Comments: 1-15, 16-21
Everything has started to rust. Most of the rust fortunately is the bolts that hold everything that needs replacing.
The rear shocks are totally gone. Just the center support rod for each one is all that's left.
I can't remove the right rear brake drum to repair and put on new shoes.
The radiator support frame is rusting out from under it.
Battery holder box is gone, (rust).
The AM radio works, but needs a new speaker.
The driver's side wiper is in serious need of replacement.
The heater fan motor doesn't work either.
All the rubber gaskets around the doors are shrinking. Not coming loose, just kind of shrinking. I know it sounds strange. It's like they are loosing their shape, but they aren't.
This is all not manufacturing problems. This is from all the years that the car sat up.
This car was purchased new by a 66 year old man when he retired from work in 1972. I have had several of these cars and each one has been very good. The problems with this are the usual things that come from being 30 years old and not being taken care of. The man only drove it in this town and sometimes in the county, or the state (we live next to the state line). It had never been out of this county until I got it. It was only driven to Church, the doctor, the stores and the post office. Most of its life, it was parked in the weather. Never in a garage or carport.
The car has never seen the 100,000 mile mark yet. I have driven this car with the utmost care for 7 months of the past year I have owned it. I knew it was needing some work. I was doing what I could with what I had. I do plan on trying to get it back into shape. The interior doesn't need more than recovering the driver's side of the front seat. The windshield could stand to be replaced. Mostly just the normal stuff that wears out at 60 to 70,000 miles. And of course, the vinyl roof, and then repaint the body. What little rust is on the body is around the bottom of the doors. Especially the driver's door.
The man who had originally purchased this car, did do the usual maintainence such as changing the oil, and he did replace all, but one tire. The spare. The people I bought it from one year this month, used it and bought 3 more tires to replace the newest ones he had put on it had dry-rotted. I got the closest jack I could find to the original. It is about 4 inches shorter than the one I should have. I later found out that these people have the original jack. They won't let it go. They use it to jack up there utility trailer to hook it on their truck so they can carry the wrestling ring to the armory. And at least I don't have to paint all of the door and trunk jambs. And inside the trunk lid. They polish up very nicely and look as if they were just painted. I wish I could get the exterior to do the same. I have decided that if someone really wants to restore this car, I'd sell it to them. Otherwise, I'll work on it as long as I am able.
I own a 1972 Ford Gran Torino. It has approximately 74,000 miles on the 351c engine. It is my first car and I wouldn't recommend it to any new drivers because of the shear size. It is 18 feet long! It is in practically mint condition and since I am the second owner I would like to keep it that way. Everything from the uncracked dash to the spotless vinyl roof are perfect. My only problem is a few paint chips and cracks that I would like to paint over. Everything in it is original and I will keep it that way. I even have the original floor mats! Well anyway it's a great old car and comfortable to ride in. And if you are a teenager out there and you would like a bigger back seat then this is the car for you.
My dad has a Gran Torino FB, I learned to drive in it. Surprisingly, though it is big, it is fairly agile :-)
I'm 16 years old and my parents bought me a '72 Gran Torino! This thing is a beast. It is a fix-er-upper, but I don't care at all. I've put a few hundred dollars into it by installing dual flow-masters and fixing the heater/ac in it. It runs very nice and the interior is almost perfect. The outside is OK looking.. It could use a new paint job and a new back bumper.
We have a 1972 Gran Torino. My husband bought it in 1983 when he was in high school.. it has a 429 with about 625 horses, c-6 auto and a 9 inch. It has 114,00 orig. miles on it, (we obviously played with the engine a little bit). This is a great car that will eventually be passed onto one of our 3 kids later on in life (probably after we are both gone). My husband often jokes that he would get rid of me before her and I laughingly say the same about him.
I am 18 years old, and I've been looking for a good old car to turn into my "project" that would keep me busy and happy for a while, and I found this nice old 72' Torino with 114,000 miles on it. The thing is that I really don't have that much money, and I didn't really know if buying it would be completely worth it with all that mileage. I need to know how long this kind of car actually lasts before I jump to any kind of commitment, but other than that, the car itself looks very nice and very sturdy. Even though it could use a good fix-up, I still think this car looks beautiful!
"...need to know how long this kind of car actually lasts..."?
Doesn't the fact that the car has managed to avoid the junkyard for 32 years now tell you anything?
My grandfather owned my now owned 1972 Gran Torino Sport with 351C engine and what's left of the beautiful blue. There wasn't many problems, just the usual old car effects. Rust began to set in to places I was hoping that they wouldn't. Small spots began to appear near the bottom of the doors and bottoms of the fenders. I have rebuilt the engine surprising while it only had 88,000 original miles on it. I just turned 18 when my grandfather died and willed it to me. I'm currently restoring it using the "Dear Born Classics" website and catalog. I encourage any current restorers to use this website and/or catalog. The car has been sitting in the weather for quite sometime, at least 25 years or so. As soon as it was officially in my possession I put a cover over it and garaged it as best I could. The paint has been trashed mostly from the weather and I'm having plenty of trouble finding the original laser strips. Battery tray and apron were rusted, some of the engine bay, but most of that has been replaced and fixed. The original spare tire is in the back and the trunk is in decent condition. Most of the emblems are intact and in decent shape also. Cracked dash and poor speakers and the only real problem besides the paint. Great car, very agile for size, and rides like a Cadillac. With plenty of power it's any speed demons dream. If anyone would like to see the car, check out my non-profit website at www.cardomain.com/memberpage/551413. Thanks and keep up the good work everyone!
My memories of my Dad's 1976 Ford:
-It looked a bit like the Starsky & Hutch car... same red colour, except ours was a 4 door and had a white vinyl roof (the S & H car was a 2 door, red, with a white stripe on each side). It was one of the few sporty looking 4 doors cars available at the time.
-The 351 V8 had good off the line power and was reliable. Not much top end power or reserve power at highway speeds
-the 3 speed auto was reliable for the time. It always made a mild ticking sound when in 2nd gear. When we got rid of the car, it wasn't shifting very well anymore (after 90,000 miles)
(note that we used this car to tow a 3000 pound trailer and it had a transmission cooler installed)
-The carb was better than Ford's other carbs - like the 1972 LTD we had that had chronic starting problems, and didn't have the choke switch problems of the 1982 Grand Marquis we had.
-stalling in cold weather
-front passenger side window came off track while on vacation. Had to disassemble door and manually pull up window.
-air conditioner was unreliable and made funny sounds until it failed completely
-one of the front right tie rods broke
-gas tank got punctured when a rear tire blew
-the heater blower had to be replaced
-rust at the base of the doors, at rear quarter panels and under the rear seat
-a water leak developed at the top of the windshield seam
-used a ton of gas by today's standards.
My family had a 1972 Gran Torino wagon with the ever-popular wood grain package. Car got about 9 mpg overall (including winters), rusted like mad, fake wood panelling went white, and that one speaker AM radio was the icing on the cake.
After rust consumed the car my parents traded it in on a 1976 Toyota Corona Mark II wagon, a significantly better car in all respects.
My '72 Torino ("Thunderpig") got 6 miles to the gallon, went like stink, and was 40% rust. It was the fastest (and ugliest) car I've owned yet, was dead reliable, and didn't seem to mind the indignities I heaped upon it during my misspent youth.
I loved that car. 8v (
My wife's all time favorite car was the metallic Gold 1974 Grand Torino coupe I bought her in '76. The car was big, smooth, fast and plush. We kept the car for 12 years and it was trouble free and solid as a rock. I did the first brake job on it at 80,000 miles. It had well over 100,000 on it when we sold it. These things were built so well that in 10,000 years some archaeologist will probably find one in the ruins of an old garage and drive it home!!
Yeah probally my 72 needs trim 89 460 550 ft lbs of torque gold car is solid got a little bit of work to to the car then start winning trophys again got a attic full.
I had a 72 Gran Torino sport. Red with Black top, psychedelic strip across sides. It looked super fast, but was not really very fast because of its weight. Had a 351 windsor. Had cragers and headers and thrush mufflers. White leather interior. I bought it around 75 or 76 with 30,000 miles for $2650. One of the meanest looking cars in town, but my 69 mustang I traded in on it would have blown it away. Wish I had them both back now.
I had a 1972 red Ford Grand Torino Sport----black roof, white interior, laser stripes... sold it around 1976----it had 34,000 miles... (NJ)...Why didn't I keep it!!!