El Camino project car

[Eye of the Tiger]

That's all good, but have you ordered the supercharger?

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

That's all good, but have you ordered the supercharger 30" wheels and Donk conversion?

[hotrodalex]

Totally.

[hotrodalex]

New door locks are in!

Bad news though - passenger side doesn't like to lock. I can push down the lock and it won't engage the lock. Only if I keep my hand firmly on it will it stay locked. Otherwise it pops up when I open the door. I'll have to take it apart next weekend and see what's up.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I called the machine shop today. They've checked out the block and it's all good. They want to bore it to clean up the cylinder walls, but that's about it. He said they will check out the heads this week and call me after that.

Once the weather gets better I'm going to put in the new locks. I also need to change the locking mechanism on the passenger door. It's from a '70 car so the interior lock is in a different location.

Get a 383 crank, and do something with the heads.
Also, don't even think about doing a TH350 automatic - good as they are, your 4-speed is much cooler.

[hotrodalex]

Get a 383 crank, and do something with the heads.
Also, don't even think about doing a TH350 automatic - good as they are, your 4-speed is much cooler.

4 speed is definitely staying.

[hotrodalex]

The engine in the car is now ready to be pulled on Monday. Spent a couple hours taking off almost all the parts I could - should be a quick pull.

[Eye of the Tiger]

That motor is fugly, You should get a nice set of long tube ceramic coated headers like I put on my ol' redneck truck. They were only like $200 for the set.

[hotrodalex]

That motor is fugly, You should get a nice set of long tube ceramic coated headers like I put on my ol' redneck truck. They were only like $200 for the set.

it's fugly but it still makes 2x the power of teh swift.

The new one will be prettier. And hopefully I'll be able to clean up the wiring and stuff too. It annoys me when stuff like that isn't neat.

[Eye of the Tiger]

it's fugly but it still makes 2x the power of teh swift.

The new one will be prettier. And hopefully I'll be able to clean up the wiring and stuff too. It annoys me when stuff like that isn't neat.

It only makes 150 hp? That's pretty sad, seeing how it's got four times the displacement of the Swift 

[hotrodalex]

It only makes 150 hp? That's pretty sad, seeing how it's got four times the displacement of the Swift 

It made ~130 from the factory I think. It's from one of the worst years in car history - 1979. Right now I think it's making 180 maybe.

[Eye of the Tiger]

It made ~130 from the factory I think. It's from one of the worst years in car history - 1979. Right now I think it's making 180 maybe.

What is that, like 1:1 compression on those things? 

[S204STi]

The engine in the car is now ready to be pulled on Monday. Spent a couple hours taking off almost all the parts I could - should be a quick pull.

Those old cars are so easy to work on, eh?

[hotrodalex]

Those old cars are so easy to work on, eh?

The hardest part is bending over for a couple hours.

[hotrodalex]

I've had the new engine in it for awhile now. It was a pretty easy job - just took the hood off and put it in. I've put most of the accessories on, just need to hook up the power steering, battery, and starter. Also need to clean up the headers and put them on. Then it should be able to run!

Here's some pics. Looks much better than the other engine. 
I don't have the air cleaner on it right now, but here's what it looks like with it.





Without it.



I'm going to use these valve covers. Just have to strip all the paint and polish them up.

[Byteme]

Decided on a color yet?

I' think those trucks look good in dark green.

[GoCougs]

Cool - what are the specs on the engine?

[hotrodalex]

Decided on a color yet?

I' think those trucks look good in dark green.

I was checking out paint colors at PPG and I think I'm going to go with a dark metallic red.

Cool - what are the specs on the engine?

Right now it's at 260 hp and 350 ft lbs of torque, but that can change anytime. 

[Byteme]

I was checking out paint colors at PPG and I think I'm going to go with a dark metallic red.

I don't think I've ever seen one tht color.  Might look ptetty good.

[hotrodalex]

I'm going to need a new outer tie rod. I tried to change the boots, as the driver's side didn't have one and the passenger side one was old. There may have been a reason the driver side didn't have one though - it was almost impossible to get off.

The engine is almost ready to start up. Just have to add all the coolant, prime the oil, and maybe fill the fuel lines to make the start up quick.

[GoCougs]

Right now it's at 260 hp and 350 ft lbs of torque, but that can change anytime. 

A mild cam would do wonders.

[Catman]

Nice!

[hotrodalex]

A mild cam would do wonders.

I'm still thinking about what I want to do with it. I can go a couple different ways - small block tuned a bit to make 400hp/400tq, big block with a mild tune making maybe 450/450, or an LSx engine.

I think I'm going to turn it into a Pro Touring car, so I'm leaning towards a small block because of weight issues. That leaves the engine I have now or an LSx. I usually prefer the carb'd engines as they sound more natural and I can mess around with them more, so I may keep this engine and tune it up eventually (cam, intake, carb, heads, more performance oriented headers, etc).

Nice!

Thanks!

[Eye of the Tiger]

Ideers

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ccrp_0402_gm_350_engine_project_humble_pie_tech/index.html

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ccrp_0403_350ci_small_block_chevy_engine/index.html

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ccrp_0404_gmpp_350_small_block_engine/index.html

[The Pirate]

Very cool, man!  There's definitely some old Detroit iron in my future, soon as finances and space allow.  Gotta love all the room in that engine bay. 

[hotrodalex]

Engine has been started!

Not including the smoking header/sparks, roasted spark plug wire, and a possible blown power steering pump, it went well!

[Eye of the Tiger]

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

  

[hotrodalex]

I put in the new tie rod and boots and also put on some better battery cables today.

AND.....

Took it out for the first time to get some gas. Nothing broke, so it was successful!
Gotta say though, it's kind of a scary car to drive. I need to mess with the clutch to make sure it's engaging and disengaging properly and switch to disk brakes. The suspension will also have to be tightened down. Thing is literally a boat right now. It will probably be better when I get my bucket seats in though. The bench seat is basically a 40 year old couch and the lack of seat belts doesn't help.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Sweet. Wanna race?
My old Chevy truck was pretty scary to drive, too. New shocks really helped, but I never did fix the loose steering, or the brakes