look brand new in every way. To simply toss them seems almost criminal.

 

Tire age is sometimes a question of mind over matter. I had a 2005 Chevy SSR that I drove on the factory supplied tires until I traded the truck 2 years ago. Based on the manufacture date the tires were 14+ years old. But in my case the truck was always garaged, not out in the sun and in the winter was stored in a temp controlled unit. I monitored the tires regularly for any signs of cracking or deterioration.
On the occasions when I got my foot into it and hit 90-95 mph on the highway, the thought that the tires were a little dated did cross my mind. But the vast majority of the time was spent just cruising for ice cream and doing the posted limit so the tires were never really an issue.
If your plan is just to use you car for gentle cruising and not a lot of prolonged highway driving - where tire destroying heat really builds up - then maybe you should consider using the original tires if they don't show any signs of deterioration.
Alternatively as I recall your red rims/tires have the whitewalls turned in, so you could just have them turned out and with full wheel discs you are good to go. You can then keep the Hankooks for spares or install them if you are going to store one of the vehicles for long periods of time.

 

I've had all those thoughts about the current tires. I haven't done anything with any of them, and I doubt I will for a while because there's no hurry. I may do as you suggest and keep the older tires for around town, which is pretty much all the time for the car, anyway.


I did put the full wheelcovers on the white one. We're having one of our once-in-blue-moon mostly cloudy days around here, so the light is more neutral with no deep shadows.

It does look more normal with the full wheelcovers and blackwalls than with the red wheels. I'll probably stick with this for a while (not that's it's difficult or time-consuming to change them). I just won't tell my wife.

 

That does look better!
I must be getting old because I find that changing tires is a royal pain. It is one of my least favorite things to do.

 

My '66 Toro has 20+ year old Goodyear Regatta 2 whitewalls - they appear to have brand new condition - no cracking in sidewalls or tread, always kept out of sunlight, in garage, etc. For 800 mile trip to OCA Nationals in Nashville this summer, it really pains me to replace with Hankooks, but there's no way to test the Goodyears except for the "blow-out test." Looks like Hankooks are best replacement - UniRoyal recently introduced classic car whitewalls, but not the Toro size.
Any thoughts?

 

I agree! In this case, though, all I did was change the wheelcovers. Those are the same red wheels underneath.

 

I think you're right. There's no way to test old tires except in use, and that's not a good way to do it. You just have to accept the fact that age is enough to do them in regardless of mileage, tread remaining, and general appearance.

 

Yeah, about that old tire testing .... I'll just leave this here

 

The white one looks good with the full covers, Jaunty.

As for changing tires, I get the most aggravation from trying to get the [CENSORED] hubcaps to go back on correctly.

 

I have to agree. I have removed and reinstalled wheelcovers on many cars over the years, and the Toro wheelcovers are among the most difficult to install I've ever encountered.

 

Jaunty, came across this site that sells a pre-glued leather patching material. Wonder if this might be worth trying to patch the armrests on your doors, even on a temporary basis until you are ready to have them professionally done. Here is the link
https://www.boundtohas.com/products/...?variant=10709

 

Thanks, but I'm actually beyond this. I took the door panels off last Tuesday to replace the door lock actuators. When I got the car, neither door power lock was working. In the process of working the lock switch a few times, the passenger side lock started working again and now seems to be fine. But no luck on the driver's side, so I replaced that one. I'll keep the other actuator I bought (they're interchangeable left and right) in case the passenger side stops working.

Anyway, since I had the door panels completely off, I took them to a local upholstery shop, and they said they would likely have them back to me this coming week. I got a bit lucky in that they had a good matching red vinyl on hand, and because these door panels require so much less material than doing a full seat or something like that, they're not charging me for the material, only the labor ($130 each side). When I get them back and and the doors put back together, I'll post some photos.

I also took the opportunity with both the upper and lower door panels removed to replace the door weatherstripping. I've done the passenger and will do the driver's side this week. Then I'll tackle the roof rail weatherstrip on each side, which is in worse shape than the door weatherstrips are, and see how that goes.

Here's some "before" photos of the door panels. The driver's side was pretty badly torn, so I don't know that that vinyl patch would have worked. That looks good for fixing a small tear or rip here and there, not patching long gashes. The passenger side was in a bit better shape, but still probably bad enough that the patching material probably wouldn't have been enough.

 

A little bit of progress. I've changed the door weatherstripping on both doors, and I've replaced the roofrail weatherstripping on the passenger side. Still need to do the driver's side.

I had no real trouble with the roofrail strip. The biggest issue was getting the old one off as that involved a lot of scraping with various-size flat-blade screwdrivers and putty knives to get the old rubber and adhesive out from under that lip in the chrome trim. But I got enough of it out to be able to fit the new piece in, and it more or less went in all by itself. I just sort of rolled it under the lip, and it holds nicely. I put some adhesive just here and there, and I put some at both ends were most of it was originally and where the little tacks hold it in place. The door closes fine.








I know that the excitement of new door weatherstripping just can't be beat, so here it is on the passenger door. No issues other than scraping off the old adhesive.

 

The vanity plate arrived. I do entertain easily.

 

Well done, if I do say so - Congrats on 2 very fine looking Toros.

 

Congratulations on the weather stripping. Looks like a nice job. Don't see any issues on the corner of the seal of the roof rail. Having done it myself I know what a "pita" it is to remove the old stuff. Still too bad that today's seals are just not as soft and pliable as the factory originals.
Really looking forward to seeing pictures of your re-upholstered doors.

 

Thanks. I'm looking forward to those reupholstered door panels, too. But like everything else post-pandemic, they're backed up to here. I hope I have them back in a month. I'll keep on them, but not too heavily.

 

That looking really nice, Jaunty!

I've done the roof rail weatherstrip on three different cars in my life. In all three times, I found myself exercising my vocabulary of ugly words - I think I might have even invented a few new compound variations on the last one.

I like the reflection of the wheel covers on the wall, in your door glass. How artistic!!

Just curious - does this one have the rollers on the striker like was discussed in another thread??