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1972 grand torino station wagon

Printed From: The Ford Torino Page
Category: Model Specific Forum
Forum Name: Four Doors and Wagons
Forum Description: Technical discussion for 4-doors and station wagons
URL: https://forum.grantorinosport.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=21323
Printed Date: 26-March-2026 at 9:20AM
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.06 - https://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: 1972 grand torino station wagon
Posted By: searcyfarms
Subject: 1972 grand torino station wagon
Date Posted: 30-June-2024 at 11:14AM
Hey Folks, 

first post here other than the welcome 

just wanted to drop a note regarding my first car. I was allowed to rescue it from a barn lot. It had been used for a farm truck - fire wood hauler. It developed a miss, starter went out so i sat in a barn lot for a sheep rubbing obstacle. 

I was offered the challenge at 16 if I could get it running I could have it for helping with sheep vaxing, sheep tail docking and banding. 

I was thrilled, I had no money other than farm work I did. I had a little bit of funds from trapping in the winter. Most of my money was spent for gas to go to school to participate in sports practices before/after school and this would provide a way of getting to/from school also and not have to deal with mom/dad and arrangements to coordinate with them. 

readers digest version

sheep taken care of, couple boards/jacks, aired up tires, brought starter with me off 1975 mercury marquis that had a broken crank we had stuffed in the fence row. 

put on starter, got it running, drove it home 50ish miles. 

cut my teeth on engine repair on lawn mowers so this was bigger, taught myself how to take head off 75 merc that had broken crank. 

found bent valve on torino, diagnosed by pulling valve covers and dad told me to watch while it idled, then pulled rocker and found valve not moving by hitting valve stem with hammer 

pulled head off - got gasket set from auto parts store - put it back together and to my surprise it was fixed, dad said he would only help if I couldnt figure out what to do, didnt have a torque wrench, used a cheater on 1/2 inch ratchet on head bolts. 

it was a 400cu in motor, 75 merc was anemic, the 72 torino ran Very Well for some reason. 

I used it for a pickup - hauled dead deer in the back since it was metal i just washed it out with a hose. Had lugged mud/snow tires and it went well for me. 

It never had an easy life, I was hard on it and pedal to firewall every time I drove it at some point. 

I will have to dig up a picture of it somewhere, it was that powder puff blue - pastel - light fluffy cloud blue. 

Nothing about it was a chick magnet but it was a great car for a first time kid. Never left me stranded. 




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Robert Searcy



Replies:
Posted By: Inkara1
Date Posted: 30-June-2024 at 10:40PM
Did it look a little something like this? Mine is also the light blue. I found that Rustoleum "peaceful blue" is a relatively close match, at least enough that I painted the rusty roof and hood with it.




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1972 Gran Torino station wagon, light blue, 351C 2V, prior owner upgraded to 4V (2V heads), originally had a C4 but prior owner changed to C6 for some reason.


Posted By: searcyfarms
Date Posted: 01-July-2024 at 3:08PM
yep thats her in her light blue glory!!!

mine was the 400/2V variety, likely a C4, whatever it was it had the issue where you would have to wait a minute before it would take off once you put it in drive, sometimes in the winter it was like 3 minutes or more it seemed like because of the cold. 

i gave it to my sister when I left home, she drove it a couple more years that way then dad got tired of hearing about it and sold it for 275 bucks to someone. 

I bought my aunts 1970 buick lesabre w/cracked head and bad rochester on a 455/4V it was healthy when i got it fixed, gave 300 bucks for it. It was long legged too!




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Robert Searcy


Posted By: Inkara1
Date Posted: 01-July-2024 at 5:55PM
A 400 would have had a C6. Did it have the correct Type F fluid, and enough of it?

Mine originally had a C4 behind its 351C-2V, but for some reason, someone put a C6 in it before I got it. Other than eating horsepower, I'm having no issues with it.


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1972 Gran Torino station wagon, light blue, 351C 2V, prior owner upgraded to 4V (2V heads), originally had a C4 but prior owner changed to C6 for some reason.


Posted By: searcyfarms
Date Posted: 02-July-2024 at 12:23AM
oh yes it had plenty of fluid and type f, even changed the filter and fluids once no change, 
modulator valve went out once, that was really only issue i had other than wait to take off 

it was VERY reliable, always started, always ran, never left me stranded, such a great car for a farm kid growing up, was the strongest 400 i have ever driven and why i couldnt tell you. 

not sure the rear gears but it would run around 110 or so I had it there many times cause you know a kid had to see how fast it would go and make sure it would still do it after the oil change, or spark plugs or flipping the air cleaner lid upside down LOL

i abused it - the rear fender wells were rusted out and i had towels/rags stuffed in there so the dust would be slowed down a bit from the gravel roads. 

i think i put about 10 speakers in it so it made more noise - always ran quiet stock exhaust on it 






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Robert Searcy


Posted By: 72FordGTS
Date Posted: 02-July-2024 at 8:31AM
Great story on the wagon. The 400 in my GTS was always a very strong runner in stock from as well. These earlier 400s seemed way stronger than the later ones, despite similar power ratings.  Dad claimed to have buried the 120 mph needle on multiple occasions.  It too was a very reliable car that severed as family transportation for decades before being retired to a weekend driver.


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Vince

1972 Ford GTS Sportsroof - Survivor, One Family car

GTS.org Admin


Posted By: searcyfarms
Date Posted: 02-July-2024 at 2:03PM
oh fun on the GTS, i wonder what the diff was other than all the smog stuff on the later ones and detuning - so the guy told me when he gave it to me it smoked a lot sometimes - but didnt burn oil but could never get the windshield wiper sprayer to work. 

long story short as a kid i wasnt expertly trained and a farm kid mechanic - i tried my best to see what was wrong with the windshield wiper sprayer and it just wouldnt work - car did smoke sometimes when i started it and the windshield wiper tank was always empty - yup you guessed it, the dang hose was going to the vacuum port on the back of the intake - after resolving that it all worked fine, no more hard starting, no more smoking sometimes and i had wiper sprayer LOL




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Robert Searcy


Posted By: 72 RS 351
Date Posted: 02-July-2024 at 2:49PM
Originally posted by searcyfarms searcyfarms wrote:

oh fun on the GTS, i wonder what the diff was other than all the smog stuff on the later ones and detuning - so the guy told me when he gave it to me it smoked a lot sometimes - but didnt burn oil but could never get the windshield wiper sprayer to work. 

long story short as a kid i wasnt expertly trained and a farm kid mechanic - i tried my best to see what was wrong with the windshield wiper sprayer and it just wouldnt work - car did smoke sometimes when i started it and the windshield wiper tank was always empty - yup you guessed it, the dang hose was going to the vacuum port on the back of the intake - after resolving that it all worked fine, no more hard starting, no more smoking sometimes and i had wiper sprayer LOL




Nice Robert, so what kind of supercharger did it have, to need water injection?


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Don
73 Ranchero "Sport 72 front end", floor shift/console, planning EFI 7000 rpm 351 stroker
73 Ranchero GT 351C-4V &4R70W for sale later.
92 Lincoln Mark VII SE GTC, OBDII 347/4R70W


Posted By: handsofstone
Date Posted: 02-July-2024 at 6:59PM
The piston seals in the transmission were old and tired. Common on the Fords after many years. They were rock hard and would snap when trying to remove them with a pick when disassembling units on the bench.


Posted By: searcyfarms
Date Posted: 03-July-2024 at 1:17AM
cool i figured it would be something dry/brittle/cracked and trying to build up some pressure somewhere - was the piston thing some kind of pressure valve ? something to do with the torque converter? 

the rest of it was fine, shifted great and no issue and just kept on going like the energizer bunny




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Robert Searcy


Posted By: searcyfarms
Date Posted: 03-July-2024 at 1:22AM


Nice Robert, so what kind of supercharger did it have, to need water injection?
[/QUOTE]

many dont get me to thinking, if all the possibilities that are out there now and what i would have done as a kid trying to experiment i would have blown it up in short order just to go fast for one good rip!!!

no not really, i was a poor kid, was so proud to have what i had and even though i drove it like i stole it, i did take care of it.

I kept it cleaned up because mom expected that even though it was mine, she and dad used it when their car was broken or they needed it or just wanted to drive something different. They paid my insurance and license tags on it for me I covered the gas and maint/repair costs/tires. 

Funny how the tire thing kept the burn outs to a minimum. usually when i was angry and frustrated I gave it ALL the onions she had. 

Barney Fife wasnt around when I was a kid so I drove it fast everywhere. To farmers to work, to school, to band practice, to sports practice, to town, u name it. Amazing I survived all those years in my crazy driving. I had so many guardian angels it would have been like an entourage. 


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Robert Searcy



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