The last Voyage of the stock 1980 El Camino

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Oldscarnut

Greasemonkey
May 10, 2017
249
236
43
NW Washington State

Today marked the final trip my El Camino would take powered by a 3.8 Buick V-6 with all 120 horses working. It was a nice cool summer day in Washington, and I had a project that needed a pickup. As I am 95% done building a 68 Olds 350 to replace the breathless oil dripper, I decided to give it a last little workout before I remove the engine and finish the mechanical phase of this build. I actually put it under some stress, getting around 1200 pounds of landscaping materials and driving the 20 miles back to home-sweet-home. I was a little surprised by how it squatted down and it easily held 45 through the hilly roads between Lowe's and my home. The brakes were tested several times, and twice I had to shift down into 2nd to maintain 40 on a long hill, but the tired, underpowered, poorly designed and engineered V-6 did itself proud, not missing a beat and completing the round trip.

The hood comes off on Saturday and a day or two of d/c and then I rent the hoist. While the engine is out, I will be putting in a A/C delete panel since the previous owner littersally cut out the A/C condenser and pipes and discarded the compressor. I also have a newer lower ratio SS steering box to install, and cleanup of things unnecessary and some painting. I believe mine to be a TH350, not a 250C or 350C, and it stays in while I get the Olds in and hooked up to the B-O-P trans. I know I will have many challenges getting it on the road and I hope to attend some late Summer and early Falls meets and shows.

I have spent most of May and June getting the engine together as it was in the Machine shop for a long time. It was fun to be the first mechanic since the Olds builders to see some of the original parts. The mains only required 20 under, the rods were 10 under, and the bores were 30 over. I am using 9:1 compression pistons, W-31 valves and springs, and a W-30 cam suitable for automatics. Not one piece was reused. I replaced the standard 2 barrel and intake with an E-Brock 7111 and a W-31 calibrated Q-Jet. The only thing not 1968 on it is the HEI Distributor. This allows me to discard the ECM and all of its non-sense. I will post pics sometime soon for those interested. So, at this point, I will state I do not want an LS engine and all other noise. I had a 68 Olds 350 and I have ALWAYS owned Olds, 11 of them altogether in my 67 years. This will be my last project and I have hopes that my 13 year old will show interest in it when he hears it run. Until then it is my baby and the way I wanted it. I know some get it, and the rest may never, but then it is not for sale so it really doesn't matter!
 

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GuysMonteSS

Royal Smart Person
May 21, 2011
1,449
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Kentville,Nova Scotia,Canada
Should be a lot more fun to drive with that 350 Rocket in there !!!
Guy
 
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motorheadmike

Geezer
Nov 18, 2009
8,976
27,522
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Saskatchewan, Truckistan
Fast is fast. Do what makes you happy.
 
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PBGBodyFan

G-Body Guru
Mar 3, 2009
792
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Wisconsin
Very cool. Nice to see the El Camino put to use to haul stuff as designed and I dig the tire's as planters too.
 
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pontiacgp

blank
Mar 31, 2006
29,270
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Kitchener, Ontario
underpowered, poorly designed and engineered V-6 did itself proud, not missing a beat and completing the round trip.

I don't know how you can say the V6 was an underpowered, poorly designed and engineered when it is still doing the job it was intended for after 3 or more decades.....
 
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Oldscarnut

Greasemonkey
May 10, 2017
249
236
43
NW Washington State
I don't know how you can say the V6 was an underpowered, poorly designed and engineered when it is still doing the job it was intended for after 3 or more decades.....

I had an odd-fire V-6 and with some Kenne-Bell cam and pushrod upgrades, it was a screamer, but there was always a low end rumble and shake. Even with the even-fired ones, they needed turbo-charging to perform. I am sure there are Chevy 250 sixes that outlasted V-8s, and if I were buying it to putt putt around a farm and to and from the feed store, I am sure the V-6 was fine. All of that vibration led to the oil dripping as valve covers, oil pans and transmissions all vibrated loose. It had potential to be much better, but GM took the simple root and did not fix the things that needed fixing, except the blown versions. 120 horses for a 3500 lb car is woefully short. Using a V8 distributor with two holes ignored was not good engineering. Using a computer controlled 2 barrel was a poor design, and gearing it to infinity made the gas mileage go up slightly, but it took everything to get up to highway speed and maintain it. Though I am a fan of GM in general, I am not a fan of the corporate approach to problem solving, and the V6 was a stopgap. Having an engine that literally shakes itself to pieces makes planned obsolescence noticeable. This is what my OPINION is based upon! Model A Flatheads lasted a very long time too. Good design? Engineered? Underpowered?
 
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