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OK, if you are a purist then either stop reading now or belt yourself in firmly...

I am about to replace the horizontally patterned grills in my '69 with a pair of the grills from my '68 painted gloss black with all other visible plastic and the frames painted a flat black



I know, it is heretical to mix up the years like this, but I really like the honeycomb pattern much more than the linear grille pattern. To top it off, some jackass removed the backing panels that hid the lights so even with the headlight covers down you still see the headlights and it just looks wrong!

To make matters worse, they completely removed the vacuum actuator and the lever bits that provided the leverage to raise the covers. Luckily my 68 parts car has good grills and a vacuum actuator that simply needed a bit of JB Weld applied to a hole it had in the side. I have considered converting to an electric acuator but have yet to find one I am comfortable with so am going with the vacuum unit for now.

I will finally have working covers in the pattern I far prefer. I am pretty certain I will really like the blackout treatment so I am looking forward to completing the upgrade shortly. I will post some pics so those that like the idea can appreciate it and those that consider me a heretic will have the final proof that I am going to burn in hell for eternity!

Hehe, nothing wrong with cross-breeding... Check out this 1970 from the for sale forums:



The visible headlights were the only thing that made me dislike the 1970, I love tge looks of this one

Well I'll be. I too dislike the visible headlights. Thanks for the support!

Hide a way headlights are the best! One of my favourite styling trends of all time. They look great on every car that’s ever had’em..

I agree. I tend to prefer the covered lights such as on the '68 and '69 to the pop-ups on the '66 and '67 although it only matters when they are raised. For some reason I am not too keen on the raised look. This applies to Corvettes and any other pop-up design and is a major factor in why I put the look of the second round of first-gen Toros before the otherwise fantastic look of the first two years.

I covet a C6 'Vette for just this reason...

xgecko wrote:I agree. I tend to prefer the covered lights such as on the '68 and '69 to the pop-ups on the '66 and '67 although it only matters when they are raised. For some reason I am not too keen on the raised look. This applies to Corvettes and any other pop-up design and is a major factor in why I put the look of the second round of first-gen Toros before the otherwise fantastic look of the first two years.

I covet a C6 'Vette for just this reason...

Some cars look neet with their lights up...

BEHOLD! The Kermit Pinto!

Rrribbitt!

I agree I like the honeycomb grille pattern too! AS for the 1970 for sale ....it looks fantastic! I immediately thought "something doesnt look right, but it looks GOOD" then it came to me. I wonder IF they are working or just set in there and resting in place? Nice job if they are working! I also agree and LOVE hidden headlamps. A styling "gimmick" of the 60s-70s that I loved. My 66 Toro looks clean and sporty, but it DOES look a little odd with them open. Kind of like a bull frog!LOL

You just gotta open the doors when you've got the headlamps up, and it looks like The Mothership, lol

Errr... where's the windshield, Doc?

Got all the bits painted and hope to put them back today. Really looking forward to the new look as it never looked right to me with the headlights visible.