"THE REAL OKIE" 84 el Camino build thread

[Ryan Harris]

 

[Ryan Harris]

 

[drogg1]

View attachment 49830

Yikes those "vents" are awful.

 

[Ryan Harris]

Yikes those "vents" are awful.

When I saw those things on the car for the first time I just wanted to touch the car and say, "well bless your heart you poor thing." The old man who owned the car couldn't pick a style. It had street rod wheels, a ricer wing, these vents lol. He did the interior very tastefully but he lost it on the exterior. Luckily I have a brand new driver fender. I need to find a passenger and I will do the swap, but I refuse to spend 400 on a GM good mark fender and that's all I can find locally. Can't find any decent pull offs on eBay or craigslist either.

 

[theoldsone]

Interior is one thing that old man did right. Good looking car, minus the vents lol.

 

[Ryan Harris]

Well well well finally!!! After almost a month of family drama and home improvement projects with the wifey, I finally got started working on the car. I started the first evening by prepping all the gasket surfaces, getting all the debri cleaned outa the lifter valley and draining the oil. The next evening I put the cam in and timing set on and lifters in. And last night I got the heads and gaskets on and torqued em down. Took a break tonight. tmrw gonna drop in the pushrods, rockers, set the valves, intake manifold, timing cover, balancer and valve covers. Here are some pics.

 

[drogg1]

I really like your engine setup. Nothing is sized too big for a 350 like most folks end up doing. That cam should make for excellent street performance.

 

[Ryan Harris]

I really like your engine setup. Nothing is sized too big for a 350 like most folks end up doing. That cam should make for excellent street performance.

Thanks. This is my first build, and even tho I'm budget minded, I wanted it to be "right". I researched for several weeks diff head/ cam combos. I knew on a stock bottom end I didn't want it too radical. I just wanted a tough lil small block that matched up well with the stall and the rear end. (Rear end coming after motor) I read three different build articles with this same cam and very similar worked heads. This cam with a set of worked 882 heads a dual plane intake headers and a 600 double pumper made 385/415 at the flywheel and my 441 heads should outflow the 882s. The cam manufacturer says this cam likes a 2500 stall. Summit says this cam is Borderline too big for a stock converter. Previous owner said when he had trans built he asked for a beefier torque converter and the guy told him he used the Saturday night special converter, which is rated around 2200, So I think I'll be in decent shape. When it's all said and done, every part on the car from the carb to the pumpkin should compliment each other well.

 

[SoFloG]

Heads look clean, I'd go for a 2800ish stall if I were you. Wouldn't hurt, just help.

 

[SoFloG]

Are you sticking with the performer intake? I want to get rid of my 882 heads but my setup is reliable it's just a matter of getting my new 650dp to be acutely tuned. What are your plans for the car/motor?