1975 El Camino - long term project

by tgaetto Sat May 15, 2021 1:11 pm

I have been meaning to do this for some time. I found this car after almost 30+ years of looking. I started to show some progress when I joined here. I will begin to chronologically detail what I have done and update as I go. Stay tuned! As all of you know finding things for this generation proves more and more difficult with each passing year. This and a couple other forums have been extremely helpful with information and community! That said, I will gather up my information and get this started.

by g3chevy / Mr Pontiac Sat May 15, 2021 10:34 pm

Looking forward to your posts. That will motivate me to work on my 75 as well.

by 77camino Sun May 16, 2021 10:52 pm

Glad to here you finally found it after 30 years. Hopefully it is the exact one you wanted. I looked for about 15 years to find the right one.

by Tim Mon May 17, 2021 7:36 am

Good morning,I'm a member and have a garage full of 73/77 Elco parts, tailgate,rear window, interior parts etc.

by tgaetto Mon Jul 05, 2021 11:21 am

When I first picked up the car the PO had swapped out the original saddle dash and column with black. I wanted it in its original colors so I had planned to "eventually" bring it back to its original color. The ignition key wasn't returning so I chased that down which was a frozen steering wheel lock that caused the return spring to be destroyed.

1975 El Camino - long term project Column12

1975 El Camino - long term project Column13

by tgaetto Mon Jul 05, 2021 11:30 am

I also pulled the drivers door to replace the hinge pins. This was back when Covid first hit the scene so I had some time on my hands.

1975 El Camino - long term project Driver10

1975 El Camino - long term project Driver11

by tgaetto Mon Jul 05, 2021 6:39 pm

Then it was time to work on the seat. It was recently covered by the PO but he didn't address the sag. So I ordered up some new springs and went to work.

1975 El Camino - long term project Seat_o11

1975 El Camino - long term project Seat_o10

by tgaetto Mon Jul 05, 2021 6:41 pm

Fixed what needed fixing and then added new additional springs...

1975 El Camino - long term project Frame_11

1975 El Camino - long term project Img_2612

by tgaetto Mon Jul 05, 2021 6:42 pm

Starting to come together...

1975 El Camino - long term project New_sp10

by tgaetto Mon Jul 05, 2021 6:43 pm

tgaetto wrote:Fixed what needed fixing and then added new additional springs...

by tgaetto Mon Jul 05, 2021 6:47 pm

It was a good time to pull the dash...

1975 El Camino - long term project Dash_y10

by g3chevy / Mr Pontiac Tue Jul 06, 2021 2:37 pm

Looking good! It's really coming together nicely. Where did you find the extra springs for your seat?

by tgaetto Tue Jul 06, 2021 2:52 pm

At the time, I was watching a lot of YT videos. I believe I bought a coil from an upholstery supply online. I also purchased the bending and the hook end tool. I might pull it apart again and use burlap so the springs don’t dig into the foam pad. I bought it but didn’t use it...

by tgaetto Tue Jul 06, 2021 5:29 pm

I had the interior out and thought since it was winter I'd add a cam and freshen up the top end with an edlebrock and some paint.

1975 El Camino - long term project Cam_pu10

1975 El Camino - long term project Edlebr10

1975 El Camino - long term project Cam_al10

by tgaetto Tue Jul 06, 2021 5:33 pm

Then I installed the exhaust that came with the deal. 2.5" stainless true duals with a 73 crossmember already installed. I stuck the seat back in but the dash remained out for a while.

1975 El Camino - long term project Exhaus11

1975 El Camino - long term project Exhaus10

by tgaetto Tue Jul 06, 2021 5:36 pm

The brakes were wonky so when I got back I pulled the rear end apart and fixed the leaking seal and replaced the left side axle.

1975 El Camino - long term project Rear_a10

by tgaetto Fri Jul 23, 2021 11:50 am

Soon after I painted the dash and ductwork to get ready for the reinstall. A big thanks to @riddick75 for the bracket that holds the center joint to the firewall!

1975 El Camino - long term project E08e2210

1975 El Camino - long term project C12d8c10

by tgaetto Fri Jul 23, 2021 11:54 am

In the meantime I made sure all the vacuum gates were functioning, thanks to my little helper!

1975 El Camino - long term project 36c70a10

by g3chevy / Mr Pontiac Fri Jul 23, 2021 12:12 pm

You gotta love little helpers! That brings back good memories.

by tgaetto Fri Jul 23, 2021 8:16 pm

The blue corvair is her car. We’re converting that to electric w/air!

by tgaetto Tue Oct 19, 2021 11:16 pm

I know it’s been a while. I have some updates. After we got the dash connections tested it was time to put it back together.

1975 El Camino - long term project 06406810

by tgaetto Tue Oct 19, 2021 11:22 pm

It took a while but it eventually came together. I added a blue tooth stereo and mounted some new old Polk tweeters I had from my motorcycle that never got used.