tannerblackart

It sure is. I bought my first '92 Toro three weeks ago and thought that I was buying a parts car via an online auction. Boy was I wrong!

I won the auction car with a bid of $425. It was delivered to the house this morning. I fully expected to get a car with a thrown rod, busted tranny, and all sorts of other mechanical issues. NOPE! A quick jump of the battery proved otherwise. She purrs like a kitten and drives sooo smoothly. The big problem? A bad BCM. That, of course, caused all sorts of other monitored systems to not register anymore- Speedometer, VIC, etc., etc. Minor fix.

The previous owner had left behind a few business cards in the glove compartment. I emailed him and it turns out that this car spent most of its life in New Mexico away from the rust belt!!! Not only that, it is a one family car. The mother bought it new in 92, passed it to her daughter in 94. It was given to Kars-for-Kids by that family 6 months ago.

So lets see- for anywhere from 100 to 200 bucks, I can replace that and other small issues to have a car worth well more than the $425 that won the bid. Yeah, I am happy. The best part of the whole thing? It is not white. It is Pearl. She shined really nice when the sun hit her today- even though the dirt. A nice waxing is in order this weekend.

2 Toros and a Cutlass. Time to start selling! The wife is a little annoyed with me at the moment. Whoops...

So since this new one is in better shape, I'll be putting up the Toro on the left for sale in a couple weeks. If I could, I would keep both of them but I am already maxed out and then some on room. Our house is on a corner lot with only room for 4 cars in the driveway with no real yard to speak of. Tis a shame though- I always imagined having the Ferris Bueller garage when I grew up. One of these days I guess.

68RocketAction

Well it sounds like you scored the winning end of the deal... Looks like they have been well cared for, at least from the *** end camera shot. Although, I totally agree. Sell one, reinvest the profits, or reinvest part of the profits, and give the Mrs. a little to keep her happy.

Congratulations!!! There is not many of these bad boys left. I think I see more 3rd generation Toronado's then I do these...

tannerblackart

The interiors to both cars are very nice. I have pics of the one on the left in one of my albums.

No rips in the leather seats, no sagging headliners, VIC works, and mechanically speaking- drives just fine. (I have been driving it 84 miles a day since I got it.) The "but" and there is a rather large "BUT", the one I am selling did come from the rust belt. When it was sold to me sight unseen from craigslist, I saw pictures of what looked like surface rust. When I actually got a chance to get into it, it was not surface rust and unfortunately, there is now one large hole in the quarter panel on the drivers side. There is also now a small hole on the passenger side. It is amazing what happens when you pick at the rust spots until you get to solid metal!

The one being sold is one of the last 1100 of the 6436 Toros made in 92. The one I am keeping is one of the first 100 made that year- specifically #98.

illumined

Nice finds. So what do you plan to do about the rusty panels? Replace them?

tannerblackart

No, at this point, "Rusty" is going to be sold as is in a couple of weeks. Probably a price tag of about $900. The IPC is bad on it. If it doesnt sell after a month, I will part it out for a month. What doesnt get sold is going to the scrap yard. I hope it doesnt get to that but with the prices being charged for Toro specific parts these days, I imagine I can get close to that $900 with parts alone- not to mention the couple hundred I would get for the scrap.

Ultimately, I hope I dont have to scrap it. I believe in trying to keep these cars on the road. Problem is that I already have about $1,500 in "Rusty" and a wife looking at me with the unspoken word of "The Holidays are coming and you have money in a car that you are not driving." She is a very practical woman and does a nice job of keeping me from acting like I was in my early 20s again. She is right at this point. If I am not going to drive it, I need to get rid of it somehow. (Not to mention the 93 Cutlass I still have. )

steve walker

nice rides ..keep water away from them and don't feed after midnight....

tannerblackart

Great advice. They somehow shudder and shut down in bright sunlight. Any thoughts?

tannerblackart

So far, after having "Marilyn" for a week now, I have completed the following repairs:

1.) Changed out IPC
2.) Changed out Instrument Bezel
3.) Changed out BCM
4.) Repaired cupholder
5.) Changed out elbow rest
6.) Changed out "A" pillar above drivers side
7.) Re-adjusted driver's door handle to open from the outside
8.) Changed speaker grille
9.) Added trim behind the door handle
10.) Changed drivers side door sill plate
11.) Replaced Twilight Photocell
12.) Replaced battery
13.) Installed Trofeo badge on grille
14.) Installed Oldsmobile badge on drivers side headlight door
15.) Installed Bluetooth receiver to integrate smartphone into VIC/DID
16.) Replaced broken power antenna with one that works
17.) Replaced all micro-relays
18.) Cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, and then cleaned some more!

Punch list of items left to do
1.) Pressure test engine
2.) Remove engine and tranny
3.) Power wash/degrease engine
4.) Reseal all gaskets (valve cover, timing chain cover, etc)
5.) Paint engine block '66 Toronado Blue
6.) Replace & paint all accessories as needed (water pump, alternator, etc.)
7.) Install Series I 3800 Supercharger or change out computer chip to add more HP?
8.) Replace tranny (pump #1 is whining) & paint '66 Toronado Blue
9.) Power wash firewall
10.) Repaint hood to remove rust
11.) Repaint passenger side fender
12.) Repair hail damage
13.) Replace headliner
14.) Replace tail pipe with chrome duals
15.) Install remote start/keyless entry
16.) Polish rims
17.) Replace tires with 4 Goodyear Touring tires
18.) Chrome taillight lens
19.) Replace interior lights with LED lights (MAYBE)

While there is some work left to do, taking it one day at a time is the name of the game...

illumined

Does it do it consistently do that in bright sunlight or is it just an intermittent problem that just happened to have occurred on a sunny day?

tannerblackart

Its from a movie in 1984- the instructions were:

• Don't feed it after midnight
• Don't give it water
• Don't let it near bright light

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Gremlins

If you get the chance to see the movie, you should. Cheezy but fun.

illumined

I put in the Netflix queue.

steve walker

ha 1 and 2 pretty good ..wish they would do a 3 now with computer aid and make it at least PG13 so we could see them really mad ,I bought a gizmo doll off ebay 10yrs ago as the kids were into the films. I would trip my kids out with it by putting all over the house
..