Hi all club members, this is my first real post on here but i've been watching and reading for a couple years now whilst working on my own restoration with my father. Just over a year and a half ago we bought this Triumph Toledo to fix up as my first classic and first car, we bought it blind online and when it arrived it wasnt exactly as expected.
The car had bubbles in the paintwork and rust spots, which ofcourse grew into huge holes when we started tapping on it
Due to this alot of the car would need re painted, so we made the decision to do it properly and do a full restoration and colour change on the car, We started work by cutting out rusted patches and re making the bodywork with plate.
Once plated we would grind back the welds and tap the plate metal back to allow us to fill over the plate and original bodywork, to create a seemless (or good as) finish once primed.
Once all plating and filling had begun we started flatting the paint, for this we removed everything from the shell and started working our way panel to panel flatting the shine off the paintwork, using stopper filler to fill any pin pricks or sanding any bad spots in the paintwork right back to bare metal, (my dolly wheels I bought off ebay arrived so had to try them first
)
Once we had flatted most of the bad bits out we used white filler primer over the whole car, once this was done we started flatting and filling any bad bits with stopper, we also had to completely flat the surface off the primer before even going near paint.
Once we had the body work perfected we then masked up all the interior and engine bay
We now got to the point to decide what colour to do it, from the start I wanted it red, we shopped about for a long time getting testers and we liked Ford Radient red, however, we ended up seeing a patch for Ferrari Scuderia red, and that was it sold. We bought 4l of Omron Ferrari Scuderia and layed the first coats on the doors and bonnet.
We were blown away with the colour, it was absolutely perfect (and unbelievably bright), but it got even better once the shell was sprayed...
The paint layed perfect and came out great, especially for being done in an old garage!
Once sprayed it was time for the fun jobs, we had an absolute nightmare with the rear window rubber however, so DO NOT buy the "dolomite rear window rubber" from east kent trim supplies, as it is completely wrong, there is no way on earth it could go in without serious modification, which is what we done. It was a whole day job in total of stretching and cutting, we ended up grinding atleast 5mm of rubber away with a dremel right along both edges of where the window and frame sits. It was in and solid eventually but definetely not ideal. The front rubber however was perfect and went in without any modification
We then got all the chrome and doors on, dolly wheels polished and the body polished up abit, the first time seeing it in the sun was amazing, worth ALL the work.
My new black carpets then arrived, so we got all the interior in, which turned out stunning
Engine bay was cleaned up and sprayed, we never took the engine out so it couldnt be done red, but I do like the black. We polished up the carb and a few other bits and got the rocker cover sanded and sprayed with the 2K Ferrari paint we had left over, not everyones taste but I love it.
We rebuilt the front brakes so they wouldnt stick and I drove it around the drive, such a fun little car and some comfortable, will be a definite change from my MK4 Golf!
I have Gaz height and rebound adjustable shocks on their way which should be the last thing, only other problem is getting insured, I dont want to ruin the car by driving it during the winter, but dont know if I can wait until next summer!
I know this restoration might not be to everyones taste, but I am very happy with it, any constructive criticism is welcome.
Cheers
Glynn
I bet you cant stop grinning when you drive it and getting the admiring look's off people.