BRIEF UPDATE

Stopped by the F3 (Far From Factory) shop yesterday and the guys say next week is all mine! I have to get the epoxy primer and supplies on order from Sikkens for delivery on Monday Jan 7th, so by midweek, the Tomato should be (FINALLY!!) wearing her first coat of paint (well epoxy primer anyways) in over 4 years!!

MORE TO COME

Engine - Part 2

With the engine on the stand, it was time to crack her open and have a look inside. First I pulled the exhaust manifolds, carb, fuel pump, timing cover, harmonic balancer and the oil pan. Inside everything looked excellent! The double roller timing chain was nice and taunt, oil pump screen and inside the oil pan was free any debris and the rotating mass looked nice and clean with no visible signs of wear......

Next task is to cover all the openings, sandblast, prime and paint the exterior and get her ready for reassembly and detailing.

Until next time.....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Bucket list - DRIVE STARSKY'S TORINO

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I went to Philly to pick up my "new" 460 from my buddy Carl. While there, I was treated to a visit to Steve B.'s to not only finally meet Steve in person after many years conversing on line and over the phone, but also to see the restored #2 HERO GRAN TORINO from the tv show STARSKY & HUTCH....

Not only did I get to see it, but Steve was also kind enough to allow my to take her for a little spin!

So now, I can strike off my bucket list "DRIVE STARKY'S TORINO."

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Engine - Part 1

Well finally got to Philly to pick up my "new" engine from my buddy Carl. Once again, the engine specs are as follows:

Rebuilt Ford 460 engine with less than 5000 miles
- Block hot tanked, magnafluxed, honed, bored .030 over
- Stock Ford Rods and Pistons, new Mahle rings, Clevite bearings, gaskets and seals
- Cam advance duration = 280/290, duration at .050 = 214/224, lift = .516/.543, centerline = 107/117
- New: Champion plugs, timing chain and high volume oil pump
- Crank ground and polished
- Heads prepped w/ 85cc combustion chambers, 9:4 to 1 compression ratio and 3 angle valve job
- New valves and bronze guides
- Exhausts ported to remove EGR hump
- Balanced
- Edelbrock Performer 460 intake manifold
- Rebuilt Holley 3310 4 barrel carburetor

Here are a few videos Carl sent to show me how smoothly the 460 ran....
 

After seeing the videos and a few pics of the rebuilt carb.....

 

I was sold! So the weekend before Thanksgiving I headed to Philly to get a new heart for my Tomato. When I arrived, Carl was still in the process of pulling if out of his S&H LE, so I rolled up my sleeves and jumped in to help. Before long, the 460 was dangling above it home of many years....

 

We trimmed off the excess exhaust pipes (in hindsight, I wash I had kept the pieces we cut off for future use in determining the run of the exhaust out of the engine bay) and wrestled the engine into the trailer and secured it for transport back to it's new home. The transport vehicle was a 4x8 U-Haul trailer hooked behind my Sable.......

 

 

When I first saw the trailer number, I thought I was really in for an unforgettable adventure.....

 

....but happily I was wrong! LOL

The next day I was given a special treat (see seperate post) before my 9 1/2 hour drive West thru the mountains of WV. While the hunk of iron I was pulling behind me did labor the Mercury on the upslopes, she never let me down and we made it safe and sound.

 

On Monday, I was off to the dealership early to unload the engine....
 

 

then on to U-Haul to return the trailer. With all that out of the way, I set about pulling off the various bits and pieces so I could mount it on my engine stand.......

 

 

Next installment, we'll crack her open and have a look inside...

Stay tuned!!

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Brief Update

Been a while since I posted an update, so I thought I’d bring things up to date…

The principals at F3 do fantastic work and LOVE working on the old stuff, customs and hot rods... but the problem they are facing is finding skilled labor THAT WILL COME TO WORK EVERYDAY! They have been searching for craftsmen to come in and work the insurance jobs (@ flat rate) so they can focus on the classics. They have had my car since May and that's the very reason it is so far behind schedule... a guy will start, work a couple weeks, earn a good check and then disappear. They need the insurance work to keep the doors open and lights on so they can pursue their passion, which means THEY have to work the paying jobs because they can't find dependable help.

That being said, this week (Oct 22-27) is scheduled to be another oldies week… If they can replicate the progress they made last oldies week, my car should be in primer by the weekend! Just a few pieces to finish fitting up for the inner structure and they will be ready to finish weld and dress out the repairs prior to painting with POR15 and then rehang the rear quarter and install the donor roof skin. Once all that is completed, it will be time to hit all the exposed steel with a scotch-brite pad in preparation for the first coats of primer! Been waiting years to say that!

The guys at F3 will also be welding on the frame brackets for the forward reinforcement bars as well as straightening the lower core support crossbar prior to returning the Torino to the dealership for me to finish up detailing the frame and engine compartment and a few other areas I want to finesse prior to final paint and assembly.

I haven’t been totally dormant while I’ve waited on the Tomato’s return. I have lined up a new 460 for the car that I will be purchasing from a fellow GTS forum member and picking up the first weekend of November. The engine specs are as follows:

Rebuilt Ford 460 engine with less than 5000 miles
- Block hot tanked, magnafluxed, honed, bored .30 over
- Stock Ford Rods and Pistons, New Mahle Rings, Clevite Bearings, gaskets and seals
- Cam Adv. Duration = 280/290 Duration at .050 = 214/224 Lift = .516/.543 Centerline = 107/117
- new plugs, timing chain & hv oil pump
- crank ground and polished
- heads prepped and cc'd 85cc combustion chambers 9:4 to 1 compression
- new valves with 3 angle valve job, new bronze guides
- exhaust ports of heads ported to remove EGR hump
- balanced
- Edelbrock Aluminum Performer Intake Manifold #2166

- Rebuilt Holley #3310 750cfm 4 barrel carburetor

Cleared off my engine stand and got it all cleaned up for the new addition. I also checked out the air cleaner assembly I have for my car and found I have a 429 base (snorkel vacuum port mounted to bottom of housing just behind the carb) and a later 460 cover (snorkel vacuum port mounts to lid). A bit more scrounging thru my parts cache and I found an early lid that I will need to work just a bit and I'll have the air cleaner like I had on my old LE. In the warmer months, I would replace the full size OEM lid with a 14" chrome aftermarket lid that allowed the outer perimeter of the air cleaner element to be open so it could breathe a bit easier. When cooler temps arrived, I would replace the factory lid to be able to utilize the heat riser function of the snorkel. I also purchased a NOS engine block heater (freeze plug style) off eBay since the 460 in my project Torino came with one and also picked up a set of taillight fillers.

Hopefully my next update will be a bit more constructive!

More to come...

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Panel fitment has begun... Part 1

Well the guys at Far From Factory (F3) kept to their plan and Sept 4 thru 8 is definitely OLDIES WEEK. Panel fitment has begun on the Tomato and things are really starting to take shape. They have the inner structure grafted together and now the repaired assembly is welded to the wheelhouse. The boys are now in the process of fitting the wheelhouse/inner structure to the body.

With things secured in place, they even hung the outer skin and roof skin to check fit and spot the sail panel to roof patch panel to the outer quarter panel.

Looking forward to seeing how much is done on Friday!

Stay tuned……….

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Out with the old.....

The team at Far From Factory (F3) have removed the damaged sections of the driver’s side rear quarter structure....

Closer inspection of the damaged and donor sheet metal sections reveal that many of the panels will have to be grafted together from bits of each group to arrive at solid replacements. As an example, the donor wheelhouse outer lip wasn’t nearly as solid as the outer lip of the removed tub. When the Torino was originally repaired years ago, the outer wheelhouse was replaced with a new OEM unit along with the new outer quarter panel skin. Evidently the car saw limited weather after the repair because the outer wheelhouse was extremely solid. Had it not been blacksmithed to accommodate use of the original (damaged) inner quarter structure, it could have been reused. Adam plans to cut out the good section of the outer lip and graft it into the donor wheelhouse. A similar situation is being experienced at the replacement section of the roof header.

After talking with Adam about his plans to create solid replacement panels from the bits and pieces available, I feel I made the right decision to turn the body and paint over to the craftsmen at F3!!

Stay tuned for more….

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Last piece of the puzzle?

The boys at Far From Factory (F3) found another part that was damaged that they also wanted to replace... the section of the roof header right above the c-pillar. I got in touch with the guy who supplied me the inner structure and he still had his donor Torino and was able to cut out a large section of the header so we would have more than enough of the roof header to make the repair.

I also purchased a gallon of Evapo-Rust to treat the new section prior to install, so I'll let everyone know how well it worked on the heavy surface rust on the donor piece... however I'm sure it won't be as clean as Redi-Strip got the other parts, but we'll see!

As a side note I had to also get a replacement rear tire....

...evidently Team F3 were doing burnouts with the 2M8O and had a blow out! LOL, the tire looked like Wilson from CASTAWAY!!

More to come....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Reconstruction has begun....

The guys at Far From Factory have begun the daunting task of repairing the Torino inner structure. They have pulled the driver's side rear quarter panel to expose the underlying structure and have found the hidden repairs were performed with the same blacksmithing skills as the roof!

The replacement rear quarter skin had been brazed into place with a minimum of attachment points which made the skin removal pretty straight forward, but the work to come will be a bit more difficult. Here are a few shots of some of the problem areas......

The guys do great work and have agreed to allow me to assist with the more mundane tasks that don't require a lot of skill but do need lots of patience. I see a lot of spot weld drilling, edge straightening and rust removal in my future! I hope to also pick up a few bodyworking skills along the way and perhaps some painting basics as well.

More to come......

ZEBRA 3 OUT

THIS JUST IN.....

DO NOT ADJUST YOUR PICTURE....

There is nothing wrong with your set... No progress postings yet as I am still getting all the numbers in order. Here's hoping I don't break the bank!

We are talking with more potential sponsors, so hopefully we can secure them to insure we have a first rate build that does justice to the homage we are paying to the original. Also, have some print and network options we are looking into... Keep your fingers crossed!

Stay tuned for further updates....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

THE MOVE!

Well the day I have been dreaming of has finally arrived! While we weren't able to move the Torino on Saturday like we had hoped due to a rainy weekend, the weather cleared long enough for the move to happen on Wednesday afternoon. We beat the rain by half an hour! The 2M8O was safely in the Far From Factory shop when the first drops began to fall. Here are a few pics from the move....

Now you see her....

(working on the stripe templates while I wait for the guys...)

Now you don't!

Working her way towards the ramp....

Into the daylight for the first time in a couple years...

Ready to load.....

UP....

UP....

AND AWAY....

Arrival at Far From Factory....

Safe, sound and surrounded by good company....

Left the fun begin!

Stay tuned....

ZEBRA 3 OUT