1968 Torino GT

Here is a 1968 Torino GT that was brought to us from Livingston, Tennessee for some wiring and rear leaf spring work. After close inspection, this car was found to be a mechanical nightmare. Most before pictures are used for a reference. None were taken of the mechanics on this car as everything was noncompliant and just plain wrong. It did have a 428 and a four-speed, and this was enough to proceed forward. The suspension was shot and had to be totally rebuilt. The rear leaf spring centering bolts were rusted off, allowing the rear end to move back and forth along with a few broken springs. The 428 did not run well, and it was found to have a flat lobe on the cam shaft and a few push rods turned to pretzels. The heads were off a 390 and had burned valves. A suggestion was made to upgrade with Edelbrock heads, cam, intake manifold, and water pump. The short block was rebuilt with new components installed on top and was finished with heavy-duty valve train and ceramic-coated headers. The customer then wanted an aluminum radiator and Monte Carlo support bar across spring towers. He also wanted a Shaker hood scoop. 1968 Torino’s were not offered with Shakers, so to make this look like a factory install, a wrecked '67 Mustang hood was found, and the inner braces were used and grafted to the '68 Torino hood. When smoothed out, it appears that the factory did make it. The 428 CJ Torino now puts out some tire smoking power that looks stock. It cost to do it right the first time. It pays to do it once!