1975 EL Camino Royale with Cheese

This rebuild has been a long time in the works, but it is finally seeing progress. This is my first vehicle, which I inherited from my grandfather. I drove it for almost 10 years, but stopped after engine issues and general maintenance issues that I didn't want to correct at the time. I purchased a used solid lift engine about 5 years after receiving the vehicle, experienced a broken rocker stud, swapped in a hydraulic cam without changing the springs (doh!!!), wrecked the replacement cam and assembled parts and engine for a rebuild.

10+ years ago I had a mechanic take it, with parts in boxes, to rebuild it at his leisure. Not long afterwards, he developed an issue which required a stent that drained fluid from his brain. I got married not long afterwards, worked full time and finished college. The mechanic towed the Camino back unrepaired, after a few years. At this point the car sat uncovered, until my in-laws built a cover for my birthday/Christmas gift. Next, we moved away so that I could enter graduate school. Fast forward to just over one month ago, when we move the vehicle and parts to my current residence.

2 flat tires, 3 wheel bearings tightened and 2 bruised fingers later... Don't let the pictures fool you, it's paint is as flat as flat can get. We cleaned out the parts, swept out the bed and gave it a bath. The mold came off ok, but it has some really stuck on gunk that might require a magic eraser. Oh yeah, flat tires all the way around. Stole the spare from it and with only tire will hold air for a few minutes. My plans this weekend are to borrow a couple of wheels from my truck, so that I can move it over and back about 8 feet.


I'd forgotten how many parts I'd purchased (10+ years ago), however I had sold the rebuilt engine. Really all I need to get it moving, minus the tires, are the following: intake manifold, camshaft, gaskets and a battery. That is supposing that I simply button the current 350 short block up and see if it holds together. As it sits now, the lifter valley is open and has been the entire time. I was planning to drop my other engine, thus I never worried about the elements. As we unloaded, the rear air shocks gave out and dropped the rear. That just added to the ghetto lean, because the springs are virtually unsprung now. The hood springs are no longer wanting to comply when closing the hood now. And don't get me started on the rust.... Will have to pull the bench seat and attack the floors one day, along with the fenders and doors and bed. Oh yeah, the steering wheel and arm rests have turned to goo. It reminds me of the fly strip glue. That will have to go soon. I'm sure I will find more items to repair.



I opened the boxes inside:

trans mount
engine mount
rubber brake hoses (front and rear)
all hoses
all 3 belts
2 wheel cylinders
master cylinder
brake booster
radiator
shift kit for the 350 Turbo
header bolts
Copper collector gaskets
air filter
rebuilt distributor
rebuilt alternator
Holley 600 cfm carb - purchased prior to 2000



Prior to shutdown 10 years ago:
New pads and rotors
New rear pads and drums
2 flowmasters
3.42 Richmond gears
driver's window off track, so it would not roll down
A/C levers stopped moving

Other than that it's just like new


Current Plans:
Take a few minutes each day to fix something/anything
Put it up on jack stands or blocks
Give it another bath
Get the current 350 engine and trans running: Summit Cam/Jeg's Intake/Fel-Pro gaskets/Fluids/Battery/Tires


Future plans (way off into the future and in no particular order):
500 Cadillac engine without paint except Ferrari Red valve covers
Fuel injection
5 or 6 speed
275/45 tires on 17s painted Gray/Green (more Gray than Green) or dark NIckel
A/C
Red carpet
Buckets
2" lowering springs
Move bumpers in 2"
Better Brakes/Suspension
Find and repair all rust
Window Tint
Remove radio - enjoy engine stereo instead


As always, plans are subject to change....

Updates:

I finally got tired of looking at the rusted bed floor, so I sanded the bed and sprayed rust inhibiting paint. It's not beautiful, but I can easily remove it later on.

I cleaned the steering wheel and arm rests with soap/water, acetone and finally steel wool. I also cleaned the carpet and seats with a soap/water mixture.

I oiled the door and hood hinges, vacuumed the cobwebs and leaves from the engine compartment, then reconnected the transmission linkage. How nice it is to simply pull the handle, instead of reaching underneath the vehicle. Although, I forgot that I've never seen the indicator work (even when I was a small child). Oh yeah, the lap belts don't pull out. Add those to the to-do list

One pound of dirt removed with rags and soapy water. It's nice to see multicolored wires, instead of light brown ones.

Flat black for the master cylinder and brake booster. Bench bleeding and re-assembly are next in line. Slow and steady wins the race.

Be patient and it will all come together. Those handed down cars are always special. Even though I have a replacement, I still miss my handed down el camino from my dad.

That's a diamond in the ruff !! The memories that tie you into the car will help you. You made good progress so far considering. Day by day it will come together for yo u. A little progress each day/week will give you the motivation to finish your inherited classic.
Looking forward to seeing more pics on your progress.

Eric

Hey Cammin,

Welcome to the forum! I agree: the handed-down cars with memories are the best. Hope you enjoy it. So cool that you still have it after all these years!


Cort www.oldcarsstronghearts.com
pigValve, paceMaker, cowValve | 1979 Caprice Classic (awaiting new owner)
"There's just a song in all the trouble & the strife" __ Dire Straits __ 'Walk Of Life'

Thanks for the encouragement. I seriously considered getting rid of it a few years ago, but the buyer backed out. I'm glad it worked out this way after all.

I'm planning to tear apart the suspension and replace the rubber components with polyurethane, over the winter. So, a Harbor Freight hydraulic press may be in my future.

Welcome to the fun !~~

I just got my '75 Elco out of the building & ran it a bit. 6 1/2 years to restore it, body-off etc, with a 500 (507 now) Caddy engine.

So, I know what you are in for !!

Hang in there...it will get done !!

Bill

pila wrote:Welcome to the fun !~~

I just got my '75 Elco out of the building & ran it a bit.  6 1/2 years to restore it, body-off etc, with a 500 (507 now) Caddy engine.

So, I know what you are in for !!

Hang in there...it will get done !!

Bill

Ah, I'm jealous. I'd love to see pictures if available.

-Wade

I'm working on the front brake hoses now and I will replace the rear soon. Here's a shot of the damage...

A place called inlinetube.com has the hoses, the steel brake lines, fuel lines etc, and parking brake cables too, if needed.  I bought some of my lines from them.

At the bottom of my post is the link to my photobucket, for pictures of the Elco project....










Bil

Finally finished the front brake hose replacement. I found a few items to slow me down: one rusty hard line nut, incorrect key placement on the section that mates to the hard lines, sticky copper shims. The tiny keys (one large and one small) were clocked wrong. It would have fit perfectly if placed in the opposite side of the mounting brace. Some filing took care of that issue. The copper shims were too small to fit onto the caliper bolt, so a little massaging with a file and drill bit took care of business.



Next, I removed the battery tray and discovered a little surface rust. Oh well, I will just add that to the list. Here's the battery I purchased 11 years ago and it still looks brand new. What are the chances I can recharge it and simply use as is?  




Painted two wheels flat black to cover the nasty rust, a few days ago. I'll get to the other side this weekend.


I forgot to mention that I replaced the battery cables prior to its shutdown.

Here's to slow and steady wins the race...

Cleaned and painted the battery tray and underlying wheel well. Up next, I plan to remove the seat and pull up the carpet/sound deadener to get a look at the floor board. I don't have a welder, so I'm considering the use of bonding adhesive with the patch panels. Any experiences to share about this type of repair?

If there are just pin-holes in the floors,you could put a layer of fibreglass & resin over the floors. I did that after welding in patches.

A friend did an S-10 floor, new panels, and then used bed liner on the whole floor, which came out really nice, and water proof too....

I finally got the Sonoma battery tray cleaned and painted. El Camino bed panel was removed and I did some minor damage assesment, with more in depth later (along with smuggler box removal) . I got help with the Camino bench seat removal and I plan to remove carpet/sound deadener soon.

Here's more rust pics and one with light streaming through the rusty holes. I'll be looking for replacement pans this winter, any suggestions for which manufacturer to use or stay away from?

Last I checked, rockauto.com had some decent deals on pans.

You have to tackle one thing at a time to get it done right. Dont dart all over. Its great you can restore your grandfathers car. I wish I had a few of mine. A 48 Caddy and a nice 60 Nomad wagon would have been fun. His 57 Chevy too.

ant7377 wrote:You have to tackle one thing at a time to get it done right. Dont dart all over. Its great you can restore your grandfathers car. I wish I had a few of mine. A 48 Caddy and a nice 60 Nomad wagon would have been fun. His 57 Chevy too.

Thanks for the input. Typically I agree, but I'm working on a limited budget for now. I'm using parts already purchased and making simple repairs whenever possible; as well as investigating the current condition for later repairs. So, I'm moving around to take advantage of what I have available and to get a complete picture.

I remember reading Hot Rod and Car Craft when I was 15/16 years of age, reading about cars that take a couple years to put together. I would laugh because I thought that was ridiculously long. Now, I'm looking at my vehicle every day and I'm thinking that two years is ridiculously quick for my situation. I'm reading and watching everything I can, so that to I can make sure I've set my plans prior to any major purchases. I'm 95%+ certain about how I want to build it this time around, but I want to be nearly 100% before any major upgrades.

Ive been working on restoring my camino since 2012, with any luck I should have mine close to being wrapped up by the end of next year, when I started I figured I had a 5 year plan. couldn't imagine doing one in 2 years, not one that would last forever anyway. If you just wanted one to paint and look good for a little bit 2 years would be good. but if you want it to outlast even these new cars, best to go the long route. your definitely going the right route. do it once, do it right. that's my motto with everything. keep up the good work.

Cammin wrote:

ant7377 wrote:You have to tackle one thing at a time to get it done right. Dont dart all over. Its great you can restore your grandfathers car. I wish I had a few of mine. A 48 Caddy and a nice 60 Nomad wagon would have been fun. His 57 Chevy too.

Thanks for the input. Typically I agree, but I'm working on a limited budget for now. I'm using parts already purchased and making simple repairs whenever possible; as well as investigating the current condition for later repairs. So, I'm moving around to take advantage of what I have available and to get a complete picture.

I remember reading Hot Rod and Car Craft when I was 15/16 years of age, reading about cars that take a couple years to put together. I would laugh because I thought that was ridiculously long. Now, I'm looking at my vehicle every day and I'm thinking that two years is ridiculously quick for my situation. I'm reading and watching everything I can, so that to I can make sure I've set my plans prior to any major purchases. I'm 95%+ certain about how I want to build it this time around, but I want to be nearly 100% before any major upgrades.

I saw your project build on bangshift.com too. Ive been a member there for a long time.

ant7377 wrote:

Cammin wrote:

ant7377 wrote:You have to tackle one thing at a time to get it done right. Dont dart all over. Its great you can restore your grandfathers car. I wish I had a few of mine. A 48 Caddy and a nice 60 Nomad wagon would have been fun. His 57 Chevy too.

Thanks for the input. Typically I agree, but I'm working on a limited budget for now. I'm using parts already purchased and making simple repairs whenever possible; as well as investigating the current condition for later repairs. So, I'm moving around to take advantage of what I have available and to get a complete picture.

I remember reading Hot Rod and Car Craft when I was 15/16 years of age, reading about cars that take a couple years to put together. I would laugh because I thought that was ridiculously long. Now, I'm looking at my vehicle every day and I'm thinking that two years is ridiculously quick for my situation. I'm reading and watching everything I can, so that to I can make sure I've set my plans prior to any major purchases. I'm 95%+ certain about how I want to build it this time around, but I want to be nearly 100% before any major upgrades.

I saw your project build on bangshift.com too. Ive been a member there for a long time.

Yeah, I'm taking advantage of every avenue available with this build. A GoFundMe account will be set up next. LOL.

http://bangshift.com/general-news/vi...heck-this-out/

What do you think? The Camino already has the right patina...

Quick update: I will soon have a stock cam / lifter set and an intake manifold. My friend wants to add a slightly lumpy cam to his 350 and the manifold will be upgraded to a chrome piece. A classic 'parts for labor' swap. Yes, I'm keeping the cam safe until install (I'm thinking pipe foam insulation) and notating which lobe each lifter belongs with (18 count egg carton with sharpie numbers?) . All for now...

It's been a few days since my last update, so here goes:

I've got a cam and lifter set for the Camino now, after helping a friend install a Thumper camshaft in his 350 Chevelle. I made sure to record the location of each lifter so that it will stay with the ramp it was with before.

I've put the Sonoma wheels back on the Camino now, as that I've got a set of rallys with new tires for the Sonoma. The lug nuts from the rally wheel do not work with the Sonoma wheels, when used on the Camino. I tried to use the Sonoma lug nuts, but none of the nuts I tried wanted to start and I thought better of forcing the issue. Thus I've got the Camino on jack stands for now. Any suggestions which lug nuts to use for this situation?

Next on the list is pulling the engine and replacing the wheel cylinders.

camino is 7/16" and Sonoma is 1/2" needs new Lugs