Words: Tommy Parry
Though its start wasn’t the most auspicious, Clayton saw the potential this old Gran Torino held. Clearly, this Ford had seen better times, but its weathered hide would get a complete overhaul and a new motor to help bring it back to its glory days.
Clayton’s first order of business was stripping the car down to its bare frame. The Northwestern elements had taken their toll, and the rust was so abundant, the body of the car required some reinforcement before it was hung on Clayton’s homebuilt rotisserie.
The old frame was destroyed and could be crushed with his hands, so he looked for a replacement. After doing some research, Clayton discovered Crown Victorias’ frames are a close match, and the wheelbase is nearly identical. Soon after, he picked up a 2005 Crown Victoria P71, which has the aluminum lower control arms and 3.55 posi rear end. Despite being separated by 30 years, the floor pans, side to side, were within 1/16” of one another. Front to back was virtually identical as well. All he needed to do was bend a couple of metal pieces up to serve as his new inner rockers before welding them to the Crown Victoria’s sections.
With much of the body sorted, Clayton took refuge from the cruel Canadian winter, put the body on hold and sourced a motor. Though he debated using the 460 in his garage, he wanted something lighter and more modern. More than just practical, this lightweight 2011 Coyote from an F-150 would suit the modern chassis well – and with stainless hardware and BOSS 302 coil covers, it’d make the bay a feast for the eyes.
Though this was originally intended to bolt to the 4R75W from the Police Interceptor, running an auto was killing Clayton inside, so he opted instead for a T45 from a 2000 Mustang.
After reshaping the oil pan and the cam cover, he needed to massage the firewall slightly to fit the engine and gearbox. Then, turning his attention to the accessory drives, he designed a simple setup using a reverse rotation Corvette pump, a Dodge grooved pulley and a bracket of his own design to allow the belt to be adjusted without a hydraulic tensioner.
Back at the body, he tacked the trunk pans into place and attached some sheetmetal for mockup purposes. After months of scraping, grinding and cutting a rusty skeleton, the Gran Torino was beginning to look like a car once again.
Though it’s far from finished, this project has already shown just how a heavily weathered hide can be shaped into something beautiful. To keep tabs on this Herculean challenge, you can check Clayton’s build thread here.
