Pete's 67 ElCo

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Need a ute to carry moulds for the engine project. So I got a 67 El Camino.

Picked it up in Tucson and drove it back to CA without too much stress.

Has the original 327 with camel hump heads and a modern (/80s) 700r4 trans.

Ton of things to sort to make it a daily. Like it doesnt run very well! Timing feels off or vac advance isnt working. Carb seems way too big.

It looks good from a distance but dont let the fool you!

 

 

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First job was to set up the TV arm correctly. Learning new things but it looks like the 700r4 really needs the cable set correctly or you can burn the trans out within miles  Its not just a kick down cable.

The arm was completely wrong but luckily not in a bad way. Needs a 1in leverage and was set to about 2in so it was driving the line pressure up really quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

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Started goin over the engine.

Compression testing @ about 155-165 but cylinder 4 is at 145psi. So I gotta keep checking that and see if it is actually bad.

Ignition was way off too. I had 35deg mechanical advance (excluding vac). So even with low static timing I was in the mid 40s which cant be good.

So I got a new electronic dizzy and high power coil. Now running 16deg static and 38deg mechanical with 14deg vac.

Works way better. It wasnt without its issues though. I didnt know the harness ran an internal ballast. So the coil was only getting 4volts and breaking up at higher revs. Then after I fixed that out the ignition key couldnt handle the higher current coil and started playing up after a while.

Put a relay in and fixed that.

 

 

 

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Adjusted rockers. Still a bit tappity sounding so not sure whats going on there. Maybe a stuck lifter.

It had a dead spot at tip in and surging at cruise. Im certain the timing is good now so went over the carb. It was all gunked up, wire brush in the float bowl and a bent metering rod. Gave it a full rebuild and its now great.

Have a new dash and engine harness to put in to clean things up. The fuse block looks ridiculous. Theres a lot of surface rust/corrosion under the dash but only from pedal height up which is weird. The rest of the car is great so I dont know if things just get humid under a dash? 

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Put discs on as it had scary braking.

Same old story, get in to install the discs etc and find the ball joints are gone. I get new ball joints and when I get to the 2nd side I find the upright is flogged out (scary).

So I do all ball joints and uprights. Then when installing the new booster find that the proportioning valve is in a completely different place with different sized fittings. So replace all the brake lines!

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This happened a while ago. Ran over a piece of steel on the road and sliced the sump open.

Was an absolute mission to get the sump off and new one on. If I knew how hard it would be I would have just welded it up! Turns out I should have just committed to pulling the engine completely.

 

Not a single drop of oil coming from this engine now! But it drinks oil, has low compression and gutless as anything!

So whats the solution? A 446hp Blueprint 383 stroker!

 

 

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And since im such a sucker for punishment im going to do either DCOE side draft Webers or 8 Stack downdraft Webers.

What should I do? Im leaning towards side drafts.

 

How about a vote?

Side Draft =  Confused

Down Draft =  Sad

 

 

 

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Ok side drafts it is then! I dont think the down drafts would fit under the bonnet anyway! 

Got the engine out this weekend. Pretty easy. Got a bit of cleaning up and harnessing to do.

Got some nice original Cal Custom finned rocker covers. 

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Im thinking of doing the whole engine (including heads) this Grey.

Then just clean up the covers but leave them a 'patinaed' kind of raw look. Same with the Webers.

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Did some painting and started assembling things.

I have another vote. Should I just clean up the rocker covers or go black wrinkle with ali fins?

Black with ali fins =  Confused

Raw ali patinaed =  Sad

 

 

This is the raw look.

Black ali fin look.

 

 

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Went with black wrinkle. I think it looks good.

 

 

 

 

 

Always a fan of the Lotus TC look. So thats the inspiration. 

 

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Decided I should allow some time to have fun with the car before considering Webers. So I got a new Holley Double Pumper. Looks the business.

Went with an old 50s Cadillac air cleaner. Not a fan of the normal round ones.

 

 

 

 

Its quite dangerous having Summit Racing, Original Parts Group, Classic Industries etc on your door step! Next day delivery on anything!

 

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Basically all done. Engine went in a few weeks ago and have been ironing out all the issues. There have been alot!

Put a fancy Progressive Ignition in to sort a 'dieseling' issue. Now it starts and runs great. Little more accelerator pump work and the trans needs a bit of tuning. 700r4 has a governor with weights/springs to tune shift points.

It was also so loud I had to put a new exhaust on! Ill get a video at some point.

Can spin the tires without much issue!

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Couple of videos. Finally got it running well.

Cold start

https://imgur.com/mt0axWX

A few revs

https://imgur.com/T7NPQKq

 

---> I cant figure out how to embed an Imgur video on this forum. Usually theres a media button. Anyone know how to do this? Is there a more advanced reply section? <---