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Joe A.'s 1976 Ford Torino
"Starsky & Hutch"®Replica
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| Joe started work on this car 8 months ago, and his
hard work and persistence have paid off. This was a plain Torino when Joe started the project, but he's added most
of the Gran Torino trim pieces already. He bought the car in October, 2004, in Kansas. As you can see in the interior
photo, it has air conditioning AND cruise control. Wow. |
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| The interior, as you can see in some of the pictures
below, was red when Joe started the conversion. I believe he dyed at least some of the pieces. Several people have
done this. It looks great, but is prone to wear, over time, in areas that get a lot of rubbing like the arm rests.
So, you touch them up if it ever becomes necessary. No problem. |
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| Joe sent these pictures of his new engine in May of
2006, just under a year after the rest of the photos. The car had its original 351 Windsor engine when Joe bought
it, but he put in a 351 Cleveland with a Barry Grant Race Demon 4 barrel carb, and headers with 2 1/2 inch pipe
and Dyno-Max mufflers. He says the engine now puts out around 370 HP! |
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| After cutting out rust and welding new metal in areas
such as the fenders and bottom edge of the car, the next step was to fill in the opera windows with several layers
of the Handyman's Secret Weapon - Duct Tape. Just kidding. I'm sure that tape was there on the car for some other
good reason. After grinding and sanding everything smooth and applying primer to the whole car, the stripe area
of the car was painted black and the pinstripe was taped off. This is a nice step to take instead of using black
pinstripe tape after painting on the red and white. |
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| After masking off the black pinstripe, the stripe area
was painted white. Then the infamous Detective Brent Stripe Kit
was applied over the white, and the red was sprayed over the whole car. Then you remove the paper stencil to reveal
the white stripe, peel off the pinstripe tape to reveal the black outline, put the trim back on, and hit the streets!
Nice job, Joe! It's great to see your lifelong dream come true. |