My baby has come home!

[torinobradley]

This weekend, my baby returned from her storage at the in-laws. Wife hates her (in her defense, she hates all old cars) but my son was sooooooo amped (he's 9) and can't wait till I'm dropping him off to school in it... She needs a lot of work and tlc but I'm willing to commit to the relationship...lol

It's a 1968 Ford Torino GT Formal Hardtop. Originally a 390 4 speed car (original owner kept those) but right now has a 289 C4 in it. Also have a 390 that will eventually sit under the hood, though it will be punched and stroked to 420-something...

Sorry about the attached pic, it's from the phone...

BigT.bmp

Edited June 1, 2010 by torinobradley

[Greg Cullinan]

NICE. How did you sleep with her being away from home!

Especially with the inlaws!!

[george 53]

Me too! I always thought that Coupe had nicer lines than the fastback. Missing Link makes a REAL nice kit of the 69.

[jeffb]

i like em too!

[Railfreak78]

Awesome project and glad to see her back home with you!

[charlie8575]

Nice wheels.

Your in-laws didn't mind the car, but your wife does? That must make for interesting family conversations.

Too bad you don't have the original powerteam for it anymore, but it sounds like it's in good hands.

Charlie Larkin

[torinobradley]

Thanks everyone for you encouraging words! I'm pretty stoked about the whole deal and am spending the next week or three cleaning her up and figuring out what to do first. The current plan is to get her back on the road so I can drive the old "bucket of bolts" around a bit and enjoy the shaking, rattling and rolling you can only get in an old car. I have a trans, brakes, a popped freeze plug (in south Texas, if you can believe it) and a few suspension pieces to deal with and maybe finding a dash pad as this one caved and then it's cruise time. An AOD is on the drawing board considering the issues I'm having with the C4 and gears... I just have to find the right one.

The wheels are the standard wagon wheels that were white. I painted them black and put trim rings on em. I wanted black wheels and at the time (14 years ago) they didn't offer any. I was going for a stock car look. I guess you could say I was ahead of the black wheel craze...lol OH, my icon picture isn't my car, it's one I found on the web when I joined the forum but it is a formal like mine, though it is a '69. In case anyone was wondering...

The engine in her now is a '67 Mustang 289 with the 200hp cam swapped out for my .478 Isky, 289 performer Edelbrock and a Holley 4010 600 double pumper. Also has headers and a dual vacuum advance distributor (it advances and retards the timing!). That motor, with the .389s in the rear make the car jump like a scalded cat... It will eat a 5.0 till his gears and aerodynamics pass me up... Of course, it hasn't passed a car for a few years...lol

Maybe in a year or two after that, the car will be stripped to bare metal and all issues will be addressed. That's when the 390/428 will go into the car. I read there's even an addapter to put a T5 on the back of one of those so may go that route if it will handle the torque/hp. All that and I'm moving toward a TBI so the engine will be computer optimized.

Jairus did a '68 fastback rendering that I like and will try to use some of the concepts from, though I am pretty rooted in the red color. I do like the black wheels so will probably go with a set of those in 18" or so.

I knew the day you pulled that '68 GT from the pink and it has been on my list to purchase ever since. I already have your '69 Formal and am looking forward to getting and building that '68.

When we pulled up with the car on the tow truck, my son was running around the neighborhood telling all his friends. It was pretty cool to see him that excited!

Sorry for the long post but I guess I'm pretty excited as well...

Edited June 2, 2010 by torinobradley

[MrObsessive]

Your post makes me long for a house with some garage space where I could work on a couple cars. I wish I could have put my '69 AMX into storage instead of selling it years ago. But you know they say hindsight is 20/20.............

Good luck in getting her back on the road!

I don't know your wife, but who doesn't love an old car to tool around in on a picture perfect day! Especially a convertible, nothing beats the feel and sound of a old, tuned V8 rumbling along.

New cars have their place, but too many of them are just so dang sterile it's not even funny! They're nice for going back and forth to work, safe, and handle well-----------but many of them are lacking the personality that the old ones had IMO.