I Finally got to start working on my car this week. I'm pretty much doing everything except painting it (for now) The paint still looks good and shines up nice. The Frame is getting blasted and painted and all new suspension and a 8.5 rear from a GN. The underneath and firewall are getting cleaned and painted also. Im tossin out the boat anchor 350 and th350 trans. Its getting a .030 over buick 3.8 turbo with forged pistons, ARP main studs and rod bolts, Ported cast heads, A roller cam (not sure which one yet), Precision 6776 Ball Bearing turbo and front mount inter cooler, Plus lots of other goodies. The tranny is a 200-4r built by Janis Transmissions in east Ohio. I have been trying to start this since spring but my buddy keeps tying up our shop with his broken buicks. This will probably take me a few months so i will try to update my progress time to time.
http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy295/T6Elky/Cars/El%20Camino/IMG_0587.jpg?t=1281167302
http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy295/T6Elky/Cars/El%20Camino/IMG_0588.jpg?t=1281167301
http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy295/T6Elky/Cars/El%20Camino/IMG_0589.jpg?t=1281167301
The before
http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy295/T6Elky/Cars/El%20Camino/ec3.jpg?t=1281167301

Frame off resto, how cool is that!!!!:nanawrench:
Keep us updated, and lots of pics.
Good luck and have fun.
Donny

I wish my project car started out as nice as that one. That thing is already mint. I would of just skipped the frame off and just upgraded the drive line, but thats just me. Good luck with your upgrades.:beer:

Looks like you have a good starting point. I started with a 'No eng./tranny' body, put in a Turbo V-6 (rebuilt long block). Farmed most of the work to a not-so-proficient shop. Now I am redoing about half of the engine work. It is a real screamer, even with a few mech. problems. Gets a lot of attention, esp. when I start up. ECM is a real challenge. Buick does not like to talk to Chev.
Give a yell if I can be of help. Got a lot of good info here on the forum.

Nice start of a frame off! Love the fact that you are going with the 3.8 Turbo motor, always thought that would be a very cool swap for a late model Elk!! Good luck with the project! :nanawrench:

I'm in WV, can you tell me more about the tranny? What all did they do to it for how much? VERY interested!!!

:poke:

enjoy the upgrading:smileyb:lose the rear bumper and add a roll pan:beer:

I'm in WV, can you tell me more about the tranny? What all did they do to it for how much? VERY interested!!!

:poke:

He Specializes in 2004r trannys for turbo regals. For my tranny he did a complete rebuild with a shift kit and put in a hardend stator and input shaft and kevlar bands. He also replaced my servo and put a 700r4 filter in it. He charged me $800 to do that (you supply the torque converter). Which i think is a great price. My friend has been running a tranny built by him with the same upgrades in a 10 sec turbo regal for awhile now with no problems. He is located in Akron Ohio his phone number is 330-753-6609

I swapped in the GN dash and instrumentation. With the exception of the lighting harnesses, Buick talks to Buick. I need to find more hours in the day ti finish it though.

should be very cool, i did a body off on my car too.. Theres an Elky that i've seen before that has the engine, tranny, dash, suspension, and entire nose of a GN. Wish I had a pic

It's called the Grand Camino, you can probably Google it

Will try That, but have seen it in person

This one? http://www.gmhightechperformance.com/features/0604htp_1984_chevy_el_camino_feature/index.html

Thats a very nice car, but no ive seen one that looks like it would have been a factory job. all original

if i were you i would build a 383 stroker for that car the 3.8s and 455s are horrible motors.with a 383 stroker built up you will run 10s.....

Don't know if they are horrible motors, but when the Grand National came out, the Corvette folks got their doors blown off by them at speeds up to a hundred.. The Chevy Division hated the Grand National because of it's performance.
So the 3.8 can't be all bad.
I had two cars with a 3.8, just docile carburated engines, but dependable.

http://http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j270/JesterJess/383%2520Stroker/DSCN1400.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f29/v8-vs-4-3-turbo-290020/index2.html&usg=__-adrLUgdhMnJ4xmRIOvIh2ma0Ao=&h=600&w=800&sz=94&hl=en&start=0&tbnid=TPDo7i5DGl-RAM:&tbnh=142&tbnw=179&prev=/images%3Fq%3D383%2Bstroker%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa %3DN%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D931%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=632&vpy=273&dur=1427&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=140&ty=117&ei=ijFoTPTwHoT7lwe4_smfBQ&oei=ijFoTPTwHoT7lwe4_smfBQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0

Hey T6 Elky I've got an article for you go to www.gmhighperformance.com/tech/0205gmhtp_buick_turbo_v65_engine_build_overview/index.html (http://www.gmhighperformance.com/tech/0205gmhtp_buick_turbo_v65_engine_build_overview/index.html)
This is a darn good article 3.8 Buicks.Enjoy!

if i were you i would build a 383 stroker for that car the 3.8s and 455s are horrible motors.with a 383 stroker built up you will run 10s.....

You couldnt be more wrong lol. they are great motors and i have alot of fun with them. My friend has an 87 buick t type runs 10s on 93 octane and is fully loaded with ac. the motor is stock except for ported stock heads and bolt ons and gets 18 mpg he loves spanking the v8s at the local track. It has been a very reliable car. anyway 383's dont impress me, Not thats theres anything wrong with them.

Hey T6 Elky I've got an article for you go to www.gmhighperformance.com/tech/0205gmhtp_buick_turbo_v65_engine_build_overview/index.html (http://www.gmhighperformance.com/tech/0205gmhtp_buick_turbo_v65_engine_build_overview/index.html)
This is a darn good article 3.8 Buicks.Enjoy!

link didn't work. i would love to see it