1973 Torino Tribute Restoration

Wow! 0.55 cents a gallon huh??? LOL!! It's funny I'm 36 now and I remember in high school when gas was still .89 -.99 cents a gallon. I graduated in 1990 so in less than 20 years it has sky rocketed and I seriously doubt it will ever come back down to those prices. We are a society of the bigger the better, but maybe we needed a wake up call. Who knows? Other countries pay far more for gallon so I guess we shouldn't complain, but that can also be debated for ever and a day. I tend to get off track some, sorry.
My Dad had his wagon until about the mid 80's when my older brother wrecked it, bending the frame. Since the wagon had spent most of it's life in Indiana the body was pretty rusty even after one good make over in the late 70's. It was time to let her go, but the memories are alive and well still. RIP Blue wagon!

 

Well from re-reading the thread, gasoline has come down some here in the Dallas area. Cheapest I've seen is $1.69 a gallon at a Chevron. Anyway, I have found some more used parts pretty reasonably priced. Once they arrive I will switch out the front passenger fender and front passenger side door. Below are photos of the items purchased. Although I should say once I strip and prime the parts I will switch them out. Aside from getting the engine work done, I'm getting close to having a complete canvas to hit the ground running with. I think everything else I will need is a little more readily available. Now all I need are some deep pockets!

 

you know bubba your cars lookin good,,,,,and a bit of persistance is worth way more than deep pockets,,,of course deep pockets are always good and if you go back and read the thread that stormin posted when he restored his wagon it makes the rest of us look like weenies,,,, talk about makin chicken noodle soup out of chicken poop,,, and and i dont believe (now stormin correct me if i,m wrong ) but he did a heck of a job with out spending a ton of money, a big shop,lots of tools,etc,etc,

 

Thanks for the kind words, 80.

Here's what I started with. My wagon in the background, and the maroon 2 door donor rust-bucket:


The floor in mine was fine, but the donor was shot:


My floor with new sound deadener. All seams filled with new sealant:


Here's my Roller Painting thread. I did all under a tarp. 8 coats!
http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=711

Paint and materials cost under $250 CDN$. You'll find the links to a July 2007 Hotrod Mag roller job and all the tips and links in there. Here's a Corvette that was proudly roller painted and 'Plated'.


Work on the Dash:
http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13551

Swapping seats:
http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2266

Finishing up:
http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1267

2 years and worth it.

 

Yeah, my dad talks about 25 cent gas, how I wish I had that now. I'd never stop driving my wagon.

 

First off thanks for the kind words. Just a quick update I replaced the grill with a nice used one that needed a little super glue here and there, but worked out great! And then cleaned up the chrome out front. It's amazing what a little elbow grease will do.
* Note: The flash in the second photo makes it really look nice.

 

Looks great! Polished out real nicely!

 

Started out trying only one reply, but the file was too big so I had to break it up into two. I have also started working on the exterior surface rust on the roof under the luggage rack. The last Photo is the before shot, which wasn't too bad, but RUST is RUST and I just can't have it. I used a stripper wheel to remove the rust and paint down to the bare metal and then primed it. I will work on other body panels as well as weather permits, but after seeing Norm's "Winter wonderland - Fresh Air shop" I really don't have any excuses!

I'm still waiting on the door and fender, but have been promised they are awaiting shipment.

 

I'm impressed. Your work looks great! Look forward to seeing more progress!!

 

Man that's great work! My hat's off to you. Those stripper wheels are great, but I've only used them on wood.

 

man those stripper wheels are great aren,t they,,, when i painted the frame on my hardley abelson oopps harley davidson i used a couple of them to strip the paint off of the frame before i painted it with ppg black deltron,,,,very little profile and work good on an angle grinder,,,,,,,and as far as that reeelllly purty torino wagon that brings back memories ,,,when my soon to be wife met she used to drive her moms torino wagon like yours except it was green on green and way cool,,,,, i remind my wife of that from time to time and obviously tell the kids about that and the fact that she is not real tall (ie;short) as i would say a cute little thang in that big old wagon :banana:

 

That's looking really good!
I wanted to work on mine today but have about a foot of snow to get rid of first. I'm jealous of the new Eastwood Gran Torino movie, Vista Cruiser would have sounded better.

 

Ah come on, Eastwood always had good taste.

 

Hey guys thanks for the interest in the ol' girl. Well I worked on her shoes and got them looking pretty nice. I started out by finding some nice used covers and I bought 2 sets. "Fortunately" 2 of the 8 are pretty banged up so they were my "sacrificial lambs". I have read and been told that using steel wool to clean these covers will ruin the "protective coating" they have, but I didn't notice any protective coating. I don't know if they are aluminum or stainless steel, but they cleaned up nice. I began by thoroughly washing and degreasing the covers. Then I used steel wool on the back side, just in case, to remove all the years of crusty brake dust. They cleaned up well so I figured I'll do the fronts also, right? I removed all the old black accent paint until they were all nice and shiny. I then washed them one last time and completely dried them. I painted the fronts using flat black paint and left them to dry over night. Then I used a fresh piece of steel wool and began highlighting the accents and removing the black paint from the ribs of the center and high spots revealing the design. All in all I think they came out pretty nice. What do yall think?