66 El Camino - Project CaMEANo

[Mr. Anderson]

Thanks guys.

Been debating with myself on what to do for a radiator. I've never used an aluminum one before and didn't really want to for no specific reasons. But I also couldn't afford a really nice brass/copper, especially withe the price of copper going up. I didn't want to skimp and be stuck with a radiator that wouldn't cool the car though. Was at Goodguys this weekend and PRC had a booth, and also a bunch of radiators for sale that were displays or had minor defects...but all still guaranteed to be good. I found one that was just the right size, or at least close enough. I've got to weld mounting brackets on, but that will be easy enough. Cross flow, two rows of 1" tubes. Has a transmission cooler that I wont need but I'll just plug the holes. Saved $150 over buying one made specific for the car, didn't have to wait for it to be built, and didn't have to pay for shipping. Good deal!

[Mr. Anderson]

Small addition to the mirror bracket. I kinda forgot about the sunvisor support...then thought I'd get sunvisors that just had the outer pivot only, and no inner support. Then I bought a headliner that came with sunvisors with both mounts. So...I made this. Sorry, bad cell pic.

[chunger]

Nice, did you mill that down or was it created from flat stock and then bent?

[Motown 454]

It looks great to me Eric. Nice save.

[Mr. Anderson]

Thanks guys!

Thought for sure I replied about the bracket....weird. Yep, made from a flat chunk of aluminum, cut, cold bent, then shaped with files and sandpaper. On the visor bracket...I got some vacuum caps that were just the right size to slip over the ends of the sunvisor pivots, and they fit nice and snug inside the clip. I had to turn it around from where it is in the above picture though.

This weekend is a BIG car show in Austin that I've been going to religiously for the last 8 years. I decided to skip this year as I no longer have an appropriate car to take, plus I needed to get some work done on the Elky. Told myself I'd better make the weekend worth it. So, I started out by waking up at 7:30, and went to Cars & Coffee

Great turnout, gorgeous weather, and got me motivated. Grabbed some breakfast and headed home to the garage. I had decided that I was for sure going to mount the battery behind the cab in the empty hole. Which meant I needed to replace those floorboards first. Then figured a way to use the factory tray and built some framework....was going to turn the rest of that half of the "hole" into storage too. I got this far last weekend...




So today I built a door, some hinges, and got a latch mounted. Framework of the door/lid


Hinges...could have bought something from Austin Hardware or some other source and made them work, but this way was more fun and I could make it exactly how I wanted it.






With it fully open, the weight is over center so you don't have to hold it or have a prop. There's still some reinforcement to do where the hinges are welded to the lid.


Made some threaded plates for the latch and striker and got them mounted.




Ran a rod inside the car so I just have to reach around the door jamb to pop it open. It will have a knob on it when finished.


Then fitted some expanded steel in there to keep everything from disappearing to the other side (which will just be sealed up).




Going to put some undercoating or bed liner kind of coating inside there to keep it durable. Once I get the other side and the lid skinned, I'll figure out some kind of weatherstripping to seal it up.

[Yelcamino]

That looks awesome! Very intricate but simple at the same time.

Just out of curiosity, why are you going to seal the other side? You should make it accessible too because you'll always have a use for the extra space. On my Elky the entire lid lifts up and like you, the passenger side has the battery and on the driver's side of the divider is storage space for tools, cleaning gear, or whatever I happen to need with me at the time.

[Mr. Anderson]

Thanks Herb, I know it's wasted space but I just couldn't think of anything I could fill it up with. What I've got will be plenty for a jack, a stand, a bag of tools, fix a flat, jumper cables, rags, oil, etc. It's not getting welded shut or anything so I'll have the option to change it if I should feel the need at a later time. Lots of room behind the seats too.

[RobertGP]

Nice work!

[Mike Holleman]

Thanks Herb, I know it's wasted space but I just couldn't think of anything I could fill it up with. What I've got will be plenty for a jack, a stand, a bag of tools, fix a flat, jumper cables, rags, oil, etc. It's not getting welded shut or anything so I'll have the option to change it if I should feel the need at a later time. Lots of room behind the seats too.

Listen to Herb. You will want that space later and it can be a real PITA to do fab work on a finished bed. Very good design and obviously well thought out. Herb and I have done many long trips together in our Elkys, with more to come. Never had too much storage space. My fire system is in the left side with room to spare.
Mike Holleman

[Mr. Anderson]

Perhaps I will. Going to move back to the front end now though and hoping to get the car ready to start. There's some more wiring left to do, and a few more parts to order. The next time I turn the car around in the garage (which would make it far easier to fab the other side), I'm hoping it will be under it's own power! Thanks for the kind words guys!

[Motown 454]

Eric excelent fab work and a nice design. Your doing a great job.

[Mr. Anderson]

Thanks Wayne!

For only the second headliner I've installed, and the first in probably 8 years (the first was a disaster), this one turned out really well and a lot better than I was expecting!! Tomorrow: carpet, windlacing, sill plates, kick panels, seats, seat belts, and console! I'm excited.

[Motown 454]

It came out nice. I'm not looking forward to doing my head liner.

[Mr. Anderson]

Neither was I. I borrowed a spray gun loaded with adhesive from work that the upholsterer uses on everything. That, obviously, made a huge difference.

[Mr. Anderson]

Carpet is in. I split the rear half to make install easier...the front I couldn't because there would be a gap at the front. The higher transmission tunnel really made it short at the edges so it is barely tucked under the sill plates. The glue should hold it down though. Windlacing on and kick panels in. The drivers seat has one bolt in it, and I need to paint some of the seat belt brackets I forgot about. But it's really starting to come together.





Painted my alternator and p/s pump brackets this morning and got them put on a while ago. The power steering pump doesn't fit! Must be the combination of an Alan Grove bracket, in a '64-'67 A-body with an aftermarket 600 style steering box. I should be able to redrill and tap a hole on one of the plates, shave some material off of another plate and have more room. This is with the pump all the way in, clearing the steering box by about 1/8". Had to take the fancy top cover off too or I wouldn't have been able to get it this far.

[johnny68]

looking great eric good job
john

[srh3trinity]

Looking great.

[negozio]

verry nice

[Mr. Anderson]

Garcia!

Power steering pump bracket is modified, but haven't put it back on yet as I'm waiting on the paint to cure.

A few headaches but console, passenger seat, and both belts in. Had some wiring I forgot to run under the carpet that I got to fish through. Really should have gone with black seatbelts. Might swap them out at a later date. The steering column needs to move in some too, it's decent but really needs to move closer to me to be perfectly comfortable.


Passenger seat is nearly all the way forward to get the rear bolts in. Gotta wait until power is hooked back up to move it and put the rest of the hardware in.


Don't know if I posted my horn button yet or not. Carved it out of the original button, made it fit into the Grant piece. Needs some surface polishing to get rid of a couple scratches, but it turned out well.

[dusterbd13]

looks great, man. i love seeing interiors go together.