JULY 09

Never 'done', but drivable and pretty much complete-3
 

17" cragars onthe front and 18's onthe rear compliment the wheelwells and keep the 60's look with the flair into the 2000's

Click on any picture for full size

Interior took a slight left turn nto the digital age. with DakotaDigital dash, console clock, Radios4oldCars digital dash stereo, feeding the Profile amp and
Polk Momo speaker. VintageAir A/C, Dakota cruise, interior stitching by Lisa Smith. nothng was left at 'good enough'

KEEPING IAT LOOKING SIMPLE.....

Underhood hood is the original 1967 small journal 327 block, and the original forged crank and small bolt rods. After that, things took a turn into the 2000's
 Edelbrock E-tec 170cc aluminum heads, Holley Comander 950 controled MPFI, Custom Jay Allen hydraulic roller cam,  Billt Specialities sertentine belt system,  Alll spinning a TCI breakaway lockup convertor for the Jake Shoemake built 700R4.

lookinf like a brand new 1967 El Camino Custom

 
 

Sound Decisions

Well the speakers are in, can finish the interior up. Took a lot of hard decisions but opted to put them down more out of sight and hope to still have some decent sound. Started by covering the entire interior with Dynomat Extreme. EVERYTHING, roof, back wall, inner skin of the doors, firewall, floor, EVERYTHING. Then sprayed rubberized sound deadener in the inside of the outer door skins before filling the doors with glass, weather-strip, coated the back side of the door panels, etc. Then laid the stock type sound deadener on the floor and firewall, new firewall pad, and cowl pad,, carpet kit has a 1/2" layer of rock-wool looking padding.... this thing should be as well insulated for weather and sound as any new car (maybe better).
 

With the good advice from Bruce he talked to a number of restorers who had found a decent aftermarket (stock looking) AM/FM IPOD and XM compatible dash unit. Vintage Auto Radio makes a real nice unit,, (not the import sound of the USA custom audio stuff).

Not looking to rattle the chrome, I made small enclosures to tuck neatly into the lower corners of the back wall. Should still have room for a spare if I decide to carry one on long trips. These pictures are experimenting with a new 10-22mm wide angle lens so things are somewhat distorted but you'll get the idea. The enclosures are really just a 1/4" plywood face plate with acoustical foam speaker cups sealed to the back side to make the 'enclosures'. May end up putting a small powered sub under one of the seats if the Polk Momo's don't drive enough bass. But that's an easy add on and a plug-in to the amp.
I had ordered 6' of carpet from the manufacturet that makes the carpet kit for OPG (don't you know that was a CHORE to get them to give up the name of their supplier!!). I don't think the 67 ever had any kind of curtian on the back wall, but.... some hard board and contact cement for the carpet made a decent back wall. Then the faceplate / enclosures were fit to match.

Click on pictures for full size
 

February 2009
New tires and wheels are on
Cragar 612 series S/S wheels
17x7's with 325-50-ZR17 on the front
18x8's on the rear with 255-45-ZR18 putting 9.2" of rubber (27.2" tall) to the ground. Decided to change the 3.36 open rear for a Auburn posi and 3.73 gears
With the deep 1's gear ratio of the 700r4 it's going to need a little a little help for traction

Update Sept 6th

Not  lot a lot of visible progress lately. But anyone who has ever put doors together from an empty carcaus knows how much CRAP is involved.

   clicky click on the picts for full size 
 

You can see the Vintage Air unit is hanging on the firewall  (FINALLY in place)  Only thing left to complete the doors is to drill the passengers side vent window lock lever and install it with a roll pin.

So doors are complete inside and out, including that side trim that is now in place except for the short pieces on the front fenders (the project fro this weekend between races!)

Just a couple of pieses of trim left to install and the body is COMPLET (WOOOOhoo finally)

Seeing daylight for the first time as a 'nearly complete' inferno red Elky
 

   (click on images for large hi-res photo)
 

Still have wireing, finish the Vintage A/C install and interior to go before she is drivable, but things are moving right along.

July 24 update

Things are slowly taking shape!

Made good progress on the rear this weekend. Getting trim pieces on always makes things look more 'complete than they really are, but....
 

First things first. When working of a newly painted project, here's a realitively cheap way to help protect the paint and body from bumps and bruises while you re-assrmble the car. I bought a big stack of microfiber blankets at Wallmart for less than $50. Consider it a CHEAP surgical drape to to keep tools and things from leaving their mark.

July 25
Spent a LOT of time this month fitting the TONS of chrome one of these things have! The chrome does a great job of offsetting the brightness of that Inferno Red paint.
A nice compliment to paint if I do say so myself.

  and 

The wiring is just getting started but should be pretty easy with the Painless 18 circut muscle car package.

This weekend, the BACK get's the attention after being neglected so far in this re-assembly.

Get the tail wires (fuel pump wiring) threaded through the chassis and then I can mount the bumper, backup lights, the tailgate trim and tail light buckets.
 

July 5th
Early July progress......,, motor is in, trans is in, the Holley EFI is all wired (what a breeze that kit makes it) and finishing up installing the AC dash unit so I can fit the FI computer and DD dash computer in 'somehwere'

The 327 is FINALLY at home in it's new form 

and the Ricks Tank FI tank is fitted and mounted thanks to Ryan for his fabrication work on the mounts

More updates soon.
 

June 2008 update:

She's showing signs of color!!! As I look around the shop and the boxes and boxes of parts to be assembeled,, there is still a LOT of work. But moving forward from here should be a pleasure as
EVERYTHING is new / restored and just needs re-assembly.

As someone said,, only thing going in this bed is SILK SHEETS.

Just had to include this pic to show the PERFECT body work done by Harry Rockstroh Look down that body line, then notice how perfect and sharp the reflection of that Mopar is in the paint.

 

Well 7 months in primer prison and things are getting CLOSE.
Few weeks ago we ordered new fenders and hood. Of the 3 hoods, and 2 complete sets of fenders I have, we had JUNK. Found too much 'brazed' together pieces and too much hidden rust from a repair done decades ago . Now fitting the 'new' JUNK to the car is it's own challange. Body work is almost done and here is just a couple of shots from last month.

WOW, started in the 80's by my dad, the project outlived him. Now here it is 2008 and things are FINALLY coming together.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Update Aug 07
Not sure what happened. One thing leasd to another to another to another and all of a sudden there are nothing but frame rails where the front of the car used to be.

 
 
 

Front and rear disks complete, the motor is complete, a trial fit revealed some header problems, but here's where late September brings us

Test fit the motor in place and found a header clearance problem.Patriot mid-length headers #8021-1 do not fit, no matter what everyone tells you!!!!! Just have to hang a 700r case on the back and modify the cross member (build a new one) and she can FINALLY be off to the media blaster (about a month late)

December, it's COLD in Arizona (I know,, laugh it up). Back to a shell the Elky is back from the media blaster, and at the body shop coated with epoxy primer and in the hands of one of the best in the business (Harry Rockstraw) A panel at a time this thing is coming along, but not going to be done by 1-1-08 as planned. (but when does anything ever go as planned!)  Updates soon

Update Sept 07

FINALLY something is going back ON the car. The 60to0brakingsystem.com package consists of 'The Right Stuff" pawer disk sret up. Had a few small problems wioth the front caliper bracket in regards to wheel clearance. But a few seconds with a 4" flapper wheel took care of it. With the frame rails and the suspension components all rebuilt the front suspension is ready top set back on the ground.

Now,, on the the rear disks....................................
 
 
 
 

Had to remove the fender and inner fender to remove the old factory AC, the UGLY frame  and unpainted front suspension(that was just totally rebuilt) was more than I could stand. Besides, the pieces are easier to haul to the media blaster and body shop. And, it will be pretty easy to detail the frame as I put the disk brake package on. So 'progress' involved about 300 steps BACKWARDS this month!!!

Ran into a setback with the motor also. The custom hydraulic roller cam from Camshaft Inovations is under way. We originally wanted a 7/4 - 2/3 swap firing order. but,,, to get a core with enough lobe was going to cost an extra $600 and be a 8 week wait. Well I can afford the 8 weeks, but the slight gain of the LS firing order just is not worth the added cost to me.
Well, a couple of things have changed!!!

The 327 has seen a few 'updates' 8^)

Just used my old AFR's for mock-up. The E-tec's are busy on my buddy's motor for a few more weeks. The injection is based around the Edelbrock E-tech 170cc heads.

Update July 07
Replaced the rear floorpan behind the drivers seat because of some minor rust, then decided to replace the archiac old R12 POV air system with a new specific fit from VintageAir. One thing led to another and.....
 
 
 
 

OK... back to the beginning.....

Our story begins,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Yes, all that junk in the back is  OPG , and Year one restoration parts new in the opened boxes. EVerything from carpet to headliner, grill and glass
 

WHAT A BUCKET OF BOLTS!!!

Cowl tag 67-13680 this is a bit unusual for an El Camiono "Custom" being an original small block / PG / bucket seat cor.

Were giving it the best of what the 2000's have to offer, and keeping the original look and 'somewhat' original drivetrain.

but,, A complete color change for the interior and exterior means a complete new interior in BLACK is sitting here also (anyone need a 67 Camino interior in red?)

Sitting with no hood for the last 8 years has left it's mark. But,, no matter. it's getting a 2007 technology update