66 El Camino - Project CaMEANo

[Yelcamino]

Thats a good point that I hadn't thought about...especially inside the car. Hmm. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to think it over.

I bought this one a year or so ago when Vintage Air was discontinued their cast bulkheads, knowing one day I'd put A/C in something.

I hope you don't mind, but I think I'm going to copy the front end of your Chevelle, haha. The painted grill and spoiler look great. That whole car looks great!

When we were working on my firewall I wanted to hide the a/c and heater hoses, which I assume is your plan also. I was able to get everything tightened up on that 4x4 block, but it was a bxtch! I think inside the cab was even harder to do than the engine side! Who knows, maybe I was using the wrong tools?

Glad you like the Chevelle, feel free to copy all you want!

[Mr. Anderson]

Was looking for one of these consoles for a while. Missed out on some good ebay deals before I knew they were good (didn't want to pay that much, only to find out that was cheap!). Finally found another and snagged it. Ended up being in pretty bad shape and not what the seller described, but I can fix it. I't's out of a '94-'96 SS Impala, column shift. Fits like it was made for the car. It will be recovered in black/charcoal.

The seat is just set in place. I still have a lot of bracket modifications to do.

[Mr. Anderson]

Been close to two months since I've touched this car! Took some time to bodywork my Olds and have it painted. I've also sold my '31 Roadster pickup, got enough to start another hot rod project and dump a lot into the Elky.

-Global West upper and lower control arms are here for the front end.
-DSE multi-speed wiper motor kit
-American Autowire Classic update kit
-Ididit black powdercoated retrofit tilt column
-GM "Type II" power steering pump and remote reservoir

Also am getting close to deciding between a 383 stroker buildup, or an LS conversion. Either way, the better news is I will now be putting a 5-speed in the car!

Will be a few more weeks before I'm back on it, but I've got big plans now.

Also, since this will be a daily driven car subject to staying outside, parking lot rash, and other general abuse, I am thinking twice about the paint. Shiney scares me because I've had NICE daily's before and any little scratch made me want to kill. So I'm leaning towards a very sinister semi-gloss black. Still gunmetal wheels, stock trim. We'll see.

[brrymnvette]

Awesome. What are the seats out of? I'm thinking I'm going to have to convince my pop's to do a vintage air setup or something b/c we can't find ANY factory A/C parts for inside the cab that aren't priced like they are made out of gold.

[Mr. Anderson]

Seats are from a Lincoln MKZ....counterpart to the Ford 500/taurus.

Aftermarket A/C is the only way to go...you'll be glad.

[Mr. Anderson]

Finally settled back down...put together a frame for my new '30 Ford Roadster project, moved, went outta town for a while, came back and unpacked! Now I'm back on the El Camino.

I like the original '66 SS hood, and I like cowl induction hoods, but wanted something completely different. So I got a new '69 SS hood to cannibalize!


Got the main piece cut out to start fitting this evening. It's going to work out well! Gotta finish trimming a few areas and make a couple more cuts, then I'll be ready to figure out the final location and cut up my '66 hood.




Got it registered too and laid claim to my personalized plates...Ca-Mean-O


Also decided on a stroker. A friend of mine is putting it together for me, he runs a machine shop. Going to be pretty awesome!! Had to take the block .040 over to clean it up. Bowtie heads. He's estimating 450-475 horse.
http://www.jegs.com/i/GM%20Performan...0002/-1?CT=999

[Mr. Anderson]

Pictures a a bit dark, sorry....taken on my phone. Some real progress made today.


Got the major chunk cut out, cleaned, primed and painted the inner structure since I could get to it.


First test fit


Got the rear support brackets robbed off the donor hood and installed.


All tacked in place. Lots of welding left to do.


Some gaps to fill on the back edge of the scoops still.

[gearheads78]

Nice work as usual.

[doribak]

nice work! looks great!

[Yelcamino]

That's going to be a really cool and different hood! Nice!

[Motown 454]

Cool idea, it's going to look great. Nice work.

[Mr. Anderson]

Front end completely apart.....interior and doors 100% gutted, doors off. Next stop...body coming off the frame. This garage is getting smaller every day.



Found a pic of a flat black '66, did a little photo shopping. Mine will be quite a bit nicer than this rattle can job but it's close enough.

[RyanG]

Nice looking El Camino

[dartdude]

nice ride dude , keep posted pictures!

[Mr. Anderson]

Was thinking about a Smokey inspired two tone.....thoughts?

[titan460]

reverse the colors. black wheels, black top, gold middle

[dusterbd13]

or follow the gold through, however so slightly, on the doors and bed rails. 1/4 inch of gold would be enough to make it look right.

[gearheads78]

I like it. I would not do the reverse because I'm not a big fan of black wheels except in very limited applications and yours would not be one of them IMO.

[Mr. Anderson]

I typically love black wheels. But I too don't think they would look right here. Here's a little more gold, I followed the body line at the top of the quarters panels.

[dusterbd13]

thats exactly what i was talking about. may also want to try a polished or black lip on the BMW wheels. break them up a little.