I'll probably get laughed at, but I subscribed to all the hot rod mags off and on since the 70s and don't remember seeing this brand until lately.
It's an old name that sort of just faded away. Was around in the '60s I know. (Ever see those little stickers of bare feet? Eelco) The name was brought back recently by another individual. Brad
Eelco was founded by Els Lohn. Here's some background. http://www.vkstudio.co.uk/page6.html http://content.sema.org/content/?id=25151
They were around at least as early as 1958, cause I have a '58 catalog. It was pretty primitive though, so I think Eelco was kinda new.
I put in a call to Clifford Williamson. He was a machiner there. He wudn home. He'll call me in a bit. Wayno
How do you become an "X H.A.M.B.er"? Piss off enough people or moderators and get kicked off? Rip somebody off with the same result? Or just quit coming around?
I've got a few old eelco parts (gas pedal and aluminum fuel tank) in my garage that I've had since the 60's, so they've been around a while.
I just bought a 6x2 linkage from this company, and had no probs. Nice part and packaging. just my .02$
Got it hooked up yet? I've got an Edelbrock 6x2 w/94s, I have a dissasembled linkage, may buy a new one as I don't know anyone who has set up one of these before, and the one I have has some parts that are too modern lookin'. Does your linkage have vintage-styled parts?
OK, I talked to Clifford. EELCO officially started in '58 or 59. It really started about '52/3. It was sold to Lee Eliminators in 1980 and bought back in '85. Els also bought a lot of small outfits over the years including 1/3 of ANSEN and others such as NORDEN (180* cranks) and CHASSIS RESEARCH. Scotty Fenn worked there for a while. There is obviously more to the story but this is a start. Wayno
Great start, keep talking to Clifford and get some more of those stories. A lot of that information only lives as long as the old timers are with us. I bought the 4100 patterns for all the plaques that Speed Gems made in the 50/60's under their own name and for mail order houses like Newhouse, J.C Whitney. etc. but I didn't get any of their hard parts tooling. Never been able to find out any information on the original company nor where the tooling for their engine adaptors etc. went. Wish I could turn the time machine back 45 years and do some networking to gather that history..........
Interesting comment...what does a "modern looking" linkage piece look like...and what does a "vintage-styled" linkage piece look like? Just asking?????
Some of the parts were blue anodized and looked to be CNC machined, as opposed to cast aluminum, for example. They just didn't look like something that would have been made in the 50s or 60s.
I was told it was 1953 by the guys at eelco. I have bought a lot of stuff over the past year with great success. I just got a bellhousing for my 331 that I am putting in my '32.
Els was one of my clients and he got started selling surplus stuff and as it became scarce, he started making new parts. He was a founding member of SEMA and had a lot to do with the early SEMA shows. One of his more interesting ideas was an under seat pistol rack that is still being sold at gun shows. He also prevailed in a trademark law suit filed by Hang Ten over the use of the "foot" logo.
I have a automatic floor shifter with the feet on it that I've had since the 60's . I believe it says"eelco" also.
Els also had joint ventures with other manufacturers. Fred Offenhauser, Els, and my grandfather Ollie Morris (OMEC which is Ollie Morris Equipment Corporation) had a joint venture to make parts. My grandfather designed the items. Els manufactured them in his screw shop, and Fred financed it. The parts were distributed my both Els and Offenhauser.
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