El Camino (A Project Car)

Suspension Completion!

2010-10-11T12:05:00.001-07:00

So another thing i got done is the new suspension! check out the difference. lol

Old Height

New Rug.

2010-10-11T11:59:00.000-07:00

So i finally installed that Seat and Carpet i'd posted about, i did it last week, and it turned out great! check it out.

Just getting the carpet!

Here it is installed!

Dang

2010-10-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

I suppose i get to into my work and forget to write down in the blog what's going on with my car! Well a lot has changed in the past year! Here's some updates;

The last post was about the POM, well i bought me a new vacuum advance carb off of a guy at a car swap, so the thing runs perfectly now, a few timing issues, but no big deal really!

The dash i did complete, but i need to rework it again, apparently this Texas heat is to much for a thin sheet of fiberglass. It's cracking again! Here are some pictures of my dash!

That's the dash out of the car still. Also i got some new Door Panels from my good friends father's shop, Bear Creek Car Repair. Here's those.

Also i got some new seats to put in the truck to match my interior! Here's a shot of that.

I installed the dash and door panels, i needed at this point to put the new bench and some carpet into the truck, but i drove it like this for a month or so. It's also registered inspected, and insured so it's expensive. LOL

My wheels i got some new tires, and painted my rims black, i really like the way the rims turned out in all "satin" black.

Oh and i got my new tires for a great 150$ price, discount tire was having an awesome sale.

Wrong POM

2009-10-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

Well a friend of ours with a tester came out and checked out the elky, turns out there is a short in the wiring harness somewhere. Which actually is the least of our problems. The computer has a POM in it, and the thing is the previous owner switched the 283v6 to a 305v8, so, the computer is attempting to run a smaller engine, and thus the carb tells the engine to run full rich all the time.

So the easiest solution considering the POM is for a V6, is to completely get rid of the computer, and run the car as if it were an 1980 model (the year previous did not have a computer at all, lucky me i pick the first year they put a computer in it).

Now i have to learn more about Carburetors, and how they work and which one i need, so far i've learned i need a 600CFM, 4 Barrel, with an Electric Choke, and that's about it.

It's a small update, but that's all for now.

Dash Fix

2009-09-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

I know i jump around alot on the restoration of this car, working on the brake lines and the fuel line at the same time, or the interior and springs. Simple fact is when i hit a hardspot or a road block i just move on to a different spot. Surely it makes for a very confusing atmosphere sometimes, and i forget things from time to time, but overall it's coming along nicely i must admit.

I ran across a dash repair guide for a Monte Carlo. The guy actually does admit the dash is not original to a Monte, but it's a good guide on what i'd like to do to restore mine, which has identical problems.

If you look closely you can see the cracks around the radio panel. The red is obliterated and dryrotted.

I was thinking of perhaps coating it in fiberglass, it wouldnt be the softest dash, but im looking for more of a "show quality" look, even though this wont be a show car i believe that will be the look i'm going for, fiberglass coating. take a trip to Lowes sometime this weekend perhaps i can find something im looking for to redo that entire dash. *shrug*

Personal Touch

2009-09-23T17:36:00.000-07:00

I added a bit of personal touch to the air filter. most people have the stickers that have the engine block size on them, i decided to paint mine on with a little creativity. feedback is welcome, however i like it and that's what matters most! :P

Come Together, Right Now.

2009-09-23T17:20:00.000-07:00

The front clip of my elky slowly but surely went back on, inner wells, front header panel, the fenders, the whole match. It needs to be raised, as the doors hit the fenders when opened/closed. It's not perfect but im glad it's starting to shape up some.

As you can tell the gap isnt right between the doors/fenders, the front clip needs to be lifted completely to fix this, it'll come in time when i get some washers to do so.

Running, Coughing, Choking.

2009-09-23T17:14:00.000-07:00

We'll my friend Franco and i sat for hours in the shop configuring the wiring of this car. By far i have to admit the hardest part of the build has got to be the wiring, you can just weld it, and if you screw up, re-weld it. It's a task in itself ot find the wiring diagrams and follow them at all.

After a full night of wiring and a good nights sleep, some wire management, we finally started cranking on it an here are our results.

Let the Body hit the Floor.

2009-04-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

The Rotor's were turned to knock the rust off of them & the bearings repacked. This is them back on the Spindle.

Then i found something in our shop that made my life so much easier, a air impact wrench. this made putting the wheels on and taking them off as easy as they do in in NASCAR.

And the Car is back on the ground & sitting on the new suspension!

I threw the fender back on to see the difference from when the old suspension was on it, the first two are of the new, the latter of the old.

Spring & Shock Installation

2009-04-03T08:09:00.000-07:00

The Control Arms back in place, and ready to have the spring put in them.

This is the method in which my father came up with to compress the spring so that we could correctly put it in place.

Here is a short video of me releasing the compression on the spring by cutting the holding wires.

This is the spring in place & the shock installed, now all to do is put the rotor on and repack the wheel bearings and such.

Engine Block Paint Complete!

2009-04-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

it's been a while since i posted, but ill go ahead and update a whole bunch at once, here's a few shots of the painted block, intake and exhaust manifold.

Painting the Brake Booster & Engine Block (along with Intake and Exhaust Manifold)

2009-02-28T13:05:00.000-08:00

The Finished Painted Block

The Car as it Sits Now

Passenger Side Front Suspension

2009-02-27T07:16:00.002-08:00

The Side Painted and Ready to Put the Control Arms back in Place

Before the side was painted.

Driver Control Arm's and such Painted!

2009-02-23T18:14:00.000-08:00

:D doesn't it look like new?!

nom nom nom it's so awesome looking lol.

The whole setup- going to be put together soon enough! :D

extraws stufss

A Complete Walk Around of the Car as it sits! :)

Frame Painted.

2009-02-20T20:34:00.000-08:00

Suspension & Steering Linkage (Photo Update)

2009-02-20T11:09:00.001-08:00

New Parts!

The Center Link for the Linkage.

The Old Center Link that came out

All Together Now.

After a while of finagling i got the spring out. new springs next to it.

The Control arm hanging loosely.

Cleaned it all up a little with Diesel Fuel.

Cleaned the frame a little too

Uncleaned Frame Section

Somewhat clean but still rusty Control Arm.

Old Shock & New One.

Distributor Parts

2009-02-16T11:08:00.001-08:00

I replaced the condenser coil on my distributor today, i ordered it yesterday from O'Reilly's and they got it in this morning, it went in perfect, no problems at all. next will be to reassemble the distributor, and then move down to the Steering Linkage.

I ordered the Center Linkage from the same parts house today as i picked up my first part, should be in later today actually, ill probably swing by and pick it up later.

Nice little diagram showing you what's what, the top right picture is what i have, Parallelogram steering. It's the bottom center piece in the middle.

Compression Test Results & Thoughts

2009-01-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

My father and i borrowed a compression tester from a friend of ours who restores older cars, and my dad and i could not do the compression test correctly to save our lives. So we called him up and he finally got out here on Saturday & they ran the test and got the results.

Piston - PSI
1 - 190
2 - 180
3 - 200
4 - 205
5 - 200
6 - 195
7 - 185
8 - 190

As for my thoughts, it seems to be fairly even, not perfect but it's also a 10+ year old engine, that the previous owner installed. It sounds great and i dont particularly want to touch it mechanicly, i'd like to leave it.

The Transmission however bothers me some. It has a minor leak and the linkage is lose, the linkage is a simple fix, however the leak is what worries me. Family friend of ours says you can find a plane-jane 350 auto trans in auto magazines for 800-900$. I'm curious how that's cheaper than a rebuild - but i'll take it. I need to determine if the current transmission is bad first however.

The Body i believe will be one of the later things- i'll get it straight, and the bed lined. but it's all going to come in due time & money.

A Clean Engine!

2009-01-11T15:58:00.000-08:00

We sprayed desile all over the engine compartment and then pressure washed it off and these we're the results

Ready to Clean

2009-01-09T21:40:00.001-08:00

We took the car off the jacks and are now ready to push it out onto the lawn where we will soak it in diesel for about an hour then come back to pressure wash all the fuel & grim/grease off of the engine block, frame and accessories around the engine. Once we get all this cleaned up decently we will look into painting most of the surfaces with a Heat Resistant paint for the engine compartment. I'm thinking Flat black for everything around the block and blue for the block itself.

Windows & Chrome

2009-01-09T21:37:00.000-08:00

Franco came over and helped me remove some of the very crappy applied window tinting from the back window and the two side doors. and along with that revealed to my father and i that Break Cleaner works very well to clean surfaces & windows if they are sticky. Also we removed the chrome from the truck bed rim & bottom of the rear window.

Wiring Stripped

2009-01-09T21:33:00.000-08:00

We Pulled all the wiring off everything we needed to today, the carb, the wipers, a/c and all sorts of other various things. Here are some before & after shots.

Up on Jacks

2009-01-08T21:53:00.000-08:00

Wheel Wells off & Removal of Radiator.

2009-01-08T20:25:00.001-08:00

Hood & Fender Removal!

2009-01-08T20:19:00.000-08:00

Bumper Removal!

2009-01-08T20:17:00.001-08:00

The bumper was taken off first, easiest thing to begin with.

Car Progress!

2009-01-08T18:13:00.001-08:00

We got it in the building first off!

lol that plate is old anyways, so i dont mind if people know it. it'll never be on the car again!

Building Progress

2008-11-01T08:32:00.000-07:00

Well the building has to theoretically come first in the order of fixing things up, so here are a few snap shots of the progress we've had in the building. Our hope is to get it fixed up by Thanksgiving, get the car in there and begin work on it Thanksgiving week- that will give us the better part of an entire week to tinker around with it.

Light Installed in Bathroom (just need to install switch) :P

Cabinet temp in place, a good location too, right next to the water fountain.

This table is next after Dad finishes his boxes, then we finish this workbench table and it's gone :)

Wood on right is for Crates, Lawnmower is waiting to be sold, the rest is just looking for a new location in the building, somewhere out of the way.

Pathway to the bathroom

The wonderful makeshift wall for the bathroom, it's a ramp we used for our front door.

Got our toilet insides replaced, they we're dry rotted, now it's a working toilet, no leaks, & already been used! lol.

Still have a table of junk to sell, but that'll get sold in due time.

Hurd (bout that) caine called Ike?

2008-09-16T17:34:00.001-07:00

So Hurricane Ike rolled through our neck of the woods last week. Which postponed any progress to be made on the building, which in turn postponed the El Camino.

But what was lucky was the tree that snapped in our yard missed the Camino by roughly 30 ft!

Progress

2008-09-06T15:37:00.000-07:00

It's been slow lately, but it's because we have to clean out our building outback. There is an assortment of junk back there needing to be sold, burned or thrown away. Suprizingly enough we did get the burned part out of the way today, tomorrow is going to be more cleaning and sifting through items debating if they should be kept or gotten rid of.

The Building is 20x40ft, with a South end Overhead Door, and a West end Overhead door as well as a normal 3ft door. and the East has a double door. Here are some quick snap shots of it to get you an idea of where we plan on placing the Camino and just how much more stuff we need to go through.

The building

The Door we want to put the El Camino in.

Closer In

Angle viewing out.

We Finally hooked up this Water Fountain, it's been sitting around for about a year, great little thing comes in handy so much.

Well we need to get all that cleaned out, not sure how long it's going to take, but im thinking another two to three weeks.

Here's a Exhaust Video i made of my El Camino yesterday, along with my Grand Marquis too, did one couldnt leave the other out! :P

Suspension and Wheels

2008-09-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

Suspension.

We took a floor jack to the underside of the front, and picked up the car. Turns out the previous owner took the 223ci Engine out, and dropped in a 305, i knew of this but what didn't cross my mind was the suspension. The Suspension is still from factory, they never touched it putting in that heavier engine. Thus the suspension is bottoming out when we jog the car up and down just a tad, not good.

Springs, and Shocks are definitely going to be replaced, as well as a front end alignment job. I'll probably let a friend of mine do the alignment, because he's a pretty trustworthy guy. The Springs and Shocks im wanting to do on my own, as well as re grease the ball joints, that needs to be done as well.

Wheels.

I currently have the "Chevy Rally Wheels" for an S-10, but they came original on the El Camino as well. They look like these, (except mine have no paint)

The wheels im currently interested in are the Vector SE Wheels or Turbine Style wheels. Ones very similar to the ones that appeared in the Dukes of Hazzard Series, on the General Lee. Not sure if it was my childhood memory kicking in or what, but i've grown fond of that type of wheel, here's a picture to give you an idea of what they look like.

Gas Cap Door [2]

2008-09-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

So after doing a little research, i found that El Camino's did infact have that rear Air Bag Suspension from factory. The location of the fill valve is stock as well, and i do think I'll leave the door as is, opening upwards.

'More Trouble than it's worth' is what i deemed it to be. However i do need to get Bumpers for the door because if you inspect the "Before Shots" you'll see how far in the door actually sits, it's not flush with the rest of the fender.

Speaking of fender i need to get a quote on that body damage.

Suspension is the next objective, however it may take a few weeks. Placing the car up on blocks and taking the wheels off is no problem, it's the factor of having to lock the tools up at night, because it's bound to be a more than one day project for my father and I. So this leads me into why it may take so long, We have a 20x40ft Work Building out back, but, it's packed with junk! Ebay and a Hefty Garbage bag are quickly becoming used in this cleaning process. If all goes well it will only take a few weeks, Three to be precise. So perhaps in October- there will be a much more rapid development of the El Camino and it's restoration.

Gas Cap Door

2008-08-28T19:25:00.001-07:00

So the next small endeavor that i may peruse to fix would be the Gas Cap Door. Oddly enough Chevrolet takes the cake with their award winning design and innovative ingenuity with their 1981 el Camino Gas Cap Door.... it's for ease at the pump!

if only. the door's completely obstructing the gas cap. completely.

here's proof.

The last photo is the Air Bag Suspension on the rear of the El Camino, they appear to hold air- however im not 100% Certain on it. They as well look aftermarket, but again, im not sure.

Steering Colmun Rebuild

2008-08-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

So my Dad and I both agreed the first thing to do to this car was to rebuild the steering column and it's inards. Both the front and back bearings were compleatly shot, and along with that the horn did not work. We tinkered around and pulled the SW off and worked our way down into the column using this handy guide on ECC.com. Mudding our way through the different levels of the column we encountered multiple problems, all of which we're fixed by a good friend who is a fantastic mechanic. Well i belive that page includes enough column shots, so there is no point in me posting a bloatload of mine that look identical, only dirtier... Not sure what's next Suspension was mentioned, but it may be put off for a while not to sure.

The "Before" Shots

2008-08-28T19:23:00.000-07:00

So i recently purchased a project car for me to tinker around with and fix up to hopefully a fairly nice state. It's a 1981 Chevrolet El Camino, with a 305 V8 and Auto Transmission. Nothing to brag about at the moment, it's got white cracking paint, a few rust spots, and an interior that would scare just about anyone away. But the body style is unique, as am i, so i figured such things go together :)

here are a few "Before Shots" of the car...