Hey everybody!
My dad and I just picked up our first project car. We are pretty casual car guys, so we needed a project that we could drive and enjoy while we occasionally upgrade as time/budget allows. Last year my dad scored this 78 El Camino so here we go! New wheels and tires right away, everything else is pretty much how we got it. previous owner dropped a running 350 in it...... thats about the best thing we can say about it.
The "new" motor is on a stand and ready to install in the spring. It's a 350 we bought with light use from a guy with a cherry 73 monte carlo and he just really wanted a stroker. so we got a 350 bored 5 over and built properly by someone who knew what they were doing. He said it put 375 HP to the rear wheels. Plenty for us to get started and enjoy while we work on the rest of the car.
The good: VERY little rust. all body panels are in good shape. runs, drives, 4 speed, new exhaust from previous owner, glass is all in good shape. the paint is even ok on most of the car.
The bad: interior is trashed as this car sat in Texas for years. The original car had a v6, so the front suspension is super squishy with a v8 in there. the current motor is a turd but we will be addressing that soon.
our plans: This is not a race car! I have zero interest in making this a drag car. We want something that is fun to drive, looks good, maybe a few car shows, and lots of weekend cruising. re-do the interior, maybe some bucket seats, new stereo, new dash, probably something mean looking for the grille and front bumper. also insulating the floor and doors to cut down on some of the road noise and rattles.
I would love your ideas for getting this done on a reasonable budget! I have read some things about using late model spindles for brake upgrades, the front will need a stiffer suspension, and the dash and guages will need to be replaced. Looking forward to this project!
-Tony
My dad and I just picked up our first project car. We are pretty casual car guys, so we needed a project that we could drive and enjoy while we occasionally upgrade as time/budget allows. Last year my dad scored this 78 El Camino so here we go! New wheels and tires right away, everything else is pretty much how we got it. previous owner dropped a running 350 in it...... thats about the best thing we can say about it.
The "new" motor is on a stand and ready to install in the spring. It's a 350 we bought with light use from a guy with a cherry 73 monte carlo and he just really wanted a stroker. so we got a 350 bored 5 over and built properly by someone who knew what they were doing. He said it put 375 HP to the rear wheels. Plenty for us to get started and enjoy while we work on the rest of the car.
The good: VERY little rust. all body panels are in good shape. runs, drives, 4 speed, new exhaust from previous owner, glass is all in good shape. the paint is even ok on most of the car.
The bad: interior is trashed as this car sat in Texas for years. The original car had a v6, so the front suspension is super squishy with a v8 in there. the current motor is a turd but we will be addressing that soon.
our plans: This is not a race car! I have zero interest in making this a drag car. We want something that is fun to drive, looks good, maybe a few car shows, and lots of weekend cruising. re-do the interior, maybe some bucket seats, new stereo, new dash, probably something mean looking for the grille and front bumper. also insulating the floor and doors to cut down on some of the road noise and rattles.
I would love your ideas for getting this done on a reasonable budget! I have read some things about using late model spindles for brake upgrades, the front will need a stiffer suspension, and the dash and guages will need to be replaced. Looking forward to this project!
-Tony
