As you may remember if you have been following my blog from the beginning, when I first got my Torino I thought I had “fish eye” in the paint on the roof…
To test my hand at panel repair, I drilled out the spot welds securing the package shelf diagonal drivers side brace to the car and hammer and dollied it back into shape, stripped the old paint and reinstalled it in the car. I also fabricated a new filler panel to fit between the package shelf structure and the inner quarter panel structure which is slightly visible in the picture of the reinstalled diagonal brace, but with the acquisition of replacement wheelhouse and inner quarter structure, the filler panel won’t be used.
But as I pulled the interior out to change it over to black I discovered the real reason for the roof blemishes... Seems at some point in the past the Torino had been involved in an accident and the drivers side outer quarter panel, outer wheelhouse, latch pillar, inner trim bulkhead and drivers door had all been replaced but the roof skin, inner quarter structure, inner wheelhouse and package shelf reinforcement had all been “repaired”…
As I continued to work on my Torino I began my search for replacement sheet metal to replace the damaged panels. I located a Cougar locally from which I was able to pull the roof skin as well as roof bracing (see earlier blog posts Skinnin da Cat and Popping the top) but the search for the inner structure proved a bit more difficult. After exhausting all local leads over the course of several years, I finally contacted John Haney at BlueOval in McDonough, GA. I sent John an e-mail asking about the availability of the inner quarter structure for a ‘74-’76 formal roof Gran Torino and I received an e-mail back stating he did. I forwarded John a picture of exactly what I was needing, but he never opened it nor did I ask for photos of the panel he proposed to supply prior to sending payment. So when he e-mailed me back that the panel was ready for shipment, I requested pics of the removed structure only then to discover that the sheet metal he had removed was from a ’72! The ’72-’73 structure was completely different from the ’74-’76....
Although John would not admit to his mistake and after much haggling (and an additional $150!!), he did supply me with a drivers side wheelhouse that also included the lower portion of the inner quarter.
When the wheelhouse arrived, I set about removing the remnants of the surrounding panels that were not needed for my Torino in preparation for sandblasting.
Shortly after the arrival of the wheelhouse, my buddy Steve Casteel (Mr. Torino BTW!!) whom I purchased my Torino from, put me in touch with another Torino acquaintance of his… Phil Shoop who happened to have a couple Torino parts cars. I contacted Phil and sent him pics of what I was needing and within a month or two I also had the inner quarter structure!!
Now with the replacement parts in hand, it’s time to get busy and get them sandblasted, cleaned up and ready for installation. My next major obstacle will be to find a local body shop or independent body man who would be interested in installing the panels for me!
Until next time…….
ZEBRA 3 OUT
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