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Well. Kind of a long story. Alex and I were selling popcorn door to door in our neighborhood. We go to a guy I know down the street and his wife answers. She tells me someone called the county on them and they need to get rid of a bunch of cars and stuff out of their yard. So I say which ones and she tells me. Alex asks me to point them out and he says "that one is kind of cool". So I tell her to have her husband let me know what he wants for it. Well we work a deal for an AR15 and 500 rounds of ammo that I had "extra". Since I have like 4 AR rifles I figured it was a fair trade.

So I am now the proud owner of a 1979 El Camino. The engine needs rebuilt as far as I know. So off with the top end in the near future. Then I can judge where I stand with it. My goal is to simply get it running and driving. As I need a tow vehicle for the e30 when I get it ready for paint and bodywork.

Its great to see another Gen 5 El Camino on here. Lots of pictures please!!

Jim

305 car? Looks pretty solid. We were just talking about car-trucks at breakfast this morning. Good find.

-BP

yes, 305. going to try and pull the valve covers this weekend. Maybe the intake too, to see what I can see.

Since I sold the Ram, I would like to get this running and driving, tow the e30 to Ohio and then perhaps leave the El Camino there to sell.

I'm not a big fan but the price was right.

So I pulled the radiator and begin tearing off the top end. I took off the valve covers and smelled gas. I am thinking the valve seals are bad. Plus when I moved the car there was a puddle of trans fluid under the car. So I am going to go ahead and yank the engine and trans. Then we will see. Hopefully a simple rebuild/reseal kit and it will be fine. Time will tell.

So on Saturday I was removing the engine by myself, which isn’t too bad but it’s always nice to have company. Well as I was taking out the last 2 bolts my hand slipped and I sliced my arm open. 10 stitches later........

Tonight I felt motived and a little irritated because I didn’t get the engine out Saturday. So I removed the2 motor mount bolts and extracted it from the engine bay.

So now is my question. The engine turns over easily by hand. It is caked with dirt though. Since I plan to re-gasket it and probably re-ring it if the bores look okay. Should I seal the engine back up before degreasing it and pressure washing it ? I don’t think I care that I get some water in it since it’s coming apart (as long as I don’t let it sit with water in before disassembly).

Bummer about your arm. That looks pretty rough.

I would probably just spray or wipe some WD40 on the untreated metal and unleash your washing fury on the rest and let Water Displacement technology work for you.

Cool to see the progress.

-BP

I’m more thinking about water down the intake, in the plug holes, where the distributor was and into the oil pan area through the area around the pushrods.

I pressure washed the engine after removing it from the '81 Camino. Spark plugs, valve covers and distributor were installed. Taped up the intake holes and avoided direct blasting of the holes. Pulled the pan after power washing to remove any water that did get in. Worked OK.

If u are not planning to clean the block inners I would be generally hesitant to clean the outside without covering up the holes. My concern is not water getting in there you can take it apart and dry that up easy enough. All the dirt and grime and loose paint from the outside needs to stay out of the insides of the engine. With a pressure washer that crap flies everywhere I would not want that to get inside.

It's been so cold here I have not wanted to go in the garage and work on the engine. Well today was in the 50's. So I installed the main caps, plastigauged them and re-installed/torqued them. They measrued 0.002" - 0.003" within spec.

I also installed all the new rings, piston and connecting rod bearings. Next I have to platigauge them and re-install/ torque them. So the rotating assembly is sort of close. Then on to the oil pump and heads. getting a little excited.

engine is all buttoned up. engine bay is all pressure washed. Tomorrow to drop the transmission and replace all the seals before re-assembly begins.

It may be a little late, but maybe Matt would be interested in that extra Chevy 350 you have, Maverick. I'm heading south next week and it might fit in the TBSS.