EL CAMINO New to the Forum/Just Purchased a 78 El Camino SS 350 4MT.

[iflan84]

Recently bought a 1978 El Camino SS 350 4MT project car and found this forum. I've always had Honda and Toyota projects but, as great as they might be, I'm done wrenching on complicated cars. I had a 1984 Regal and a 1985 Camaro IROC when I in high school and decided it was time to get something classic instead of my usual stuff. Went looking for another Regal for a project and found this instead. I love manual transmission cars and I couldn't pass this up.

It runs well and doesn't have much rust to speak of. I drove it home about 250 miles in 90 degree heat with no issues. All of the suspension bushings and engine/trans mounts are shot but all of the body bushing have been replaced sometime in the cars lifetime and are still in good condition (I can't believe my luck on that!!). Overall its rough around the edges but all the lights, blinkers, power windows, delay wiper and washer all still work. The A/C compressor has been removed and its stuck on defrost so I'll address that next after I get the running gear in good condition.

How rare are these 350 Manual Transmission El Caminos? I'm new to the forums and haven't had much time to search very long but I haven't been able to find out much outside of ~1775 total 4-speed El Caminos made in '78. All the other ones I have seen have been behind 305's. Did any of the other G-Bodys have a 350/Manual combo available from the factory?

 

[SS_Malibu]

Welcome to the GBodyForum!
Looks like you have a nice starter. Tending to the steering, suspension and engine/trans mounts is a great first step. It will make a big difference on the feel of your Elky. There is plenty of help and knowledge here.

 

[pagrunt]

Welcome & nice find. Definitely not a common El Camino with the combination of options I see. You might even be lucky enough to have a 11" clutch which really hard to find.

 

[BuickOldsPontiac]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[scoti]

Nice!

 

[Sweet_Johnny]

Oh, I like that.

 

[Longroof79]

Nice ride, cool find. Welcome to the forum.

 

[mclellan83]

Welcome to the forum, hell of a score you got

 

[airboatgreg]

Nice start. Welcome

 

[newmexguy]

Had a '78 Black Knight manual shift one in the early 00's. Code 19, black. Gave up on it when found my current Chevelle and discovered how expensive it would be to restore the interior. Was Albuquerque car, so interior was toast. Sold it - as a running repainted example, with completely rebuilt drivetrain and brakes for under $5000. Was tough to sell, even on Ebay, which didn't work, sold it locally, to retired Airman in Alamogordo who wanted one to replace one he sold while in service. Have no idea if it was originally a six cylinder three speed on floor car, it did have factory AC. Was under impression all used a 10 1/2 clutch, with the "special" bellhousing, and dropped clutch fork. Production numbers of manual shifts was very low, something like 0.4 percent of total production, that's a number I've heard thrown around.