Hey everyone. Im new to this board. I actually dont even own an El Camino... yet that is. Since highschool i've been working on my 1969 Pontiac LeMans. it's almost done. but i recently purchased the family S10 pickup from my dad. I just turned over 214,000 miles on it and was thinking about reliability factors. i know it will need some stuff soon, but then i got to thinking about how much i like El Camino's and so im thinking about driving my s10 for about a year or so and then purchasing an El Camino. What im wanting to know, besides EVERYTHING i can about them. is simple. I want between a 65-72 el camino in decent driver condition. doesn't have to be fast or anything, that's what my LeMans is for, i would like it to have a decent body and paint, i.e. no rust or terrible paint that wont buff to a decent shine. basically i dont want to step down from my s10. it's been a great truck for the last 10.5 years to my family with very few repairs. so i want something that's going to be just as nice and reliable,. so probably an older restore or something to that effect. im wondering what i can pick one up for that's in the condition im looking for. like i said nothing fancy. i can do that stuff myself later. just a good driver for now. or in a year or so that is! haha. okay sorry for the book! i love the forum. thanks for any advice!

peace

Nick

. i dont want to step down from my s10. Oohhh..you're in sooo much trouble...remember where you are! :cool:

. i dont want to step down from my s10. Oohhh..you're in sooo much trouble...remember where you are! :cool: http://home.pacbell.net/zippom/iagree.gif :D http://home.pacbell.net/zippom/iagree.gif

:P

i think we need to put a linch mob together :twisted:

A trucks a truck and an El Camino is a drivable work of art. Get the rope.

hehe, okay, i didn't mean an el camino would in any way be a step down from my truck. i meant i dont want to go to a vehicle that will always be in need of repair, unlike my truck. and i dont want to have a vehicle with a worse paint job than mine or interior that is not as nice as my trucks. i dont want a restoration project on my hands i meant! i love el caminos, otherwise i wouldn't be looking at buying one and wouldn't be asking you guys for your opinions! i meant i dont want to buy a vehicle that's going to be in need of many repairs compred to my truck. my truck is reliable and so that's what im considering when buying a car of this vintage. im going from a 93 to a 66 or so. get what i mean now??? hope so, i really dont want to be lynched anytime soon! hehehhe. alright, now that that is cleared up, any suggestions or prices i can be looking expecting? thanks guys!! :oops: :D

There's a step down from an S-10....they call it a Honda I think.... :evil:

ANY Elky is a big step up. Gotta say that was a bad choice of words on an Elky forum... 8O

I've got a '77 I'll sell ya. Pics are on this site. Red/white 2 tone. needs minor work here and there. great project or daily driver. ChadSchloss78@aol.com (77Elky on this site)

I wouldn't hesitate to drive my 74 to Alaska without a toolbox. Just 'cause it's old, doesn't mean it's unreliable. Go ahead and drive your 1/2 foreign S10 while you look for a real American car. Then go over it, do what you need and you can have something special for the rest of your life.

holy crap, you guys are still taking what im saying totaly out of context! goodness. i would think by me saying i didn't mean anything against el caminos would be enough to explain what i meant. but instead i get my s10 bashed. common, it's still a chevy, and it's my truck which i love. dont be getting all rude about my truck. all im saying is i have a fairly new truck, well new at least compared to what i normaly own. and i dont want another restoration project. my 1969 pontiac lemans has needed plenty of restoration and i've had to borrow (at the time) my dads s10, so that i would have a reliable vehicle to drive. the truck is now mine and i love it dearly. but i also love el camino's. with an el camino i would still have the truck feel, you know a bed and a smaller interior than my huge lemans interior and it would already be lower than my s10 and way faster, so it would be exactly what i want to do to my s10, except even cooler because of it's vintage and whatnot. i LOVE El Caminos! so im in NO WAY bashing them or degrading them! i just want one that isn't going to constantly need WORK! i need something to drive daily and not worry all the time that it's going to break down like a restoration project would if you were driving it while restoring it. got it now? sooooooo... hopefully NOW that's cleared up! :D soooo what kind of prices am i looking at in california for a daily driver with decent paint and interior? is that a better question? hopefully i get some ideas with this post and not any more comments about my s10. thanks!

nick

I'm not offended by your other comments at all- I understand exactly what you mean... Newer cars and trucks can be very nice as daily drivers- THings work when they are supposed to.
At the same time, i love classic cars and my 70 elky is my daily driver- but i do have to watch out for weird problems that pop up... but really that is the nature of driving ANY vehicle after it gets past about 5 years of age.

When you say driver vehicle, there are different versions of that. My 70 elky has been my daily driver for 2 years. When i bought the car- the show quality paintjob was 5 years old with a few chips and scratches here and there- The interior was brand new and awesome- The front suspension had been completely rebuilt 2 years before- and the engine was a 5 year old crate motor with about 10k miles on it... It was the previous owners show car.

Basically, except for doing the brakes on it right after i bought it- the car has been AWESOME- i havn't had any major problems or caused any work that i didn't want to do to it. I have over 30k miles since my purchase.

I paid $8k for the car

The Trick for a daily driver is you want one that has all the mechanicals done. Don't look for a radical engine, and don't look for one that was painted yesterday. Look for one that is the whole package. That way you won't be fixing stuff every step of the way.

Here in washington- I have seen good driving 65-72 elcamino's sell for anywhere from $2k to $10k depending what you want.

I knew a guy in my car club who had a 72 elky- New engine, new interior, body looked good- except it had a TON of rust bubbles coming through on the lower rockers... He sold it for $1500. Would have been an awesome driver- if you could have overlooked the rust.

I sold my old 69 elky with all new EVERYTHING... ENgine, rear, interior, rims, tires, etc etc- The car was primo, except the body was a little rough- SOld it for $6k

So pretty much Just start looking. But look for something where the mechanicals are done- and if you care about paint- look for something with about 3-4 year old paint- that way if there is rust, or any other flaws, they will already be starting to appear- if there are none after 3-4 years- chances are there are not any.

Hope this helps some.
-Ben

www.collectorcartraderonline.com <- Start cruising this site weekly.

thanks for your reply ben, thats exactly the answer i was looking for, im glad i didn't offend you like i seem to have more than one member on this forum. not my intentions at all. but whatever. yours sounds really nice! yea, im looking for something like you said. all the mechanicals were done but rust bubbles were appearing, yea i said i wanted decent paint, but as long as it wasn't rusting through, i could fix the rust bubbles and little junk like that in just a few days time and seal it good enough until it's next paint job. plus for 1500, that sounds real nice. any little things can be fixed quickly or overlooked for the mean time cause like you said anything over 5 yrs old is gonna have pop up problems. no biggy. i do want something mechanically sound. i guess i'll just have to look around when im ready to buy. thanks again!!

nick

Actually, you might have mis-understood on the paint thing...

A car that was JUST painted- may look great, but when they did the bodywork on it, they could have used mega bondo to hide stuff.

After a couple years- if there was any rust or contamination in the paint- it will begin coming out in the form of bubbles, or cracks, or whatever.

If the paint on a car has lasted 3 or 4 years and STILL looks good- It is a good paint job and will continue looking good.

THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT TO LOOK FOR.

Remember- The more you spend up front- the less you will spend later. I spent $8k for my car upfront- Since then the only REAL repair $$ i have spent on it was for the brakes, which i did a complete job on immediatly after buying it.

You get what you pay for...

i was talking about the one you said went for 1500 with new motor new interior and bubble at the rocker paint. true the body could be way worse than just some bubbles in the paint, rust can be decieving, but i understand what you mean too. im mainly concerned with quick glance appearances and no leaks from rust holes or anything, plus mechanically reliable. anyways. i think you get what i mean. i was looking for something around 2000-4000 area. seams like that would get me a pretty nice elco. i dont know. i just got laid off of my job, so who know's what i'll be considering in a year from now anyways! hahah. thanks for the info.

peace

nick

i think we need to put a linch mob together :twisted:

im down for a good hanging

I had the sort of problem your steering him away from. I got my 80 for
$500 but it has had one problem to the next : rust , rear brakes go out on the way to school, engine not start, and this is my only transport to school so I would definitly say spend that little extra cash to save you problems down the road

I've got a '77 I'll sell ya. Pics are on this site. Red/white 2 tone. needs minor work here and there. great project or daily driver. ChadSchloss78@aol.com (77Elky on this site)

he said there a step down and u want to sell him a camino, get this guy a sideways visor and a fubu jacket and throw him in a honda

I have an 85 that was well taken care of. An old guy had it. When I bought it I paid 1,350 for it and it had 85,000 on it. It now has 93k and the only thing Ive had to do was replace the water pump. Mine gets great mileage with the overdrive so I don't spend very much money to drive it. (Just on the goodies 8) ) They are great trucks...er....cars...err........