EriksonFL
02-03-2009, 09:04 AM
How should I start? Well when I was in high school my buddy had an 84 El Camino SS that I always wanted. I had an 88 GMC Sierra and we joked about trading but that never happened."Long story" After few years go by I see a beautiful 86 SS at a car show and the bug bit me again I was determined to find an El Camino of my own. I looked for months in my local classifieds and found nothing that caught my eye, so I decided to give ebay a shot. Well there were a few Elkys on ebay but an 87 Caballero drew my attention and I thought to myself what GMC made an Elky how could this be I've always been into cars how come I never knew about GMC's version. I always liked GMC over Chevy anyways and I know they're the same thing, but I have always purchased GMC's over Chevys for some reason. Well the car seemed to be in good shape and the price was right and with my liking for GMC I made my move. A week later I had a rusted out Cabby that looked nothing like the photos posted on Ebay and I couldn't help think EBAY SCREWED ME AGAIN. So after being pissed off for an hour or two it hit me I saw the potential and decided to make the best of the situation. After a little research I found out that it's a real SS by the RPO code Z15 and has the F41 package.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08069.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08063.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08064.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08065.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08067.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08074.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08071.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08068.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08070.jpg
The Build
Well I needed to find sheet metal and as all of you know this is a task of its own. I purchased two doors, two quarter panels and a tailgate from guy a guy locally after months of looking for skins. The doors had perfect skins but the lower shells were trashed so I decided to remove the skins and put them on my shells since they were fine and already had the power options. This was a real PITA I would say it was pretty much like re skinning 4 doors so you will have excuse me for not taking any photos and O and I completed it in a weekend. The worse thing was about this was month later I find out they just started making the replacements.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_2188.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_2189.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_2193.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_2191.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_2194.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_2195.jpg
Bumpers and Bed Moldings.
I really liked the look of the steel bumpers so I dropped the cash on the Taiwan aftermarket bumpers from the El Camino store. This is where I ran into problems again. I purchased one front with impact strip and one rear with impact strip but the great folks over at the El Camino store didn’t tell me they don’t make a front bumper with holes for the strip. They just decided to send what they had so I received a rear with strip and a front strip. So what was I going to do send everything back and eat the shipping because I was not going to have the strip on the back but not the front? Well I needed to order a weather stripping kit and there was no way I was working with these guys again so I got in touch with Mike from Mike’s Montes and he hooked me up with a complete weather-stripping kit and a few more items that I needed. Mike’s a good guy and has very reasonable prices and he put me in touch with Rich at M&M speed & custom that just happens to be local to get a used front bumper. So I call Rich and he says come on buy I have a bunch of parts you can see. So I couldn’t find a front that didn’t need some work but he also had the aftermarket bumpers and after a short discussion I decided to drill out the holes myself. Let me tell ya Rich is a stand up guy and has one of the coolest Choo Choo’s I have ever seen. After all of this I figured it would be best if I just polished the molding myself and after a few hours on the polishing wheel they turned out pretty nice.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_1327_1.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_1328_1.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_1329.jpg
Interior,
I bought most of these parts before I knew about Mike and Rich but I did OK on ebay this time. I bought a new carpet kit from stock interiors and dash pieces from Dixie. I redid the door panels myself and bought all the switches from Mike. I’m going to have the bucket seats reupholstered from a local. Pictures are coming soon.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_1424.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_1419.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_1426.jpg
Suspension,
Well I drive a Nissan 350Z now and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be happy with the transition to the stock Cabby’s ride so I bought a set of Eibach springs before knowing about the Moog springs. Anyways I also bought a set of Edlebrock IAS performer shocks and thought I would be done there until I got hooked in the suspension forum. Now I’m at a set of speedway upper chromoly control arms, Spohn lower control arms and I’m going to box the rears this weekend. I pulled a 36mm sway bar off a Camaro and got a set of new poly bushings. Pictures and maybe a how to coming soon.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/10619003_L.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/1237.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/638740667208_0_ALB1.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/ede_ias.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/is300_eibach_springs_b893.jpg
So I guess you can say I have the addiction.:dontknow:
Suspension install coming soon.:nanawrench:
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08069.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08063.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08064.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08065.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08067.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08074.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08071.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08068.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/3-21-08070.jpg
The Build
Well I needed to find sheet metal and as all of you know this is a task of its own. I purchased two doors, two quarter panels and a tailgate from guy a guy locally after months of looking for skins. The doors had perfect skins but the lower shells were trashed so I decided to remove the skins and put them on my shells since they were fine and already had the power options. This was a real PITA I would say it was pretty much like re skinning 4 doors so you will have excuse me for not taking any photos and O and I completed it in a weekend. The worse thing was about this was month later I find out they just started making the replacements.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_2188.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_2189.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_2193.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_2191.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_2194.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_2195.jpg
Bumpers and Bed Moldings.
I really liked the look of the steel bumpers so I dropped the cash on the Taiwan aftermarket bumpers from the El Camino store. This is where I ran into problems again. I purchased one front with impact strip and one rear with impact strip but the great folks over at the El Camino store didn’t tell me they don’t make a front bumper with holes for the strip. They just decided to send what they had so I received a rear with strip and a front strip. So what was I going to do send everything back and eat the shipping because I was not going to have the strip on the back but not the front? Well I needed to order a weather stripping kit and there was no way I was working with these guys again so I got in touch with Mike from Mike’s Montes and he hooked me up with a complete weather-stripping kit and a few more items that I needed. Mike’s a good guy and has very reasonable prices and he put me in touch with Rich at M&M speed & custom that just happens to be local to get a used front bumper. So I call Rich and he says come on buy I have a bunch of parts you can see. So I couldn’t find a front that didn’t need some work but he also had the aftermarket bumpers and after a short discussion I decided to drill out the holes myself. Let me tell ya Rich is a stand up guy and has one of the coolest Choo Choo’s I have ever seen. After all of this I figured it would be best if I just polished the molding myself and after a few hours on the polishing wheel they turned out pretty nice.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_1327_1.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_1328_1.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_1329.jpg
Interior,
I bought most of these parts before I knew about Mike and Rich but I did OK on ebay this time. I bought a new carpet kit from stock interiors and dash pieces from Dixie. I redid the door panels myself and bought all the switches from Mike. I’m going to have the bucket seats reupholstered from a local. Pictures are coming soon.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_1424.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_1419.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/IMG_1426.jpg
Suspension,
Well I drive a Nissan 350Z now and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be happy with the transition to the stock Cabby’s ride so I bought a set of Eibach springs before knowing about the Moog springs. Anyways I also bought a set of Edlebrock IAS performer shocks and thought I would be done there until I got hooked in the suspension forum. Now I’m at a set of speedway upper chromoly control arms, Spohn lower control arms and I’m going to box the rears this weekend. I pulled a 36mm sway bar off a Camaro and got a set of new poly bushings. Pictures and maybe a how to coming soon.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/10619003_L.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/1237.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/638740667208_0_ALB1.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/ede_ias.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/EriksonFL/El%20camino/is300_eibach_springs_b893.jpg
So I guess you can say I have the addiction.:dontknow:
Suspension install coming soon.:nanawrench: