I noticed earlier that you by-passed the heater core, but didn't see where you had fixed it. Since you don't have a/c, replacing the heater core is quite easy. It takes about 90 minutes start to finish, and all you have to remove is the glove box door and the box itself. The dash stays in place. The trick is to find the non-a/c heater core. They are out there, but not as common. Did you find factory speaker grills for your door speakers? If not, Sslew, a member on here from Saskatchewan, Canada, has a 78 Thunderbird Diamond Edition he is parting out. The door grills are blue, and should be the same as your Torino uses. Those Torinos are the same basic car as the 77-79 mid-sized Ford and Mercury models, and use the same dash and instrument clusters. That is why I was a bit surprised to hear you were having trouble with the instrument cluster, and finding one that worked. There are all kinds of them out there, including the ones with full gauges. They all fit the same opening in the dash, no cutting required.
Photos Unfortunately Kodak Gallery did shut down, but I am able to post any new photos using Shutterfly. I also have every photo taken saved on my home computer.
Heater Core Actually I have not fixed the heater core problem yet. I figured I still have a few months before it gets cold so I am still waiting. I do have the original speaker grills on the front door speakers and the 6 x 9 speakers in the rear came with grills so I just used those. Thanks for the tips!
Update December 2012 I hope everyone has been doing good and getting ready for Christmas. I just wanted to give yall an update of my "preparations" for Christmas! Here are few photos of the family and me after watching the Cowboy game on Sunday. We went out for dinner and cruised around looking at Christmas lights before we made it back home. All we need now is some snow. In Texas, we get ALL four seasons within the same day sometimes! http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=bbc0e921217391ce&sid=0AZMXLlq3Ysmj9w
Update... Added these two little gems to my Custon Autosound stereo system installed previously. Best part is everything is hidden so no bulky stuff seen. This has made a big difference in my weekend drives.
Where you been, gpd?? Haven't seen you since you and the family were driving around in that beautifully restored (thanks to you) Ford looking at Christmas lights! Just because you finished the gorgeous job on that car doesn't mean you can be a stranger around here! Nice to see you again and nice addition to your wagon.
I know Silver and I apologize. I have been around in and out every now and again, but the days just seem to fly by. I'll try and "hang out" more often.
Maybe I outta start a new one, huh?. LOL! It's funny I was wiping the wagon down last night in the garage and my wife comes out and asks, "maybe you outta sell this one and get yourself another project, one that you can enjoy restoring again since thats what you like to do". I responded, "maybe I need to get a bigger garage and just take you up on your offer" (except for the part about getting rid of this one of course) LOL!!!!!!
License Plate Trading???? I've been getting my garage together and doing a lil decorating and was wondering if anyone was interested in trading license plates. I have 4 TEXAS plates that I have duplicates and would like to trade for some from any other state/country/planet . I can cover shipping to you, within reason, if you can cover shipping to me. Let me know if anyone is interested.