Newest Toy...
1979 El Camino
Dark Gray with Burgundy Interior
June, 2007.
Well, I just bought a 1979 El Camino. It has a small block 400 with
a Turbo-hydromatic 350. The car has no intake or carburetor and the
hood is missing. We have removed the front clip, engine,
transmission, and interior. We stared on a 350 bored 60 over to put
in my S10 but decided to do the El Camino. I am using mostly Summit
Racing parts. For starters, I have a gear drive timing set, aluminum
hyper-eutectic pistons, LS1 aluminum heads with 2.02 intakes and 1.62
exhausts, and a 0.490 lift cam with 278 duration.
Here are a few
pictures of the car as we disassemble it. Please don't laugh.
 Here's
the new 350-60 over motor...but I didn't use the LS1 heads. Intakes to fit
these heads get a premium dollar.
I used a set of 1976 L88 Corvette Heads from a 400 Small Block. That
was the motor that was in the Camino. The carburetor is a Holley 670
Avenger. The motor should be ready for a test run in by the end of
January.
I pulled
the interior out of a Oldsmobile Aurora. I am changing the interior
to dark grey.
Progress is continuing. The motor is
completely together and sounding strong. I pulled a posi-track 10
bolt rear end from a 1987 Caprice. It has been regeared with a set
of 4.10 gears. We installed a 2200 high-stall converter but found
out the 350 hydromatic slips. Time to rebuild the transmission.
More pictures to come. |