I have just gotten a 70 El Camino 250 farm truck. As you can see from the picture, it is in bad shape. I want to use it for a custom advertising for my custom computer business. You know...neon lights, lightning custom paint job, without making it look tacky. Does anyone know the original colors for this year? I want to convert the bench into a bucket seat and move the 3 on the tree to 4 on the floor. Any suggestions?
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Chris

That Elky looks pretty rough, if it was a SS with a LS6 the cost of restoration might be justified but a 250ci with a 3 speed....? If I were you I would start with something better.

I see it differantly. I think any old cool car is worth saving. With a 6,you can do whatever the heck you want without having the purists burning your a$$ for doing something other than original with a SS or a LS6.

Now as far as paint,this paint chart (http://www.chevelles.com/years/70/70paint.jpg) should help you determine what color it was. Looks like it was originally some shade of blue going by the color of the roof that appears to have had a vinyl top. Then someone painted it red,then gold,ect.

If your going to be using it for advertising,I'm sure you can get some of the expense of painting and such written off against your taxes as a advertising buisness expense. My biggest question(as should be yours),are you just going to park it out front of your buisness,or are you going to be driving it around? That question would help you determine how big a budget your looking at. If your going to be driving it,your going to want to do an mechanical overhaul on most the components. Brakes,steering,engine....all those things are going to have to be gone through to make sure its safe and roadworthy. You don't want to be driving down a hill and rely on some 34 year old brake lines. Know what I mean.

For paint,if your going to be using it to advertise your buisness,the most attention grabbing colors are of course yellow and red. I did this really quick paint on your car here(sorry I'm just really busy to do a better job at the moment):
http://members.aol.com/firebirdgallery/lightelk.jpg
What I was thinking is a 1/2 inch or so wide stripe in white. As it goes down past the doors,it starts breaking up but back towards the rear of the car. The effect would look like lightning but being forced towards the rear as to potray being blown back. I hope that makes sence to you. This could easy be done by a competent airbrush artist(once the car is painted of course). I think if you go with a dark color like black,it would look nice with some sort of lightning effect,HOWEVER,with a dark color the car won't get noticed as much. As far as signage,I'd go for a magnetic removable large sign(s) that you can put on the doors,tailgate,or quarters,whichever. This way you can have a nice custom made sign that if you case comes up,you can take the sign off.

Finally going to a floor shifter would be easy as Hurst and B&M make universal shirfters for the floor. Going from a 3 to a 4 would require trans. changes. Hope that all helps.

I think you missed my point, I love old cars as much as you do and wish they could all be saved. Obviously the rarer and more desirable ones should be restored even if it is difficult and costly because as an old car enthusiast I would rather see a 1970 LS6 SS saved than a 6-cyl 3-speed. The costs to restore both vehicles is similar. Now you say I don't need or want a 1970 SS, a 6 cyl regular 1970 Elky is fine. I say good, but speaking from many years and many old car restos pick the best (least rusted, least damaged, most complete) vehicle you can find (and afford).

If you want this strictly for advertising, I would suggest leaving the original drivetrain intact, and just go for the bodywork and paint to get the exterior look you want. Remember the advertising budget is there to help your business be profitable, not so you can build a cool car. 8-)
You can look up your original paint code on the cowl tag under the hood. It will be the 2 digit number next to the letters PNT. You can match that up to the paint code sheet that ColdBastrd posted.

Thanks fellas, I ripped out the flooring and discovered most of the floor was rusted out. The body is in good shape, ie no dents etc. I am wanting to use this for advertising and to drive to shows. Thinking of painting it metallic or powder finish blue with pearl (ghost) lightning so it will flicker inthe sun or headlights. Also rally stripes with lightning in the stripe should look good as well. Drop a 350 V8 with new tranny and move it to the floor. Put in bucket seats, a killer sound system and cover the back with a hydraulic trunnel cover that when raised will have a seperate sound system for shows. I also have a Dodge Dakota and a 12 ft trailer that I am thinking of matching the paint scheme to haul my custom computers around to shows. With the amount of rust in the floor, I need to find a top notch body place to replace the flooring and a quarter panel. Or weld sheetmetal and fix it correctly. Since this is totally for business and advertising I can write most of it off. I will post pictures on my progress. Thanks for the paint pallet I will try to keep it as true as possible. Anyone know where I can get a computer and screen I can replace the glove box with? Oh, thanks ClodBastrd for the drawing, I will show it to my paint guy.

Chris

Hey cwkirbyk2, Here's my suggestion----you could save alot of time not fixing up the ol' 70 Elky and buy my 68 El Camino. It doesn't have a lightning bolt painted on it but she sure runs like one. :P
Check it out here:
http://elcaminocentral.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album247&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php&page=1

speedy 8)

Where's the fun in that?

Where's the fun in that?
Hey cwkirbyk2 once you strap your self in------thats when the real FUN begins!

speedy 8)

Oh, don't worry about the shape it's in look at my gallery. Mine was in very similar shape and in less than a year it's semi-show quality.