[Old Bear]

Welcome from a '70 on the west coast.

Do you know of things that cause your wife to be uncomfortable driving the truck?

I know that there were things I needed to change on mine before I began to be more comfortable.

The first was to install 3-point seatbelts including shoulder harness.

At 5' 9" I am average height. However my 28 inseam legs are short,. The seat needed to be corrected to get to the pedals. Yoohoo, we ended up not needing to add those wooden blocks to the pedals.

The engine mods caused limited vacuum and huge inconsistencies in the feel of the brakes. So the brake system changed quite a bit.

 

[Old Bear]

This site has a good FAQ Frequently Asked Questions section.
Read this FAQ thread to navigate new ECC Forums.
FAQ

Or you can get there by:
You can also navigate by clicking the 3 vertical dots.
Then select FAQ

 

[Old Bear]

Sounds like a lot of nice modifications.

6. Bed mat and tannuea cover. Does anyone sell these for the 70 Elky, I cannot seem to find one.

Bed mats can be found at the larger online El Camino Parts websites.

https://www.opgi.com/el-camino/1970/bed-mats-tonneau-covers

Hard bed covers are very expensive and tough to find.
Gaylord still makes them.

El Caminos - Gaylords Truck Lids

Got a classic El Camino? We make four body styles for different El Caminos. These lids come standard with one lock on either side for extra locking strength and 2 gas struts to hold it up. Finished up with a clean under the lid carpeted headliner, These lids not only keep cargo secure but help...

www.gaylordslids.com

There is another bed cover that some here use made by Craftec.
It is not water proof, yet it is light and quickly removes.

El Camino Bed Covers | Craftec Covers

There are some good threads about the Craftec covers on this site.
The www.elcaminocentral.com website has a nice advanced search feature near the top.

 

[Old Bear]

Scott, What happens if you install your rears on the front?
Can that help you estimate possibilities?

 

[Old Bear]

The Nitto 555 are nice. They exceed my budget, so I run affordable soft Riken (by Michelin) Raptor tires. 225 x 55x 17 and 255 x 50 x 17 ZR rear.

One thing is that some performance tire sizes are getting harder to find. Not much available in performance tires below 17 inch rims.
Other than Hoosier and GoodYear slicks.
Possibly Mickey Thompsons in 15 inch are available, not just their slicks.

 

[Old Bear]

Here is a link to a tire comparison calculator showing two tire sizes together.

Tire Size Comparison

Tire size comparison the easy way. Use our tire size comparison calculator to compare diameter, width, sidewall, circumference and revolutions per mile.

tiresize.com

This output example shows the tires:
1: I use on front on my tired 50 year old stock suspension (drop by age and lower diameter tire size)
2: The tires you have on front

 

[Old Bear]

Watch the speed bumps. This will lower you more than before.

 

[Old Bear]

My best answer is: 2/3 of a steep speed bump.
3 inches
4 fingers

 

[Old Bear]

Scott
It appears the grill valance below the grill did not get primed (yet).
Will this be blacked or body colored?
As seen below, it is visible.

 

[Old Bear]

I would prefer they take time to do it right than to rush them.

 

[Old Bear]

There is some discussion of SPI in @roger1 discussion in his thread on repainting his ChooChoo.

My '83 Choo Choo needs a refresh and I'm tired...

Gaps do indeed look good, you are doing a nice job with the car! Thanks! Appreciate the compliment. Roger I thought you were keeping it stock. You never see an upper door to fender gap that nice:poke: Well mine is close, but it ain't stock. I can understand your trouble on the white. I've got...

www.elcaminocentral.com

 

[Old Bear]

Sounds good.

 

[Old Bear]

Where your doors were hitting at lower rear corners.
Did you replace the bushings in the hinges to keep them from sagging?

 

[Old Bear]

I did not think of that. Good idea i will see if I can buy the bushings.

Scott - Test like below for bushings
Open the doors to about 45 degrees.
Pull up on the rear portion of the door.
You should see the El Camino lift, yet you should be able to see if there is slop in the bushings.

 

[Old Bear]

Usually it is the bushings on the top hinge that wear most.
That is partially why they drop to the lower rear.

Tape the edges of fender and doors to help avoid scratches.
There should be searchable posts here, on Chevelle site and YouTube.
We used a hydraulic jack and two people (need the eyes).
Some folks have used a soft sling and an engine hoist.
Let's encourage others to share their thoughts and images.

 

[Old Bear]

It has been a while since replacing mine. I understand wanting to take the hinges off to do the repair.
I actually purchased 4 new hinges.
That way, the reduced labor costs offset the parts costs.
If doing yourself and your shop time available, repairing hinge bushings is a good approach.
We took the doors off with hinges still connected.
What I can't remember is; "Did Justin thread a long head cut off bolt in replacing top bolt to make sure the receiving end inside the fender did not slip?"
We also replaced all of the hinge bolts, which might have not been needed.
The area under where the hinge bolts to door and fender is going to be ugly.
Add time and consider cleaning it up. Will you brush surface rust, sand and repaint? Consider it now and you won't be shocked.

 

[Old Bear]

Scott When looking at the new images. I hear the Camino say "There is supposed to be my dog in the back". Did Wife's GrandPa have a dog?
The images are well done!

 

[Old Bear]

Scott
Sometimes while attempting to raise the engine enough to change the pan while in the vehicle, the distributor hits the firewall and damages the distributor. You might want to check that it is OK.

Might as well change the filter if changing the oil.
If changing the coolant/antifreeze, is it a good time to upgrade to safer Peak Sierra. It might be safer for Grandpa's dog. Regular antifreeze leaks are deadly to pets.
Any need/desire to add plug wire routing while engine out?

On painting block, possibly include water pump, dipstick, oil pan (unless "pretty").
If it is easy to get to, it might be worth painting (black) the steering shaft.

Orange?? OK.
Yet my avatar shows a VHT hi temp metallic Pontiac blue that might look good in your engine compartment.
VHT SP122 VHT Engine Enamel; Pontiac Blue; 11 oz. Aerosol; - Walmart.com - Walmart.com

 

[Old Bear]

Scott, I asked Shear Performance to tune my engine in 2014, shortly after I made the purchase.
Justin decided to collect the before timing info for me before tuning the engine.
He found the timing jumping several degrees, too much to even write down.
I also asked that he pull my manifold, so we could put a boost gauge connection and paint the manifold.
That meant he pulled the distributor.
The bottom of the shaft was worn and had slack when it spun (in the gear connection).
So timing would drift.
We replaced the Made In China HEI with MSD Streetfire made from parts manufactured in the world?
Fixed that problem.

 

[Old Bear]

There is a BluePrint crate 396 SBC (yes small block) never installed out here.
Says he sold the Chevelle before installing engine.
I sent you a PM with contact info.