Hi, Anyone know about these, are they worth anything for parts or desirable to restore. The floor, frame looked solid from what I could poke at, doors, rear quarters, trunk lid, hood were in good shape. The front fenders were blistering around the wheel opening both sides. The lower front fenders were in good shape. Good shape I mean no rust holes, no blistering. The trunk pan has rotted out, but the uni-body under it looked sound. The rear fender wells to the quarter panels looked in good shape. The A Pillars need work from the base of the windshield to the top The interior was in great shape, someone had made a custom instrument package for it and fastened it to the underside of the dash. The wheels had chrome centers, it has front disk brakes, dual master cylinder. The motor looked clean. It had PS, PB, power window, power seat, I don't know about air or power trunk release, I don't think it had cruse. The wheel well opening moldings and side trim were in good shape, I did not check the back bumper. Some one had upgraded the radio to an AM/ FM cassette. The person has owned it since 91 and it has been inside, last running in 2001. He did not know what to ask for it I did not know what to offer Thanks Bruce
Don't know what they are worth. They are difficult to restore. Bunches of unique parts on them. Would love to have one.
Check with the Toronado Owners Association - similar to the Riviera Owners Association. If anyone knows what they are worth as 'parts' or restorable - certainly they would. :TU: www.toronado.org
They are not worth as much as the a bodies. The Toro guys might pay some cash for the body parts. (probably not too much, us olds guy's a frugal bunch:grin:.) Us performance oriented guys like the motors, particularly the crankshafts.
That's good to know, I purchased a 66 Toro parts car, the motors in it, but carb missing, so I presume the engine is seized. I couldn.t even see the car because it's covered in snow. LOL Thanks everyone for the replys. Bruce
These are beautiful cars. '66 was the first and best (in my opinion) year. Restore it if it's not too far gone. I bet you'll enjoy driving it when done. And there's nothing like the smoke show you can put on with 425 cubic inches of Oldsmobile torque coming out the front wheels! :beers2:
The front tires on my Dad's '71 Toronado didn't have a very long tread life after I got my driver's license. :Brow: He owned a '68, and then the '71. That's how I came to appreciate them. I would love to have a '66 thru '70 Toronado someday. :TU: I'm not sure about the switch pitch, but they do have a stump pulling 1st gear!
The Toro transmission is a TH-400 cut in half then folded over double, with a remarkably reliable chain connecting the two halves. I'm pretty sure that first gear was 2.5:1 just like other TH-400s. However, the Toros had a pretty "low" gear (high numerically) for the final drive. Off the top of my head, I want to say it was 3.08:1 for the regular Toro and 3.23:1 for the W-34 beast. Which means that when you hear stories of people cruising their Toronado at 120 mph for hours on end back in the day, the engine was spinning some pretty serious RPM. A switch-pitch converter sounds about right for 1966. In the high-stall mode (off the line), the converter allowed the engine to spool up quicker, but it wasn't really multiplying torque the way a modern high-stall converter does.
Yeah '66 & '67 Toronados do have the switch pitch TH 425 (400) the final drive ratio was 3.21:1 for '66 & '67 and then went to 3.08:1 after. If this Toro is a '66 and has disc brakes someone swapped them on, they weren't available until '67 and then were an option. The cruise control switch is on the dash (if it has CC). I could use a good right fender and am working on my '66 Toronado now but they're always too far awayou: LMK if I can help you with any Toronado questions. BTW everything in the above responses is correct info. Mike TOA #70
THanks Mike, I purchased the parts car, I'm going to take a good look at the other one and try to make the owner a resonable offer. Thanks Bruce
Switch pitch sure sounds like a natural for Pure Stock. In fact I think I saw a few of them over the years.....didn't realize they were used in so many different years other than 66-67...........:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Had some really neat "mules" that were used to develop the drive trains for the 66 Toro. At Saginaw Steering gear (who did the drive axles as well as the columns and steering gear and pumps) we had a green 64 88 HT with the front end stretched out to simulate the Toronado. Wierd looking thing. It was really tricked out to really challenge the components for durability. That thing sure could do some very hairy burnouts. They even had a set of solid axles for it that would chirp the tires when they put it in Drive.
If you have one or know of one for sale, I really want one of the "drum" speedometers in the early Toro's.Too long a story to elaborate on but if you can procure one, LMK. Thanks, Upstaged in Michigan
I think that would be worth $1,500-$,2000 by the way you describe it. If i was you I would snap it up as soon as I could. I have always loved the 66-70 Toronados and they are pretty uncommon. I predict they will be worth some money in the future due to their rarity. Good luck!:TU:
