hello.i have a 59 2 door sedan and ive wanted a 59 el camino going on 12 years now.ive been looking for along time.i live in north idaho,not alot of these cars pop up,when they do they are very expensive.so i was thinking the other day how hard would it be to convert mine to a elcamino.i found a guy who has a 60 el camino top,that he literally cut straight off the body at some point.i know i would have to find a tailgate from a el camino or station wagon?any info on this would be greatly appreciated.thank you.
How hard? That is not something that you can ask us. That would be something that we would have to ask you. How hard would it be for you to to do this? What is you talent level when it comes to major metal fabrication, especially when it comes to exposed seams in body sheet metal? Do you have a fully outfitted fabrication shop, or access to one?
i have a friend thats a excellent fabricator.im more courious what is needed part wise.again.thanks for all the help.if its to much involved,ill keep looking for a el camino.like i said ive been searching for one.just aint having no luck with that.
Meh it's only metal. It's probably not common enough that you will get an easy parts list. I'd assume a camino or wagon tail gate will both require some work to make functional so I suppose its up to you which you use. If you feel confident in your fabricator I would get together with him and some good photos of both gates and get a plan together that you both feel good about
It can be done. This is the kind of thing where you absolutely give a 100% commitment to follow through completely. If you miss even the slightest detail, everyone's eyes, including yours, will go straight to that defect, instantly.
Honestly it's probably easier and cheaper to find an Elco. There was one cheap on Craigslist recently near me. I'll see if I can't dig up the ad. If you have your heart set on a particular car, sell the sedan and raise the enough funds to buy one. Put up wanted ads both here, your local Craigslist, newspaper, senior centers. You will find one!
I bought a 60 El camino recently a lot of good project cars come up all the time. This website is good it searches craiglist and Ebay https://cargraph.com/usa/chevrolet/el-camino/1959 One thing to consider is an original bodied el camino is always going to be worth more than a custom job. I think the El camino is based on the 2 door wagon. One good thing is if you start from a different model probably wont have as much rust in the rear quarters etc as original El camino.
Cool website, especially for this situation. I agree, in the end a real one will be more valuable, for the expense of creating one you could rehab one. Your friend could easily bring one back from the near dead, I'm sure. I guess the question might be; would you like an El Camino or would you rather have something custom and totally unique? Something like this one is a good deal, a little clapped out but it looks fairly complete with a title. By the time you buy a tailgate, the top and other stuff I would imagine you would already be at $4k I'm a CL junky and have not seen one cheaper than this in any condition in my area.
Slapstick - Hope you find one. Gimpy - Was that an El to start with? I'd give a body part or at least my OT big block El for it. Some gold cars hit the mark just right.
You would be better off converting a wagon into a elcamino if you are looking for a stock appearing elcamino. The elcamino is basically a sedan delivery without the roof. All the inside sheetmetal is the same. Here is my conversion I'm working on.
What if you could find a cheap Olds or Buick or Pontiac wagon and El Camino it? The same roof would fit a 1959 or 1960. I'm just thinking, if you want to go and do all that work, why not make something unique?
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