[lotsofdogs2]

I am trying to convince my husband to restore his car. The VIN is 9A42Q240529. It has a 428 Cobra Jet motor. I think his hesitancy is that he's not sure it's worth restoring. The car runs. Can anyone tell me how rare this car is today? How difficult will it be to find parts, etc? Any links to where I can find more info on it, things to motivate him, etc. would be appreciated. Thank you for your time. Jen

 

[schufitz]

It definitely looks restorable. Big Block Torino GT's, especially the 428s, are getting harder to find. This one looks like it was 'redone' at some point as it has non-69 high back seats and traction bars. They are still not super high value when compared to a comparable GM or Mopar. Maybe $50K for super nice originals or concours resto. Mac's/Ecklers have catalogs for these models and AMD is now making sheet metal for them. Many engine & suspension parts are common to the Mustang as well. If you were to "farm out" all the resto work, probably does not make economic sense.
If you decide to restore, I'd suggest signing up with Fairlane club of America. It's $35 per year and they have great website with model specific forums where members can pretty much help you with any issues you come across. Another good site is torinocobra.com, they have a decent forum. Not as much traffic there now as a few years back as Facebook seems to be where many now go (Not on FB here). A Marti report will give you all of the factory options that may help you determine how original it is. Any other pics?

TorinoCobra.com - Torino and Cyclone Technical Forum - Index page

Home - Fairlane Club of America

Dedicated to the enjoyment, preservation, and restoration of Fairlane/Torino/LTD II, Mercury intermediates, 77-79 Cougar automobiles manufactured by Ford Motor Company from 1962 to 1979.

fca.clubexpress.com

https://concoursparts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/pdfcatalogs-file5.pdf

Ford Fairlane Parts Catalog & Ford Torino Parts

Play it safe with your restoration or go all-out on performance by getting parts for the Ford Fairlane, Ford Torino and Mercury Montego from MAC's Auto Parts.

www.macsautoparts.com

I'm kind of partial to these models as my first car in '83 was a '69 formal roof with 390. For about 7 years now have had a 64K mile '69 GT 351W formal. Nice going to shows where yours is the only Torino among a sea of tri-5's, Mustangs, Camaros, Chevelles etc.

 

[stephen.osborne1]

Totally worth it! You don't see many Torinos around. And the 428 makes it even cooler.

 

[lotsofdogs2]

It definitely looks restorable. Big Block Torino GT's, especially the 428s, are getting harder to find. This one looks like it was 'redone' at some point as it has non-69 high back seats and traction bars. They are still not super high value when compared to a comparable GM or Mopar. Maybe $50K for super nice originals or concours resto. Mac's/Ecklers have catalogs for these models and AMD is now making sheet metal for them. Many engine & suspension parts are common to the Mustang as well. If you were to "farm out" all the resto work, probably does not make economic sense.
If you decide to restore, I'd suggest signing up with Fairlane club of America. It's $35 per year and they have great website with model specific forums where members can pretty much help you with any issues you come across. Another good site is torinocobra.com, they have a decent forum. Not as much traffic there now as a few years back as Facebook seems to be where many now go (Not on FB here). A Marti report will give you all of the factory options that may help you determine how original it is. Any other pics?

TorinoCobra.com - Torino and Cyclone Technical Forum - Index page

Home - Fairlane Club of America

Dedicated to the enjoyment, preservation, and restoration of Fairlane/Torino/LTD II, Mercury intermediates, 77-79 Cougar automobiles manufactured by Ford Motor Company from 1962 to 1979.

fca.clubexpress.com

https://concoursparts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/pdfcatalogs-file5.pdf

Ford Fairlane Parts Catalog & Ford Torino Parts

Play it safe with your restoration or go all-out on performance by getting parts for the Ford Fairlane, Ford Torino and Mercury Montego from MAC's Auto Parts.

www.macsautoparts.com

I'm kind of partial to these models as my first car in '83 was a '69 formal roof with 390. For about 7 years now have had a 64K mile '69 GT 351W formal. Nice going to shows where yours is the only Torino among a sea of tri-5's, Mustangs, Camaros, Chevelles etc.
View attachment 174469

Hi Schufitz,
Your car is beautiful. My son bought this car for him about 16 yrs ago. It was as close to the '69 Fairlane fastback 428 that was my husband's first car that he could find. I'm guessing the traction bars could be related to the person before him drag racing it? He still has the front bench seat that was in it. He thought he wanted to try bucket seats in it and he's now glad he kept the bench. LOL I am sure I have more pictures of it. It's pretty dirty at the moment. He has it covered in the barn Can you tell me how to run a Marti report on it please? Thank you so much for all of the links. I will start exploring them tonight. Thanks again, Jen

 

[pkevins]

Marti Reports

 

[51 Ford F1]

I noticed the paint peeling off in certain areas. Might want take a strong magnet 🧲 and run it over that area and the rust prone areas to see if there’s “bondo” on the car.

 

[FeFranco]

My ‘69 looked exactly like that (royal maroon, bench seat) when my son and I started our project. They are very easy to work on, just everything is big and you need room. The front suspension parts are the same as the 1969 Mustang big block. That will save you $$$, just make sure you cross reference the part numbers which is not hard to do. And yes, they do have value.
Franco

 

[gizmo]

I purchase my 1st car on my 18th birthday at Chanute AFB, Ill, a 1969 4speed 428SCJ Torino. I drove from Chanute to Calif then to Lackland AFB, Texas after a short stay was assigned to Altus AFB, OK. I decided to race the car around OK and TX and end up being pushed and hit the wall. I miss the car couldn't keep the tire from spinning or go straight.

 

[lotsofdogs2]

I purchase my 1st car on my 18th birthday at Chanute AFB, Ill, a 1969 4speed 428SCJ Torino. I drove from Chanute to Calif then to Lackland AFB, Texas after a short stay was assigned to Altus AFB, OK. I decided to race the car around OK and TX and end up being pushed and hit the wall. I miss the car couldn't keep the tire from spinning or go straight. View attachment 174520

Gizmo, I am so sorry to hear about the accident. Your car looks very similar to the first car my husband had. I am going to show him this thread tonight. Hopefully you guys have given him some encouragement. Thank you all so much.

 

[stephen.osborne1]

Good luck. Hope your hubby decides to go for it. Very cool car. And in case he doesn't realize it, he's got a great woman... Actually trying to get him to restore a car. Normally we hear about quite the opposite.

 

[markgp]

Dear Jen's Husband,

Definitely try to restore this wonderful car. I am nearing the end of an 18 month journey to resurrect my 1968 Torino GT Fastback which also was my first car. Most parts are not expensive and it looks like your car is very complete so you probably have most of the parts that would be expensive. Attaching my current status for encouragement. I am so close to getting it started. Just need to validate TDC is correct, stab the distributor, and prep for first start since 1994.

Good luck!