We wouldn't find anything like that in our area. They were rotted out by the seventies. Nice to be in a dry state.
We’re pretty lucky with rust here. The 4dr has bad floors and rockers so I’m not feeling too bad about killing it. The frame seems decent, I’ll know more after I clean it up.
Everything I’ve about these El Caminos says the frames will interchange. Hopefully it’s true! I’ll measure and compare soon. The later Chevelle based cars do have differences.
Glad you found a good frame! I cringed a bit when I saw they grabbed that poor 235 that supposedly has that good 848 head with the excavator. I´m telling myself it´sjust a photo illusion Man I wished we had junk yards like that... I´d hang out there all day every day
The interchange book I have says the frames interchange except for convertible. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
That poor motor had sat with no hood and an open carb for decades. If people like that head, I’ll see if the motor is still around next weekend when I go out to break down the body.
I don´t know what it´s worth in your area, but here these 848 heads are hard to come by. They had the smallest chamber and the highest cr of all stovebolts. As far as I know even the convertible frames should bolt up to any other model, but if I remember correctly they are seamless and reinforced in certain areas. Great build, ElCaminos rule!
Great score! Pulling the body to swap frames is just a short detour, you'll be back on schedule in no time at the rate you're going.
“I’ll drive it in June”.... I tweaked my back and about the time that settled down it got very very cold. I’m getting back on track though. I butchered the parts car. Any idea why the rockers were rusty? I’m really really trying to not pick scabs, but since it was off the frame I gave the underside a “quick” blast. The car is on jackstands and there isn’t much room under there and I had to be up close and personal with the blaster. There’s a lot of light coming through the bed subfloor. Next up is cleaning the new frame and painting the underside of the car. I think I’ll probably brush paint because there’s no room to spray. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
And when you get it all finished, you can do this with it and give it a nice protective layer of silt!
The parts car gave me a decent Canadian style frame. There are a couple body mount holes where the rust is nasty from water sitting under the rubber. I’ll either patch em or cut the good ones off the bent frame depending on location. I gave it a half assed blast and it’s generally good with a couple cracks in a front spring pocket, some light pitting, and a front cross member scuff from a parking block or something. The biggest hassle is the rear cross member. It cracked out and someone burned in a “brace” plate with a stick welder and a fifth of whisky. I’ve got grinding to do. Global West and Show-Cars both make braces to prevent this cracking. The Show-Cars brace is more in line with the car I’m trying to build. I may order theirs or draw something up and get laser cuts from our vender at work. Crusty. Couple little cracks. The frame is upside down, you’re looking at the passenger rear crossmember with plate scabbed on. And the other side of that. They managed to trash that crossmember with a 6 cylinder and a powerglide. Imagine what the 348 4spd cars did. It may snow again soon, so I’m coating the frame in Ospho and trying to get primer on it ASAP. Having more light after work is helpful. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Just saw this, good build, sucks that it needed a frame swap, that took it up a level. Hows the rear window area, seems like every elco from those years are eaten up in that area.
Ill throw a few things out there, if you have interest. https://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/262365/tp/2 Heres a thread showing how to use box tubing for inner rockers on impalas. heres an impala frame thats been changed to perimeter to eliminate the X. I have a 63 impala that Im considering using heavy angle iron instead of box tubing for inner rockers, and sitting it on a perimeter modified frame. Before anyone gets excited, "my 63" is a parts car for my dads 409 car, needs rockers, the frame is getting sections cut out of it to repair the 409 frame. Ill take whats left and make something that will drive again. Dont want to derail your thread with any side discussion on my stuff.
Those are interesting frame and rocker modifications. I'm lucky that my El Camino is pretty dry aside from floor stuff from wet carpets and odd factory design choices. The two layer bed floor assembly caught water like crazy.... My back window area is really good. The rusty rockers were from the parts car I murderized.
I’m trying to get the frame squared away and back under the car ASAP. My driveway is an eyesore (worse than usual) and I want to get the car back to a parking spot and a half instead of the three or so it’s currently occupying. It’s spring and the frame is outside so I’m fighting surface rust too. I beat it back again with Ospho today and if it doesn’t snow tonight, I’ll try for primer after work tomorrow. I cut the body mounts behind the rear tires off the bent frame, cleaned them up, and welded em on the Bel Air frame. I drew up some patches for the other mounts and got them water jetted out of 12 gauge. Firewall: Rear Spring Pocket: I’m not going to show you the rearmost mounts ‘cause them shits came out ugly. I wound up ordering the crossmember reinforcements from one of the previously mentioned companies to keep things moving rather than dinking around for a couple days drawing at break time and testing templates at night. $100 later and I can’t understand how anyone thinks these things are supposed to fit. Aside from the arms being wrong, there’s a stamped pocket in the subframe that they simply wouldn’t fit in. BFH, torch, and a grinder made it happen. Primer/paint ASAP, weather permitting, seam seal and paint the floor pans, and hopefully frame back under the car Friday. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Amazing to see how little rust there is in cars outside our rust belt states. I know you think the floors are bad but if that thing had been here in Michigan the whole car would be gone. My granddad had a '59 Elky in the mid-late 60's. By the time it was 7-8 years old the rust had fully taken over. He used screws and angle iron to hold the headlights in. He boasted of the comfortable "rockin chair ride" that resulted from the floor and seat attachment points being rusted out. It had a 235 with 3 on the tree and when you took off the seat leaned back. Shift to 2nd and you rocked ahead, then back again, and so on. It thought about taking it ice fishing, you could just drop a line through the floor. I had a personal experience with a rusted-out brake line on this thing recounted in another post. My first code brown incident as a driver unless you count putting Gramp's '50 F1 in the ditch at 4 years old. My defense is that I was steering while riding on my uncle's lap--and he later became a State Trooper! I'll be watching your build, impressed with progress so far.
I’m getting closer to stuffing the frame back under. The Ospho leaves a scaly mess but hitting it with a 3M pad leaves a nice surface. And with paint. It’s just Rustoleum Semigloss over rusty metal primer. The floor seam sealed with Eastwood Brushable Seam Sealer And painted. Nearly there. Stainless brake lines and 3/8” fuel line. Next up I’ll bolt the frame in, deal with the trans hump, toe boards, bed subfloor, and wheel houses. I’m also gathering front end parts. I’ve got Scarebird disc brake brackets and some other chunks. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
So this is kinda a big deal. This is the transition from tearing shit apart to assembly. I’m not wild about doing the hodge podge paintwork, but I’m short on space and can’t hit it all at once. There’s still some bubblegum stick welding on that cross member from a previous person, but I reinforced the other side so hopefully everything is lovely. I’m trying to keep things moving forward and not get caught up in making everything cosmetically perfect. I want to drive this thing ASAP. (Maybe not June...) Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
“I’ll drive it in June” The passenger wheelhouse is crushed and punctured. I’ll try to beat out the drivers. The whole subfloor is pinholed. Chop My engine plan has completely changed. I found something in the woods behind a barn. Meet the Short Stack 59. It got rear ended by a logging truck so they built a wooden box on the trunk floor and drove it until 75. I’d heard about it for a long time but couldn’t get in touch with the owner. The guy who knew about it couldn’t get me in touch because someone else was mad at him so I had to find someone else who grew up down the road. All this from in a couple dinky towns 2 1/2 hours away. Also, the owner wasn’t really into phone calls. It took like 9 months. The brakes were all frozen and one of the tires I put on it popped on the ramp. After breaking two come alongside, we finally shoved it on with his Massy Ferguson. Then we hit a deer driving home. My wife has informed me that we are now remodeling the kitchen. She pointed out that I’ve bought three cars in the last year....
Thanks for the kind words guys! I’m super excited about the 348, but I don’t really get to mess with it until I get the rest of the 59 processed. I can’t really have that car sitting around too long. Sneak peaks: I’m going to pour some kerosene / ATF mix into it and soak it while I tear the car down.
I’m nibbling away on the parts car, getting my keep pile out of it. The rear axle is stuck. It’s most likely just the brake drums. I got lucky with the diff: I should have the motor out in the next day or so. First I need to wrap up painting cabinets to keep the peace. I pulled the plugs and looked in with a boroscope. I saw plenty of carbon and 3 cylinders with some rust. They didn’t look crazy bad though. I might get lucky. There was still water in the block and radiator. It was pretty murky but not very green. Hopefully nothing froze in the last 40 years....
As soon as I saw the crossed flags on the 59 parts car I knew it had a 348. Back in the mid 70s I drove a green 60 ElCamino, delivering parts for G&L auto parts, ElCajon, Cal. It was a 235/3 speed O.D. and while not fast, it was a sweetheart to drive.
The Jalopy Journal
