Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Stan and drove my new to me 85 El Camino SS home last night. I'm near 60 and feel like 30. A few years back my two brothers and myself lived miles apart from each other and unbeknowing to any of us, we all had El Camino's! I owned a very homely and nothing special 78 elky about 10 years ago and it just wasn't what I wanted and let it go. I recently got the elky bug again and started watching ebay day and night for elky's not really believing my wife would let me get one if I found a steal? All of a sudden this elky popped up in my local newspaper and only one mile from where I live. I talked my wife into at least stopping by to take a look at it believing it was so-so and at least I'd get a feel for the market. Wow, it was just what I was looking for and cheaper then on ebay. My wife was shocked as well and it was in her favorite color, navy blue with a light robin egg blue bottom.

I've followed this site for a week and it's the best. I feel quite comfortable with my new 85 SS knowing great help is available if needed. I've already gained tons of info from some of you. Mine has a bedliner that needs replacing and I need to check those out or look into a rhino type liner. My "heavy" driver door sags and is hard to close. (hinges?) My rally wheels need redone. Other then that, I hope I'm set for a year or two. I need to recoup finances from the sell. I don't know how to post pictures but I did try to put one in when I joined. It gave me a place to add from my computer and I did. Hope it came out and is visible to anyone that cares to look. Enough for now and I'm so glad to be a part of this distinctive group. Feel free to e-mail me.

Ok, everybody all together now... http://elcaminocentral.com/users/87ss/hallo.gif Stan

Welcome to the family dabobbers

Noticed you mentioned door sag. You may want to check the bushings in the hinges. Most local auto parts stores have replacement bushings for little money.

A big welcome also from a fairly new member myself. The short time I have been here eveyone I have posted with has been great!

Stan...that "hello" icon is so cool! :P

Dave

Hello and welcome Stan from another 85 SS owner.. had the same problem with door sag. Ended up having to buy a new hinge.. Previous owner let it get to bad for the pins and bushings to work. Hopefully the cheap way will work for you.

Welcome to ECC Stan. I hope you get that File Manager figured out soon so we can see some pictures of your new Elky. :-D

:mrgreen:

Hello Stan... Welcome to the family! Can't wait to see the pictures! Hope all goes well... :D

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. Ernie's trying to help me with the File Manager so I can show-off some pictures. My wife thinks I've died and went to heaven. She can't believe I'm so happy and in such a great mood since I bought my elky. I've had it since Tuesday evening and I've polished it a couple of times and wooed and cooed over it like is was a new born baby. My wife's jealous and used to bitch I was around her too much and she didn't have room to breathe (since retirement) and now she's the one coming out to the garage wondering if I died or something.

Is there a good book like chilton's or somebody you recommend to help me fix and improve my elky. Like knowing how to remove door panels and fix/replace door hinges, etc. I know there's the hard way and the easy way and the right tools for the job. HELP!

Again, thanks for the welcome.

Stan;

Here's a previous thread about correcting your Door Sag (http://www.elcaminocentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=1231&highlight=door+pins) problem. :cool:

For manuals, while not the cheapest, you can't beat the factory service manuals.

Helm ( http://www.helminc.com ) lists the Fisher Body Service Manual for $18 and the Shop Manual (has El Camino and some others) for $60, which is actually not too bad for factory pubs. You can also hunt for factory pubs on eBay, but finding them might take a while (for my 73 I had no choice, since Helm no longer maintained them).

For over-the-counter pubs, I wouldn't get a Chiltons unless it was an older one. Older Chiltons manuals were pretty good, but their more recent creations seem watered down to me (personal opinon, your mileage may vary). I like Haynes manuals pretty good, but the only El Camino manual they have covers all Chevelle, Malibu, and El Camino, 1969 through 1987, so it's probably too general to be that useful. Their Monte Carlo manual (since it's close kin) for 87 covers 70 to 88, so again it's probably too general to be very useful.

I would recommend the factory pubs from Helm. The other thing I would try to get would be the dealership parts catalog pages for your car. I have found the exploded views and part numbers very useful. Pages from an insurance collision manual are a not-bad substitute, and are more available, but I like the dealership parts catalog pages better myself. There are folks that sell both of these on eBay (just check their feedback - some sell second-rate photocopies instead).