1971 El Camino

[wxo]

I'm always amazed by the long list of messed up things you can find after buying a really nice used vehicle. Oh, well, that's why we do what we do.
Fixin' is a satisfying part of the enjoyment.

[MostMint]

"really nice" is a relative term. So many people don't sweat the details.

[GMJohnny]

I'm always amazed by the long list of messed up things you can find after buying a really nice used vehicle. Oh, well, that's why we do what we do.
Fixin' is a satisfying part of the enjoyment.

I’m just glad when the body work is done and I have a clean platform to work with. I’ve been spoiled
with some pretty clean cars that have no rust on them and that makes the work more enjoyable.I still
shake my head when I see the issues that people are willing to contend with after forking out the
dough for nice paint and chrome. I keep thinking “You guys were so close!” Like Mostmint just said,
some people don’t sweat the details. To me, the details are what makes the car.

GM

[GMJohnny]

Yesterday, I installed the radio. I purchased a used reproduction radio from a guy on Facebook Marketplace. It was supposed to be a functional unit, but after wiring it up and mounting it in the car, the headset powers up, but I get no sound. I went to the website of the manufacturer, and they state to NOT use factory speakers with this unit. I assumed they said that because the speakers would sound horrible, but maybe the unit can’t power the old speakers. Mostmint hooked me up with a Mopar speaker and I’m going to test it out tomorrow. Fingers crossed that it works, I really like the set up and it looks perfect in the dash. I didn’t let this setback stop progress. I got the dome light working. Turns out it needed a bulb and an end to hold the bulb in place. I used some hardware I had in the barn to make the end (saved me $35 for a new light) and my local Napa store had an LED bulb in stock for $6 that I put in. I like the fact that the LED bulb is cool so it won’t melt or yellow the lens cover and it should live forever. I’m calling that part of the project done. I also put a bulb in the glove box light housing and lubed the switch like crazy. It didn’t work to start off, but now I have it working correctly about 75% of the time. I’ll live it a bit as I can touch the plunger on the switch and make the light come on if it doesn’t do it on its own. My gut tells me it’ll get better with time. I also found door medallions in the car that were on at one time, but had fallen off. I cleaned the backs of them off and re-affixed them to the door panels. Before I called it quits, I made sure that I have power at the cigarette lighter. I do. The lighter will work if you hold it in. Since I don’t plan on smoking in the car, that’s good enough function for me. I need to be able to charge a phone with the lighter socket.


GM

[Blue_69_malibu]

I think I put the door medalions in your ashtray when you were doing the paper work in the "office".....but I could be wrong. Regardless, they have been found and look great.

I think old speakers are four ohms while new speakers are eight ohms. I think they old ones will be fully usable if you stick a 2 ohm resistor in the mix....but they probably won't sound awesome b/c they're.....old.

Keep on rocking that Elco!!

[GMJohnny]

I think I put the door medalions in your ashtray when you were doing the paper work in the "office".....but I could be wrong. Regardless, they have been found and look great.

I think old speakers are four ohms while new speakers are eight ohms. I think they old ones will be fully usable if you stick a 2 ohm resistor in the mix....but they probably won't sound awesome b/c they're.....old.

Keep on rocking that Elco!!

The ohms of the speakers makes sense now…. Mostmint hooked me up with a Mopar speaker as a test unit
and the radio plays as it should. New speakers are on their way! Thankfully, this worked. I had the unit
wired real well and the unit mounted to the dash plate real well. The holes for the radio mount had been filed
a bit, but my washer configuration (coupled with the fact that the radio barely weighs a pound) worked
real well and we have a solid install. I wasn’t in the mood to undo all my work. After the radio test, I
removed the old water and oil gauge and began the install of new mechanical gauges that better match
the dash. A tach is also going to be installed. Hopefully, in the next two weeks or so I will have the interior
all tied up and ready for spring. More to come.

GM

[GMJohnny]

I went out today to see how much of the interior I could tie up. Things went pretty well, I think. I started by mounting the speakers up. The driver side was the more difficult of the two, so I started there first. I used a 4”x6” speaker that was pretty similar to what came out of the car. The speakers came with little mounting tabs that I riveted to the speaker frame so I could mount them exactly the way the old speakers were mounted. The driver side has to contend with the light switch, so it’s pretty tight over there, but it went right in. The passenger side was even easier. After a short sound check that went as I hoped, I was on a roll. I finished up straightening out the radio wires (I retained the factory harness and connector) and tied them up neatly under the dash. I was then able to reinstall the hvac system ductwork. I purchased new small tubing and cut the two pieces to the correct length. After this was bolted up, I finally got to put the dash pad back on. With the tach (Autometer #2892) mounted and wired (except for hook up to coil) and the mechanical Autogage oil and water temp gauges (Autogage kit #2392) wired (not yet hooked up under hood) I called it a day, but a very good day. It was nice to see several projects get tied up. To finish off the interior, I have to figure out the spare tire and mount and put in the seat. More to come.

GM

[GMJohnny]

I think I have the spare tire mounted how I want it. The spare is a donut spare with two separate lug patterns on it. At first I wasn’t keen on it, but being that I had to live behind the passenger seat and it’s lighter than a full sized spare, I decided to keep it, at least for now. There’s also a scissor jack that came with the car that worked just fine. I’ll use it too. I need to procure a lug wrench. I will. After fiddling with the spare, I went into the engine compartment. I started by hooking up the tach wire. Then I drained the coolant so I could hook up the mechanical temp gauge. The big issue with this project was that the upper radiator hose was routed right over the hole in the intake for the temp gauge bulb. I bought a Summit Racing 45* swivel water neck to cure the problem. I overthought the issue and the neck had too steep of an angle for comfort. I decided to make the trek to Summit and exchange it out for a 15* swivel neck. Way better! After some engineering that was required to make the alternator bracket stud work (the stud is recessed in the water neck. The bolt hole in the neck had to be opened a bit to accommodate the stud, and the stud was double-nutted so I could torque on it.) I was able to put the new 160* thermostat in, finish mounting the water neck and put coolant back in. I saw no leaks, but I was pretty beat and opted to not start the car. That’ll be next. I think the seat is ready to go in also. To keep from scratching the door sills, I need my wife to assist. More stuff behind me.

GM

[GMJohnny]

This was a good weekend's worth of work, tying up loose ends and shaking down the work
that I've done to date. Work done this weekend:

1) Install seat, hook up seat belts to floor, repair passenger seat hinge trim using existing part
2) Install AUX to lightening cord on back of radio to allow Iphone connection - line-in
3) Remove old power steering return line & drain power steering fluid
4) Install new power steering return line, straighten return line on pump for clearance
5) Refill power steering pump with new ATF
6) Replace leaking radiator drain plug with brass petcock (plug has leaked since I got the car)
7) Tighten loose and squeaky A/C pump belt
Start car and let come to temperature -- Thermostat works as it should at 160*
9) Test drive car -- Check speedometer, odometer, tach function, oil pressure and water temp
gauge function, test heater -- All function as they should!
10) Final check for leaks -- none present on intake, power steering or radiator

All of this being checked calms my mind knowing that these projects are all behind me going
into winter. While I was checking things, I checked the rear end ratio -- 2.73:1 - non-posi but
12 bolt. The stall converter locks up at 1600 rpm. These two things might be on the target
to get worked on next summer. The first thing that needs to be done is to tune the motor
and check timing, plugs, etc... Also, before I drive it for any significant amount, I need to
change exhaust. I'm not quite certain what I'm going to do there, but my guess is that I'll
do 2.5" pipes to Dynomax mufflers like I've done on the last two cars, and then have the tailpipes
attached to that set up. That's next year's work. For now, I feel very satisfied with the work
that I was able to accomplish in a short amount of time since I've owned the car.

GM

[Blue_69_malibu]

That is a LOT of work in a very SHORT amount of time, JC. Very well done!!!

[GMJohnny]

1,795…….It’s been a loooonnnngg winter and work had pretty much stalled on the El Camino.
Spring has been cold and wet, wet, wet! This past week the weather FINALLY came around and
I had the opportunity to finally go out and fiddle around with the car. I hated the ride of the air
shocks ( El Camino’s come stock with them) so I removed and sold the ones on the car opting for
KYB #343157 gas shocks. This made a noticeable ride improvement and I’m satisfied with it. Many
guys go with air bags in the springsfor a bit of lift, and that may not be out of the equation in the future,
for now, the smoother ride or the gas shocks is an upgrade. I filled the tank yesterday and took it for a
30 mile spin. Thefuel gauge and all my gauges work, so that’s all behind me. The carb wasn’t coming to WOT, so
I made a bracket to bolt to the carb that took care of that issue. The timing was set to 6*, so I
bumped it to 13 and it didn’t complain about it. The vacuum advance doesn’t work, so that’ll
need to be addressed. The WORST part about this car is the hateful exhaust system. It’s too loud
and needs to be modified so it’s more hidden in the back of the vehicle. My exhaust guy has
been a bit detained lately, but I’m hopeful I can get the car to him in the next couple of weeks.
I’ve purchased the same mufflers I ran on my last two cars and that’ll be part of the exhaust
write up. In the meantime, the car runs, starts, goes, stops and restarts very well. It doesn’t leak
and I’m pretty confident that it’ll be a dependable car. It’s dying for a higher stall converter as this
one locks up at 1400 RPM. A 3.42:1 posi would pep it up a bunch as well. So much to do, so little
time.

GM