Hot Rods The El Stinko ‘60 El Camino

I dug through all my shifter stuff and fit things up. I have pretty much everything but my 1/2 rod. I need that, a magnetic drain plug, a speedo gear, and the little tab to hold the speedo gear in. Easy enough.


I think I’ll tear down the shifter body to clean and inspect it before I do final assembly.

 

Scott @ the shifter Doc should have your linkage rod. He was the only place I could find rods for a T10 in a 62 Ford.

www.shifterdoc.com

 

I’ll check him out!

 

I’m back from family vacation with my wife’s people and now we’ve all got the ‘Rona again. I’m feeling ok but work doesn’t want me for 5 days so maybe I’ll get some shit done. I got my missing linkage and my clutch fork.

I tore down and cleaned my shifter body. There’s a little wear, by I think I’ll grease it and run it.







Got the right fork.



Any idea the correct orientation on the point cam feature on the throw out bearing? Couldn’t find anything on the McLeod site, but I haven’t pulled open the factory manuals yet…



Next up, reassemble the shifter and get the scatter shield on.

 

I always put it facing the inside of the fork.

 

Got the shifter body reassembled and the linkage all set up. I still need to set my stop bolts.

 

Looks good!

 

Thanks. It’s been a while since I’ve done an American clutch and my brain was running 40% slower than usual. Now I can see that it’s an anti spin feature. I was really wanting it to locate on something.

Thanks man!

 

I’m feeling much better but still just nibbling away a little everyday. All the lower bolt holes are threaded on this Lakewood vs thru holes on my other one. Of course they were goobered up and I was too stubborn to take it off to chase them so I did it the hard way.

I used fast and furious grease from my misspent 20s on the throw out bearing pivots. It’s good stuff and I hope the Chevy gods will forgive me.


I stuffed it all together.



I’ve got some little stuff to do on the car that’ll be easier without the motor, and then I’ll put it in.

 

That block is cast and drilled for Chevy and BOP bellhousing patterns? Or is that a spacer plate or something? Not sure if I ever saw that before.

 

That appears to be the block plate that comes with the Lakewood Bellhousing.

 

It’s the Lakewood block plate. There’s a lot going on with it.

 

My parts store starter gave me fits. I had to clearance that old Lakewood block plate to even get it on and my tooth spacing was way wide with no shims. I wound up with a washer under the outside bolt to tip it in. I got my 1/8”.

In case y’all didn’t notice, my garage is tiny. I had to get the engine and trans past the coupe to get to the El Camino.



I wound up having to take the wheels off the coupe to get it through. Aside from that everything went in fine. No damage, no real trouble even with the soft OSB “floor” in the car tent.





Next up, more wiring, carb, distributor, accessories, and a lot of little firewall area stuff.

The HEI that’s on it is a mystery part with no gear and who knows what else. I know that HEIs are the easy solution, but they look dumb. I could put a points unit it or who knows. I need an affordable and reliable solution. (That’s probably a dumb looking HEI)

I want a driver’s side alternator so there’s fewer wiring changes when I finally put the 348 in. If I can keep the same balancer, I might switch to a short pump setup and look for late 60’s/ early 70’s truck or Vette brackets. TBD. Long pump dress up brackets are the cheap and easy solution but that leaves me with a passenger side alternator.

I’ve got 2 1850s, a Edelbrock 1405, and a 1407. I think the 750 is probably too big, so I’m looking at a Holley 600 or a Edelbrock 600. I need to bush it Edelbrock. People argue about this kinda thing for days…

 

The Edelbrock 600 and the HEI are great for a daily diver. IMHO

 

LMC Truck parts has the early ‘70 alternator bracket that bolts to the front of the drivers side head on a 350.
Seems like I paid $100.00 for the kit last year

 

The HEI is probably the practical choice. I was looking at the one I have and it has the 5 pin module. It seems complete other than the gear. I need to figure out if it’ll be good for my motor or if I need to find an earlier 4 pin unit. There’s reading to do!

That’s exactly the setup I’m looking for. There’s an old yard around here I want to look in before I buy new. That way I can scoop pulleys too. Thanks for the image.

 

Hey Lewk, what's with all the bandages on the poor old Chevy?

 

I’m just trying to keep the dirt out out in my filthy car tent. I don’t have any center bolt valve covers yet for the vortec heads. I do have a clean (hygiene wise) set chrome dress up covers with big holes drilled in ‘em for valve adjustment. I know it looks ghetto, but it’ll be finned aluminum soon enough.

 

Will your heads accept the ‘85-92 style 350 VCs? I don’t know about Vortec heads, but have an extra set of CB VCs I’ll never use.

 

I think they’re the same. I’m interested. I’ll PM.

 

I love to see stuff get done on a low budget and in tight spaces. Not everyone can work in a 20,000 square foot air conditioned warehouse/shop. I'd bet most of the cars that got built in-period were also done in one car garages or mostly outside.

 

Do you have any idea how many cars I’d have if I had 20,000 square feet? I’m like a gas, I fill the space available. I might complain a little about my hot or cold tight quarters, but when I still lived in SF, I built an off topic Honda at night in the bottom of a high rise parking garage. I’d start after the building manager went to bed and it had to look like you could drive it every morning. I had wrenches and parts stolen and always kept a big pry bar nearby in case of crackheads. I’m pretty happy having my own little shop now.

 

I love this line and will be stealing it, just so you know.

 

I saw the limited space, budget, and the quality of the work here and became hooked on this thread. Frame off in a tent F--- yeah! Doing a lot with a little keep the updates coming brougham

 

Luke I’m living through you. Keep it up.

 

Thanks for the kind words guys. I want it, so I’m making it happen.


I went up to the last yard nearby with anything old. I wanted early 70’s truck brackets and 6”wagon wheels. There are fewer cars up there every time I go and the wagon I was going to harvest from is gone. A couple 61s I’ve been coveting are gone too. Plus there was a stack of flat Buicks that still had their 90 fin drums on em.



He must have had a dozen 67-72 GM trucks but they’re pretty picked over. The only motors that still had brackets were 6s. Between a mid 70’s Malibu and a 3 door Suburban stuffed to the roof with SBC accessories, I did come up with a long pump bracket and pulley set. I’m happy and sunburned.



I’ve got a 5 pin HEI that I got with a pile of misc Chevy stuff from a neighbor without a gear. I’m going to rewire it like a 4 pin and test it. If it’s alive I’ll order a gear. I need to figure out what to grease it with since I’ve got it torn down.



Painting brackets and HEI stuff are my projects for the next few days.

 

Also, I finally got my title on this hooptie. That was stressing me out…

 

I've got new gears for that hei, and if you need anymore power steering related brackets, I think I have a couple of setups

 

I’ve got an untested 70’s junkyard pump and bracket, a cylinder mount off the 59, and the centerlink/valve assy from a 60. I still need to clean up and test everything and chase up a rebuildable cylinder, hoses, and probably some other little stuff. I need to test fit all my bracket stuff and make sure I’m good there. Whatcha got?





I’m definitely interested in that gear too. Thanks Lloyd.

 

I don't have any of the elco steering stuff brother, just a few power steering pumps and brackets I've kept just in case. Shoot me your address again in a pm and I'll send you a gear for that distributor