Just purchased an '81 El Camino as my son's first car. It's got the 229 V6 in it. Somewhere during the cars life, all the emissions contorls and air conditioning were pulled out. The car runs fine but, I'd really like to get it running safely/correctly with all the correct equipment. How difficult and costly would this be. I know most will say, "Pull the V6 and drop in an 8". Believe me, that's in the plans for when he gets tired of it and I get ahold of it. Stuff for later posts though. Thanks for any and all help!
-First time El Camino owner.

Do some calling around and find out the prices for all the missing parts for the 229 and then see what it would run for a V8 swap,just a suggestion you might find that the costs are close.Sometimes it's cheaper to do it the way you finally want it in the end.