Newb with No Ride (at least not yet)

[g0thiac]

So, an update on my El Camino journey:

On Thursday, the seller of the 81 El Camino and I agreed to have the pre-sale inspection done this week and I would hear from him Thursday night or Friday. Well, the weekend came and no word. So I started looking around some more.

Found a nice 1980 Conquista for sale, and went to check it out. Looked it over and took it for a drive, came back and the seller of that vehicle and I talked on it and agreed on a price. As it was a Sunday, I didn't have the cash in hand, we agreed I would come back on Monday with the cash. Monday morning comes and the seller of the Conquista calls me - - says he has bad news, he spoke with his nephew and his nephew showed him text messages about the seller promising him first dibs on the Conquista. The seller said he wasn't sure his nephew would bring the money... and to wait for his call. I waited all day Monday for a call and nothing came in. Tuesday morning comes and still all quiet, Tuesday afternoon I reach out to the seller and as I figured, the nephew got the car. Well, as luck would have it the 81 El Camino seller reaches out later that afternoon and apologizes for the silence over the weekend, but he spoke with a mechanic shop and we are slated to do the pre-sale inspection on Thursday. So, barring any major issues (beyond what I outlined above) being found by the shop - hopefully I'll be coming home with that 81 Thursday or Friday.

If not, there is another 80 EL Camino for sale in town, which I called on before finding the Conquista, but there is some questionable title issues with that one. The seller doesn't have the title (pink slip) but has the sign over form from the original owner. The seller just never got around to putting the car in his name, so he says. I don't know. To me that sounds like a headache to deal with at DMV.

Question(s) for the group: The 81 El Camino needs seat belts. Where should I source new ones locally? I imagine your typical corner auto parts store wouldn't have them. Don't want to really special order as I am seeing COVID delays. Would the mechanic shop be able to order and install? Or would that be better suited to a body shop? Sorry for the stupid questions. If all else fails I can order, wait for them to arrive and then install. Just don't want to be dealing with the potential for tickets - because the cops in my town love their end of the month traffic "fundraising"

I would NEVER buy a vehicle without it's ownership, it's more problems to deal with, and that means it could also be stolen or have liens on it.

If it needs seat belts, the Camino won't pass any inspection from a reputable auto mechanic. Make sure you can actually bolt them in, before shelling out dough for ANYTHING.

Because if the floor pans for example were replaced, and if they didn't include the bracket that needs to be welded in? You're gonna be out alot of money unless you own a MIG or know someone who does to do the job cheap.

Also, it depends on the mechanic - some are good enough to weld most things, others may refer you to a body shop.

 

[1EseInCali]

Well, the hunt continues. The 81 El Camino didn't pass the pre-sale inspection - - 21 urgent issues noted + 7 moderate issues. Most were centered around replacing the entire front end, replacing all of the brake system and dealing with multiple leaks and sensor malfunctions. The shop mechanic literally told me to walk away when we talked on the phone, and then spit-balled about 3k-5k dollars worth of work needed - - and that's just to fix the things the shop knew of.

The seller tried talking me into buying the car, downplaying the severity of some of the issues & saying he was negotiable on price. He even offered to help work on fixing the car with me. In the end I offered him $2500 for the car, I couldn't justify throwing more at it, especially knowing off the bat I was going to be putting that much money into a vehicle just to get it road safe. Haven't heard back from the seller. So that's a wash.

On to the next...

 

[g0thiac]

Well, the hunt continues. The 81 El Camino didn't pass the pre-sale inspection - - 21 urgent issues noted + 7 moderate issues. Most were centered around replacing the entire front end, replacing all of the brake system and dealing with multiple leaks and sensor malfunctions. The shop mechanic literally told me to walk away when we talked on the phone, and then spit-balled about 3k-5k dollars worth of work needed - - and that's just to fix the things the shop knew of.

The seller tried talking me into buying the car, downplaying the severity of some of the issues & saying he was negotiable on price. He even offered to help work on fixing the car with me. In the end I offered him $2500 for the car, I couldn't justify throwing more at it, especially knowing off the bat I was going to be putting that much money into a vehicle just to get it road safe. Haven't heard back from the seller. So that's a wash.

On to the next...

Wonder why the front end needed that much work. But $3000-$5000 worth of repairs isn't worth it tbh.

And the seller can downplay it all he wants, but the car is no good for you, if it can't be legally on the road. Now if the seller was willing to fix those things first, and THEN sell it to you, for a reasonable price? That's fine.

But you buying it, and taking his word that he'll fix it? I wouldn't trust that f**king guy at all.

Don't give up now, there will be more of them to buy. You're in California, where there's more of them for sale, than here in Ontario lol.

 

[1EseInCali]

Wonder why the front end needed that much work. But $3000-$5000 worth of repairs isn't worth it tbh.

And the seller can downplay it all he wants, but the car is no good for you, if it can't be legally on the road. Now if the seller was willing to fix those things first, and THEN sell it to you, for a reasonable price? That's fine.

But you buying it, and taking his word that he'll fix it? I wouldn't trust that f**king guy at all.

Don't give up now, there will be more of them to buy. You're in California, where there's more of them for sale, than here in Ontario lol.

Found an 85. Officially a El Camino owner! It needs some work engine wise and Smog wise - but for the price I paid I'm not mad and have a cushion of $ built in to help offset the cost.

What's puzzling me is what trim model of El Camino this is. The extra chrome, color matched side mirrors, badge area over the glovebox, power locks and windows and two tone paint point to an SS or possibly Conquista but the VIN says base model....to complicate matters the VIN also points to a 4.3L V6 engine but the smog paperwork from 8 years ago to current shows 5L V8, as does the decal on the radiator (which I see you can buy from Ecklers).

So I am co fused by that. The engine will need to be pulled and a new one out in, but not knowing which engine is there is hampering my efforts to search out the appropriate replacement. Oh, well - it goes to the shop this week for a thorough check so I can see what else is going on.

 

[ck80]

Found an 85. Officially a El Camino owner! It needs some work engine wise and Smog wise - but for the price I paid I'm not mad and have a cushion of $ built in to help offset the cost.

What's puzzling me is what trim model of El Camino this is. The extra chrome, color matched side mirrors, badge area over the glovebox, power locks and windows and two tone paint point to an SS or possibly Conquista but the VIN says base model....to complicate matters the VIN also points to a 4.3L V6 engine but the smog paperwork from 8 years ago to current shows 5L V8, as does the decal on the radiator (which I see you can buy from Ecklers).

So I am co fused by that. The engine will need to be pulled and a new one out in, but not knowing which engine is there is hampering my efforts to search out the appropriate replacement. Oh, well - it goes to the shop this week for a thorough check so I can see what else is going on.

To begin - congratulations on the new ride. Nice looking start.

As for what you list...

1) the car has been painted as can be seen from the core support not being black. I also see overspray on the RH inner fender, both hood hinge springs, etc.

2) before putting money into the car, it might be worth trying to cross reference the SPID label vin to the driver door tire/gvwr sticker & vin and see if all 3 match. If there's discrepancies a free call to a chp officer to check for a hidden vin to make sure the vin tag wasn't swapped on a stolen car in its past.

3) nothing to say that someone didn't swap a 5.0 in place of the 4.3l engine with the engine shroud to match back when the core support was painted. From the picture it looks to be a 5.0 of that era. And, because the 5.0 was a factory offered engine for the model and year, it would be eligible as a legal swap.

A 4.3 would usually have a flatter air cleaner housing, and, would be easy to differentiate just on the basis of 6 vs 8 cylinders.

Passenger side of engine block near valve cover has a tab that has numbers punched with a die telling you what the engine was originally from, including a partial vin. Top rear of the engine block has a casting number for the block itself. Those combined will tell you what the engine was from, and confirm 5.0 or hidden 5.7 pretending to be a 5.0 for carb emissions inspection.