Projects 59 El Camino.. Build Pics

I heard him say, the 350 I was going to put in my Elco, might go in it. I won't know for sure until we're actually chaining up whatever it is, he decides to drop in. My Dad donated his '64 327, to put in my the 59. I would love to see better mileage with a 327, over the 350 in my 57. Plus, 327 just sounds better, anyways.. "yeah, it's gotta 327 w/ a 700r4" - "Runs stop signs real good!" haha

 

Today I helped out @ Gazelle Machining. I have to go back in the morning to finish and help get all these molds out. Rained here last night and this morning, so I was able to take advantage of my down time. I had to sand out the tool paths w/o rounding "ANY" edge. Chased every 5/16-18 threaded hole. Tomorrow I can finish up the last of the sanding & prep them for sand blasting.


Arrow is pointing to the radius that was the most time consuming out of everything.



The parts just kept coming..

more tomorrow

 

So, my second day on the job & I already have my own desk & gaurd dog. Today flew by, as the deadline to deliver, drew closer.

Started by tapping the rest of the many, many holes. Then finished rough polishing out the tool pattern, a lot easier to see out in the sun. Once that was done, the molds were masked off with duct tape & sand blasted.





Now there's going to be containers out there, that I had a hand in creating. Yet I wouldn't & won't know it, if I had one in my hand.

Everything I learn here, is going to help me make wheels in the future! Especially some stuff, inspired by Ted.

 

Wow, impressive.

 

Lots of elbow grease, but it never felt like work. Even with the deadline, I enjoyed doing it. If I didn't have plans to build car related parts, I probably would've hated every minute of it.

 

Global warming is a bitch.. a little O/T, but a real strong wind blew a gang of tiles off the roof, of the front hse.(I live in the guest hse.) Gets worse, a lot of the tile hit the 56, my Uncle just bought. Thank goodness we do paint & body, huh?! My Dads 70 p/u caught a couple pieces, also. B(
We had just enough tile for the repairs. When it happened, I was watching the Nascar Darlington race track qualifying & I heard very strange noises outside. I ran to see what happened, and thats when I seen the tiles all over the ground. Bummer, but it's like nothin' happened now(besides the '56)




Other than that, I got my 59 Impala mldgs from "Whiskey Runner" & I picked up my headliner from Wandas, also. Now, since I have the Impala mldgs, I can mock up were I want to cut & replace my qtrs. Crazy, cos' today was my Dad & Uncles 65th birthday.. what a way to spend it!

 

Sorry to hear about the roof.Tell Jay & Joe that I said Happy Birthday.Thanks.

 

I will tell them! Now we need to buy some tile, all thats left are completely unusable.

 

Glad everyone's OK.......bummer.

 

My Uncles bummed cos there's no touch up paint for the 56. It was sitting right under where the tiles flew off. He was welding in the engines side mount to the frame when it happened. Otherwise the car sits out of harms way..

 

I shot the heater ducts & inner fenders today, all w/ satin black. Ran out of reducer mid job, so I'm getting to know the paint shop employees, better now. (I'm being positive)



I took a long lunch break, then finally started on the qtrs.. I've been putting this off as long as I could.








I didn't want to replace the shtmtl at the door jamb, but I had to. It was bad.


I really have my work cut out for me! (I couldn't resist, even though it's the obvious)


I need to bust out the sand blaster.. see what metal is or isn't any good!

 

Aha, where I was two weeks ago, I feel yr pain, all the best, I think you're in OK shape.

 

I would love to work with clean metal. It would make repairing the inner structure, a lot more pleasurable. I think anticipating all this, was actually worse.

 

The insides look pretty good, I think you'll be alright, but why did you cut above the trim line? There would be less welding distortion at the crease and the trim would hide it anyway.

 

Nice job on the mold polishing and the Camino.
I worked in a mold shop for 5 years and we made a mold for the big 55 gallon sized orange road cones.
Those were a challenge. Polishing was the easy parts after figuring how to set them up on machines that were too smaal for the job.
But we got it done. Once put together with risers and backingplates they were 4'x5'x6'

Jeff

 

The "Impala" moldings are going to cover the weld. I was waiting for the moldings, so I could figure out where the cut should be. Hope for the best & expect the worst

 

Set up is a huge factor.. I'm learning a lot. Replacing the pins in my t/gate hinges, is proving to be a time consuming project. A conventional mill would prove easier, than the computer aided machining right now.

 

I spent most of my time today, fixing the inner support.

 

Mine was exactly the same. It looks like someone repaired earlier rust. There's no paint or primer on the insides at all, no wonder these things rusted so bad. Modern cars, I hate to say this, have much better corrosion resistance built into them, you rarely see 10 year old cars rusting like you used to.
My 70 Riviera that I bought in 1981 already had rust in the wheelwells, the trunk and under the vinyl roof, the car was only 11 years old.

 

I agree. An, yes.. big trunks & vinyl tops spell danger. I am fortunate to live in the dry socal desert. But I definetly need to seal off the rust in there.

 

I just got back from the chrome shop. Now, I need to have the bumpers done & the grille straightened/anodized. I'm also waiting for my H/D lower column bearing. Then I can rebuild the column. The wind wings are "still" waiting for me to assemble, also. I got work to do!

 

Great thread! Just read through all the pages and lovin it. Those 59 Elco's are soo damn sweet. I always see this green one when i cruising around at work and have always wanted to hit up the owner and make them an offer they can't refuse but it will have to wait for now, 1 project at a time. I'm going the same route you are (doing everything myself) with my 50 Chevy, and my god I hate rust with such a passion! I have also realized that if a person goes to hell they will most undoubtedly be spending eternity sanding old rusty metal!! Haha. Keep up the good work with the Elco and the great time with your pops. Cherish the time you have with him.

 

Rust keeps me busy, that's for sure. Yeah, he has his ups & downs. His thyroid plays havoc with him. Hard to watch him today, but so glad he's still here.

 

On a lighter note..

 

Good job with the tedious, rustkilling work, thanks for the motivation. Pretty nice to have all of these pics to look back on the project!

 

I have gone back & looked at the pictures. It was a while ago, but I got a few ideas from the things I've missed.. just looking at things! Glad to motivate, anytime!

 

Looks like a lot of work, also looks like you've got a handle on it. Always wanting more, wanting to see the end result, so keep it coming. When you refer to "kitty hair" for those of us not in the know "meaning me" what is it?

Looks Great Jeff

 

Thanks, that motivates me to keep going.. it really does. I have something to prove to my self. I have to get it done, I don't want to be "that" guy who never finishes anything. Lifes short, an I sleep in too much!

Kitty Hair, is body filler (bondo) with fiberglass in it. It has a little more integrity to it.

 

Today, I tried to make sense of the chaos.. an it "took" a cool minute. I will remember this experience & think on how I could have done this a little easier. Right tool, for the right job.. I am going to look into a shrinker/stretcher. One that will last.


Still mocking things up. Have to use an air die grinder to cut the 18 gauge shtmtl. Making the pieces, thats what takes me so long.






The picture below shows the radius after I fixed it. I held the outer qtr replacement up to it, marked it and "kustomized it" to fit..haha



Then the outer reinforment, started to come together once the inner shtmtl was to the shape it needed to be.


Then I tacked it in place, to see if the qtr pnl would fit. I have since then taken it down, so I could grind off the majority of the rust. Tomorrow, I will SEM Rust Seal it & paint in there, before I weld in the outer support. On my way to the machine shop to hog out the t/gate hinge pins for bushings. Peace!

 

I really like '59 El Caminos. Your project is comong along nicely. Keep at it....... I just bought a restored El Camino on Wednesday. I'm making changes to suit my taste......Mike