BUILD THREAD 84 El Camino build thread

[SoFloG]

Radiator core X braces and jounce bars,
Rear shock tower brace and sway bar... next is fender to radiator support braces gotta paint and install.

I try to mess around on rural roads or in front of my own house. Pulling out from my buddies a couple weeks ago I shuffled her nasty down the street a good distance and got a taste of that snap oversteer . It seems extra with El Caminos

 

[SoFloG]

Better off the line, less body roll/flex, more responsive in general. The rear suspension rebound is drastically better. Just with the sway bar alone from one day to the next the resonance/vibration coming from the back (even the bed rail trim and loose rear window) has decreased.

 

[SoFloG]

Ordered a grill on fleabay and supposed to be billet but appears stainless. After some jig saw, die grinder, and dremel work by my son, we got it installed. We cut out the OEM grill just leaving the outside framework and spayed the inside black.as well as the supports on the header panel. It's not perfect by any means but is solid and an upgrade from the faded old one. All the chrome will likely get painted along with the bumpers depending on the paint scheme we come up with.

 

[Sweet_Johnny]

It's a fine addition! It does look good and I'm glad to hear that your son did the honors. I've noticed a recent trend where the terms polished aluminum, billet, chrome, and stainless are all used interchangeably and it drives me up a wall. Sometimes it's only been sprayed with silver nitrate or something to make it shiny but they call it polished. Whatever that grille is made of, the ride is looking nice.

Have you considered "black chrome" for the bumpers and whatnot? Dupli-Color makes a kit called "Shadow Chrome" and it's the best looking one in a can in my opinion. I'll be using it myself.

 

[SoFloG]

It's a fine addition! It does look good and I'm glad to hear that your son did the honors. I've noticed a recent trend where the terms polished aluminum, billet, chrome, and stainless are all used interchangeably and it drives me up a wall. Sometimes it's only been sprayed with silver nitrate or something to make it shiny but they call it polished. Whatever that grille is made of, the ride is looking nice.

Have you considered "black chrome" for the bumpers and whatnot? Dupli-Color makes a kit called "Shadow Chrome" and it's the best looking one in a can in my opinion. I'll be using it myself.

Thanks bro. Yes the grill appears to be stainless and in the instructions included stated it also. They were clear and written in proper English and the mounting hardware and overall quality of the grill are better than expected. The ebay seller listed it as billet aluminum. I think it's either greed or ignorance with the vendors mislabeling items. With no more real speed shops or mom n pop parts stores left around here it's the online guessing game.

I've messed with the black chrome stuff a long time ago on some little stuff but not the shadow chrome. I'll definitely look in to it. That might be ideal for all the trim.

I just can't decide on an overall paint scheme let alone color yet. I really need to pull the back glass and reseal it along with the panel seams in the bed. There is no real rust there and no body work needed on the body other than some blocking and paint prep. Slight leak in the windshield also but I think I can get away with sealing it without pulling the glass. I also want to ospho treat and spray something on the floor before putting the carpet back in. Once that stuff is done I'll be out of excuses and ready to address paint.

 

[SoFloG]

More bracing!

 

[SoFloG]

Got tweeters in the dash, they were in my Cutlass. I hung on to grill plates I made for some reason and realized they were the same shape as the El Camino/MC grilles just longer, so I cut them down and are reusing them. Had a 2nd car show at my job and a buddy parked next to me with his camaro.

 

[SoFloG]

Only G body!

 

[SoFloG]

Picked up some drag lites a while back. Jr did most of the polishing and we got 165/80/15s mounted on the fronts and installed. 15x4 and 15x8. Sticking with the 235/60/15 on the rears but they need way more polishing than the fronts did before we mount tires and throw em on. Removed the front chin spoiler to see how it looks... not sure yet.

 

[SoFloG]

Drag lites all around now