This was my dad's car until he died of cancer in December of 03. I was in the Marine Corps at the time and spent most of the next several years overseas, so I wasn't able to maintain it or make needed repairs (not enough advance, valve timing retarded by cam sprocket wear and lean mixture burned up the #7 piston.) I've only been able to turn my attention to it in the last two years, but even then a full-time engineering course load cuts a wide swath through wrench-turning time!

So far I've rebuilt the engine: block bored .030 over, crank reground .010 under even though the bottom end was still well within factory tolerances; stock C heads, intake and exhaust with a stock cam profile. I despaired of finding a numbers-matching Quadrajet to top it off and got a good deal on a Holley 750, so adapting that carb to the low-rise intake has been a challenge. I gutted the mold-ridden interior and welded up rust holes in the floorpan, and I'm currently reworking the suspension from top to bottom to convert her to front-wheel discs with the help of a '77 Toro that was kind enough to pass her control arms, knuckles, torsion bars, and sway bar off to live once again.

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Family hand me down cars are the best kind, they always come with a history and a story. Gives you something to remind you of your dad every time you work on it or drive it. Nice job

 

Nice pictures of a nice car. You have done some good work on it.

 

Very nice car. You are doing your dad proud.

 

Hey R.A.H.: I am sure you would have wanted to take your dad for the first ride after you get his machine running again. I hope that one of your friends or close family is around when you take it out on it's première cruise. Only they would truly appreciate your effort in restoring this rare vehicle. I hope the old man is looking over your shoulder.

Lookin' Good!

Jaybird

 

Going to drive it by the cemetery and blip the throttle a few times. He'll hear it. I don't give a damn if I get a Disturbing the Peace citation.

 

I appreciate the kind comments. This has been an exercise in perseverance, dealing with the lack of money, time, or both; relatives insisting I should part it out or scrap it, and friends telling me I'm cracked for holding onto it. This is all that's left of my time with my dad, so selling or parting is not negotiable.

I know for a fact he's been looking over my shoulder, there are a lot of things that could have gone wrong with this rebuild that didn't! The floorpan only had a couple of rust spots even after years laid up in a backyard with an inch of water on the floorboard. The gas tank was clean as a flute inside, and the 5 gallons that remained in it when I dropped the tank still ran just fine in my daily driver. The engine was a basket case but that was my 23-year-old self's fault for not performing proper preventive maintenance before barbecuing a piston.

Even when circumstances made me think for a minute that it was no longer worth it to pursue what felt like a pipe dream, something always came through to keep even a little progress on the move. I could have just rebuilt the engine and scrubbed the mold out of the interior and started driving her again a couple of years ago, but that wasn't what he would have wanted. What started as a need for an engine refit has become a restoration just shy of a frame-off- gutting and rewiring the interior and engine bay, complete resto of the suspension and retrofit of later-model brakes, complete cleaning and resto of the HVAC system, new Retrosound stereo, rebuilt instrumentation and controls, and a slightly massaged engine and drivetrain. It's definitely a monument to the old man.

 

Great job on the Toro and an even better story. We should all be so lucky to have kids that want to keep our toys going. I look forward to watching your restoration.

 

In my eyes there are few cars worth more than the one that used to be Dad's!!! My brother-in-law has a 65 Galaxy that he will put more money into than it will ever be worth monetarily but I commend him and you for preserving family history. I'd kill to find my dads 71 lime green Cutlass S

 

Kudos to you, R.A.H. What a special tribute to your Dad. You bet'cha your boots he's looking down on what you are doing, and your progress. Hit that pedal hard when you run by, let him know she's "fine as wine, in the summertime"! My son is on the list to inherit the Silver Bullet, and hope that he comes to realize how special this car is to me, and will be to him. Thanks for sharing your wonderful story.

 

Noe of this work is concours-quality by any stretch of the imagination, I've had to fabricate and machine several parts on my own to set it up the way I want, in a car I have no intention of selling. This doesn't mean it's going to be a ridiculously modified car- it's going to look bone stock except for the small tach in place of the clock in the dash cluster and the 3-gauge cluster in what used to be the 8-track player casing.

 

Kudos. The smile that won't go away will make it all worthwhile. Doesn't hurt that it will smoke most of the rice too!

 

Latest: Brakes converted to front discs, replumbed completely. Engine installed. Had it all rigged up and ready to start but when I filled the cooling system she started pissing water from one of the coolant passages between the intake and RH cylinder head. That comes back off tomorrow to see what's going on (and make sure I didn't get any down in the valley or crankcase.) Assuming all is well, I'll rerig and then bring her back to life tomorrow!
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A lot of work to pull it back out but she was kind enough to tell you there's a problem before filling the crankcase with bad things and spinning the bearings. Good Luck!

 

UPDATE: She runs! Sounds mad too. She's been off the road for six years now, almost to the day. Tomorrow I finish tuning (who would have thought that running the cam in for half an hour at 2000-2500 RPM would have sucked the 3 gallons in the tank out, huh? HAHAHA!) and then the seat and instrument cluster go in. Keeping the rest of the interior out until I figure out what I'm going to do about the ratty old door panels and order a new headliner. Audio file of exhaust note and video of the first start pending.