El Camino project car

[hotrodalex]

Wire wheels and high speed drills, nigga

That only works if there is good metal underneath.

[hotrodalex]

Much better looking than before! (I'm guessing there's just a reflection causing it to look a little dirty...)

Now I'm in the process of tearing apart the dash. Need to clean the little plastic cover in front of the gauges, but the panel is held on plastic clips/nubs and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to put the thing back on after I take it off. I asked on the El Camino forum, hopefully someone will have done it before and can share their knowledge. Otherwise, I guess I'll just have to wing it and try to screw it back in or something.

[hotrodalex]

A couple of guys have done it before and suggested either epoxy or silicone adhesive, so I'll probably do that. Should be easier than drilling a hole and screwing it in.

[Rupert]

Epoxy that shit.

[hotrodalex]

Definitely want those wheels after these tires wear out. Current wheels can be for winter tires.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Definitely want those wheels after these tires wear out. Current wheels can be for winter tires.

Them are cool.


You need to restore your instrument cluster. Shit is nasty looking.

[hotrodalex]

Them are cool.


You need to restore your instrument cluster. Shit is nasty looking.

That's why I was taking the cluster apart. I'll get some pictures of it after I finish putting it all back together. Should look 10x better.

[Eye of the Tiger]

That's why I was taking the cluster apart. I'll get some pictures of it after I finish putting it all back together. Should look 10x better.

I was hoping for 11x better, but that's cool.

[hotrodalex]

Slowly putting the dash back together. The glove box wasn't willing to hold any paint - had to keep sanding it and repainting it. Whatever paint was on it before was just absolute crap. But it should be good now. Painted the heater control box, since before it just had a black cardboard background, which was falling apart. Not sure why they didn't just paint it in the factory.

Dash pad is back on as well. Once the paint dries on the heater controls, I can put that back together and put the new dash in. Should be mostly done after that; only thing left is installing the radio and new dash speakers.

[hotrodalex]

The new door seals I put in a couple of months ago have not been working at all (i.e. huge puddles on the floor inside), which was very confusing. The door seemed to be aligned perfectly, but the seals weren't touching the door frame at all in multiple places. Thought it was the fault of the door seals for a while, but finally just decided that the door must not be aligned well enough. The driver's door is now aligned so that it seals fairly well; the passenger door is a bit better but still needs a bit more aligning. They're not perfectly aligned with the front fenders anymore, but that can be tinkered with at a later date.

[hotrodalex]

Hot Rod Magazine had an article about painting a car by yourself using Rustoleum professional high-performance paint. I emailed them about it and just got a reply. The guy said it's not the most durable thing and can be hard to clean, so I guess that option is off the table. I'll just stick with the original plan.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

The new door seals I put in a couple of months ago have not been working at all (i.e. huge puddles on the floor inside), which was very confusing.

The puddles can be the result of a leak at the base of the windshield!

[hotrodalex]

The puddles can be the result of a leak at the base of the windshield!

Nah, fixed those up a year or two ago. Right now it's just the doors and the front panel of the bed. The doors were super bad, you could see daylight between the seal and doorjamb when the door was closed.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Nah, fixed those up a year or two ago. Right now it's just the doors and the front panel of the bed. The doors were super bad, you could see daylight between the seal and doorjamb when the door was closed.

Yeah thats bad!!

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

WOW! I just looked back and you've been wrenching on this car for 3 years!! I know you can't wait to get it finished!

[hotrodalex]

WOW! I just looked back and you've been wrenching on this car for 3 years!! I know you can't wait to get it finished!

Yeah, it's been a while... Hopefully in the next month or two. There should be no reason I can't drive it after the dash gets put back in.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Thats cool! Are you still gonna paint it red and black?

[hotrodalex]

Thats cool! Are you still gonna paint it red and black?

Most likely. A flat white with some sort of red pin striping on the doors and tailgate could be kinda cool, though it'd be the third white car in our driveway.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Most likely. A flat white with some sort of red pin striping on the doors and tailgate could be kinda cool, though it'd be the third white car in our driveway.

No CF rally stripes? 

[hotrodalex]

No CF rally stripes? 

I figured I would do something different since everyone has rally stripes.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Thats true!!!

[Eye of the Tiger]

I say go with british racing green, white pin stripes, and white Herculiner in the bed.

[Secret Chimp]

Herculiner stripes and chrome bed

[Eye of the Tiger]

Herculiner stripes and chrome bed

[Rupert]

Mind = blown

[hotrodalex]

Herculiner will add too much weight and then I won't be able to beat douches in their Civics.

I'll probably line the bed with it, though. I don't think I'm going to fix all the dents and dings, just spray some bedliner to prevent rust and then put a tonneau cover on it.

[hotrodalex]

Front fender will have to come off in order to adjust the passenger door. It needs to come forward about half an inch and it's already touching the fender (peeled off a little part of the door skin last weekend hopefully it's fixable)

[hotrodalex]

Front fender will have to come off in order to adjust the passenger door. It needs to come forward about half an inch and it's already touching the fender (peeled off a little part of the door skin last weekend hopefully it's fixable)

I'm not sure when I'll be able to get this done. It'll probably be a two man job, but my dad is installing a new tile and wood floors today, which probably won't get finished until next weekend. Until then I might work on mocking up a center console and sub woofer enclosure.

[hotrodalex]

Got a 10" subwoofer and two 6 1/2" speakers for the kickpanels. Already have a pair of old 6x9s and an amp, both of which should work for a while until I feel like spending more money and upgrading them. Figure I'll stick with this stuff and just get it all set up - shouldn't be too hard to change out components later.

The subwoofer box will be a little challenging due to the limited space. I made a cardboard model using the recommended specs, which was close to fitting but not the best. I'm going to tweak it and make another model that'll hopefully work better.

I might be able to mess with the door alignment tomorrow. It should be sunny and fairly warm (mid-40s) so it might be my best chance for a while.

I'm contemplating making a trunk lid in the bed as well. There's already a panel that I need to take off and reseal, so I've been thinking about putting a hinge on it to make a trunk. Only problem is that pesky water; I'll have to find a way to ensure 100% sealage.

[hotrodalex]

Should I tint the windows? Not super dark, probably just 35% at the most.