Thread: 84 El Camino (new project)

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I had planned on nothing major until the new shop is up, how hard could that be????????? Well, I guess I don’t do cold turkey very well.

I have found that not having a project under construction led to sever withdrawal symptoms I tried doing simple things….. replacing the turn signal switch on my daily driver and upgrading the stereo…..doing the disc brake conversion on the 64 Ford…….even a tune-up on the wife’s car. Nothing seemed to help

I finally folded yesterday I just couldn’t take it anymore …………..I bought a car err truck or whatever an 84 El Camino

Anyway the story on the truck is that a friend of mine inherited it when his dad passed away a few years ago. His dad had had El Camino gone thru shortly after he bought it ….to include the drive train, suspension, interior and paint (really cheap paint job….so dead now chances of it buffing out are nill).

My buddy is the type that is VERY hard on vehicles both on the bodies and the drive train. He managed to blow the rods out thru the block and oil pan on the drive back from Texas and ended up having it flatbedded back to Arizona where it sat outside for a year waiting on an engine that he could never seem to find. When he went thru a divorce I volunteered to provide storage until he got back on his feet (I hate to see something just sit and rot out here, especially a nice interior).

Well I’ve been storing the truck for 5 years now and ran into the guy over Christmas. Long story short, I ended up buying it from him. It’s rust free and except for a couple of dings pretty straight and other than the engine it should be mechanically sound. It’s got the majority of bells and whistles V8, AT/PS/PB/AC/Tilt/Cruise

I plan on putting the LT1 I pulled from the 72 Vette in it and probably a quick paint job then a For Sale sign in the window.

I justify this by telling myself it’s not REALLY a major project, just an engine and paint job. I should make a fair amount of money on it to put right back into the shop fund. SOOO this all makes perfectly good sense and I do not really have an automotive addiction to cars (how can I this is a truck) besides it’s just one……how am I doing on self denial????

Looks really solid, Mike. It should be a good moneymaker. Don't feel bad, I'm doing the same thing right now. I hope mine sells for a decent $$$, too.

Love that body style and it looks like this camino is solid. That picture of the interior looks great. Very well preserved truck. can wait to see it Finished! Don jr.

Originally Posted by Mike P

……how am I doing on self denial????

You're peggin' the meter!!!!!!!!!!!!

It all sounds perfectly good and very justifiable to me.. But then, I'm the guy who drives three hours for a good cup of coffee and a nice apple pie to justify looking at a car part advertised on Craig's List!!

Have Fun,
Glenn

Well I got a little time so I got the engine pulled out today. I almost forgot how much darn junk and wiring there is to disconnect on these.

I don't figure there is much use in doing a post mortumn on the 305 (I was told this happened at 75 MPH on the interstate )

Does make checking rod bolts easier I guess

Originally Posted by Mike P

Well I got a little time so I got the engine pulled out today. I almost forgot how much darn junk and wiring there is to disconnect on these.

I don't figure there is much use in doing a post mortumn on the 305 (I was told this happened at 75 MPH on the interstate )

Does make checking rod bolts easier I guess

Wait..................that wasn't supposed to do that was it?

Hey, looks like a lot of the chebbies I've seen that try to go fast!!!!! That inspection window in the bottom of the pan could be really handy to keep an eye on the rest of the rods try to escape!!!!!

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Hey, looks like a lot of the chebbies I've seen that try to go fast!!!!! !

Almost sprayed the morning coffee all over the monitor on that one!

Mike P., NICE JOB! Sincerely, That looks terrific! What a difference.

um... your piston is missing.

"....um... your piston is missing......"

Naw, I'm pretty sure that's most of it's still in the pan

Shouln't a 7 cylinder get better gas mileage? Weld up the pan and fire it up!

Ya know what Mike? I once considered doing one of the box car Elky's like yours with a set of '69 'Maro door panels and quarters.......... but then, I am a sick and twisted individual!!!!!

Wowzer Zowzer!

What ever happened, that puppy got real hot. Something rubbin' real hard or perhaps a lack of oil to reciprocating pieces. It's a nice shade of blue, eh?

Even a Chevy small block won't operate long without oil!

I severely abused a lot of solid lifter Chevies to as much as 9500 RPM, but this only happened on a 307 I ran out of oil.

Not really my fault. I had just bought back a '63 Nova 4-speed car. He had pulled the "loaded" 327 for his '55 drag car, replaced it with a smoking 307, then sold it back to me very cheap.

....and he told me to keep an eye on the oil. I thought it would surely go 30 miles to the house. At 70 MPH, it locked up, and slid the tires. I found a rod through the block, and one through the pan! .......just like yours!