[abenson90]

Hello all, i have been a member for some time now, but i have been in an apartment so long i have had no time to work on my el camino. I am buying a house end of month and will have my own garage :nanawrench: So i have a budget of $1000 to start off with and i want it all in the engine. Now i have had my 1975 El camino Laguna since i was 14 (I'm 23 now). but still have much to learn about working on it. So i want to start with intake. but it does not look like there is much height tolerance in the engine bay so what would a good Intake manifold, carb and air cleaner be? I was looking at a Edel 600 CFM, should i go bigger? i am not going to race with it but i do want some HP. Please help i need your wisdom. Thanks to all.

 

[jarhead]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like a nice cruck to start playing with. Do you have the early or late model Laguna nose. My preference is the late nose. Since you've been a member a while, I'm sure you've noticed that we all like pictures. So lets see yours.:texas:

 

[abenson90]

No problems I love showing off!!! That is a factory Laguna Front i have the build sheet to prove it. More commonly around the web as "Tim Benson's Laguna" He bought it for me (his son) and now i finally get to work on it. YEA

By abenson90 at 2012-05-04

By abenson90 at 2012-05-04

By abenson90 at 2012-05-04

 

[spencersr]

I have and ederbrock 600 and Its not 5hat great on mileage and wont stay tuned. Rpm air gap is a great intake

 

[black_on_black]

first id like to start by asking where u live in MN? there is a swap meet this sunday at the state fair grounds that i plan on going to and also i have an edelbrock intake that i took off my 350 and replaced wit an air gap if u want. i was gonna bring it to the meet but ill give u first shot at it if u want? if u need any help with the engine i live in st. paul n would'nt mind helping.

 

[abenson90]

first id like to start by asking where u live in MN? there is a swap meet this sunday at the state fair grounds that i plan on going to and also i have an edelbrock intake that i took off my 350 and replaced wit an air gap if u want. i was gonna bring it to the meet but ill give u first shot at it if u want? if u need any help with the engine i live in st. paul n would'nt mind helping.

Heck yeah man. I live in Plymouth but my new house is in **** Rapids. What time is the Swap this Sunday? Very interested in going. Thank you so much. Hope we can meet up soon.

 

[80v6]

Intake Manifold.

We could really use some more information on the use of the car and any future engine mods. Never seen one like that before. Pretty unique.

 

[abenson90]

its a 2bbl carb now stock 350. I just want something that sounds really good with some HP behind it. I do not want to drag race but i want to break the back end loose if the time arises. List of what i was planning on doing to it please give suggestions of good parts.

Edel 600 CFM carb
Edel performer intake
MSD ignition, distributor
Hooker headers
Dual exhaust - not sure what to go with, dont want it crazy loud but a nice rumble would be nice.
a better fuel pump.

I am open to suggestions so please give me some ideas. Thanks guys!!!

 

[87next2last1]

I just replaced my gas sucking edelbrock 600 for a rebuilt quadrajet from Mountain man & I get over double the mpg's & It's a lot cheaper then a new edelbrock 600 !!

 

[abenson90]

If its a better carb all around im ok with that, but its a collector, i really do not care about gas mileage. That is a very sexy looking carb tho.

 

[minoridertim]

I put a Mtn Man Q-jet on my hi perf. 350, and love it. Runs great. Here is a walk around vid.
http://s1124.photobucket.com/albums...or change/?action=view&current=86motor005.mp4

Tim

 

[87next2last1]

its a 2bbl carb now stock 350. I just want something that sounds really good with some HP behind it. I do not want to drag race but i want to break the back end loose if the time arises. List of what i was planning on doing to it please give suggestions of good parts.

Edel 600 CFM carb
Edel performer intake
MSD ignition, distributor
Hooker headers
Dual exhaust - not sure what to go with, dont want it crazy loud but a nice rumble would be nice.
a better fuel pump.

I am open to suggestions so please give me some ideas. Thanks guys!!!

You can still get the other parts but I would get a quadrajet !! But it's your ride !!
& Your money !!

 

[jlcustomz]

Edelbrocks tend to be troublesome these days, part of the problem is our ethanol enriched gas gumming up the metering rods. I,d go with a proper rebuilt quadrajet as others have reccomended, Quads can be built to handle over 500 hp . Tuned port fuel injection will greatly boost tire spinning torque, but it,s not a simple or cheap swap. With an internally stock engine ,you won,t see a big horsepower boost from any carb swap anyways. Long tube headers & duals will give your most noticeable increase for your money. Good plug wires, cap, rotor ,etc are a must, but again you don,t need an expensive distributor for a stock engine if your stock one is ok. You also don,t need a better fuel pump if your's is ok. A mild performance cam swap, with new lifters & double roller timing chain could give you more of what you,re after if you can handle the mechanical part. This would be easiest & cheapest while intake is already off.

My thoughts.

 

[jarhead]

X2 on what jlz said. Your car is the exact one I was thinking of. An old girlfriend had the same year Chevelle Laguna, same color and all. I loved that car but her, I could do without. Great looking car.

 

[TrannyMike]

Nice looking ride. Good luck with your motor! :beer:

 

[El Camino Pete]

:twocents:I Just got 202 miles from a half tank of gas, running my little "Frankenquad" carb, and a cast iron Intake. Passing gear can become a handful quick at speeds below 30 MPH. My 80 C-30 Wrecker uses one, and as long as I change the In-Carb fiter at Lube Intervals, It gives me 0 Problems. :inlove:

I'd say go with a Fresh Q-Jet, and a good Intake For the RPM range You are going to run the car regularly.:beer:

Nice 'Camino!:You_Rock:

Pete

 

[~JM~]

As long as your induction system is functioning correctly. I say do your exhausts first. Do you live in an emissions testing area? If not then get rid of the cat can & run a true 2.5" dual exhaust with an X-Pipe. Headers are optional. I'm still running the exhaust manifolds on my 305 but then its dual 2.5" the rest of the way. A dual exhaust system will probably deplete your budget. Here's a system that I think will fit your rig. http://pypesexhaust.com/sys-chevelle.html These systems can be ordered through Summit & save you on the shipping expenses.

After that, then change your carb & intake manifold. I'm running an old Edelbrock Performer with a 450cfm Holley 4-barrel. It runs crisp & I get better mpg than I did with the OEM 2-barrel set up. I would look into running a Q-Jet that has been rebuilt for your engine. When done right the Q-Jet is hard to beat.

~JM~

 

[LOCKJAW]

Pretty ride and beautiful scenery behind it. If you need a intake I have a ZZ4 crate motor intake. It is medium rise with no heat passages. Designed to deliver performance. I took it off my new motor @ 500 miles. I guarantee it to be100% as new and I know it will perform well. It accepts both square bore and spread bore carbs like Q jets. If you are interest I will make you a deal you can't refuse.$100 + shipping. It comes with a new set of carb studs/nuts
James:dontknow:

 

[abenson90]

Thanks so much for all the help so far. Get ready for more questions because they will be coming. JM thanks for that site, 2.5 with an cross pipe was exactly what i had in mind, i just didn't know who to go with. i like the sounds clips on the site, very nice. i am going to a swap meet tomorrow, i will look for the quadrajet intake, a manifold, air filter, and hopefully i can find some headers. If i don't find one, Lockjaw, i will probably get back to you on that one.

Talk to you all tomorrow night!

 

[black_on_black]

The swap meet might get rained out:dontknow: so I don't think ill b goin. But if u do feel free to call me I sent u a p.m. wit my # n I know a good exhaust shop hear on the east side of st. Paul, Dave's muffler shop on payne ave been there for many many moon's n quality work, I don't think he'll do any work on a car wit out a cat. on it tho.:nanawrench: