El Camino Parts Hauler Project Revisited

Today on muscle car, we'll revisit our El Camino project and give it the Von Dutch treatment. We'll show you how to Pinstripe

and we'll take a look back at one of the baddest Fords. Ever. The 69 mach 14, 28 Cobra Jet.

Today's show is about pride or the lack of it. This shameful beater is our parts hauler. Tragic.

Hard to look cool in a rusted out neglected eyesore. Most of the parts that ha

were used to keep it running.

This thing is so trashy. It even attracts more.

You know, everybody says that his TV types are high maintenance and we've got huge egos. So I had to get something befitting of my new TV image. A 78 El Camino that a guy ran out of steam midway through the project.

It turned into a nice truck too.

Uh It's a car that's a truck. It's registered as a car. It has all the modern conveniences of a car. So it's a car. No, it's a truck because it has a bed in it

in the back

for hauling stuff. What it only hauls ours.

Despite the debate, the El Camino did make its mark in automotive history.

First introduced in 1959. It was an immediate head turner with the comfort and style of a car and the practicality of a truck. It had broad appeal.

The El Camino remained popular.

Its demise. In 1988

most El Camino drivers weren't even interested in performance. They loved it because it was a solid, reliable vehicle. It was a hard worker hauling a load of lumber one day,

your boat the next and your date on a Saturday night,

Neil Camino had it all.

So why are some considered muscle cars starting in 64? The Elco shared the same platform as the Chevelle.

They were built on the same assembly line with the same trim and power plants

in 1966. Buyers could order all the options found on the Chevelle Ss

including the 396 big block Ss style interior and the mag wheels.

The El Camino finally earned its SS badges in 68 causing overall production numbers to shoot up, reaching over 48,069.

And if that doesn't convince you of the El Camino's muscle, Chevy's 1970 offerings will

for those power hungry buyers not interested in the host of lesser V8 options. 2454 big blocks were available.

The 360 horse Ls Five or the tire roasting 450 horse Ls six.

With this project, we decided to go with a GM Ram Air 350. It's good for about 350 ponies at 5000 RPM. S

and for a Scotia

under five grand,

you can't beat it for maximum reliability. A four L six E was bolted up to the back. A stand alone electronic controller from GM performance parts was selected to be the brains of this outfit.

This car got a few updates over the courses project, but probably the biggest one was switching from a car set up to EF

I.

That meant some modifications like installing an 02 sensor in the headers.

A new gas tank with an internal pump that could push about 55 P si

along with all new fuel lines and filters

with all that in place. It was hooked up with a

fittings

and no big surprises here. Everything was connected,

levels were checked and she fired right up.

But before we could take it out on the street,

there was still a little work left to be done.

One thing that's really cool about this project is the custom fab fan tr

and if that doesn't blow up your skirt, this cold air intake should get your attention.

We cut out the front marker lights and turn them in the scoop.

We use 2.5 inch aluminum

to plumb everything to the motor.

Now that she's got go power, she's going to need some whoa power stopping. This baby is going to be a breeze, the set of bear brakes with 13 inch rotor supplies, all our negative GS

and for ultimate control of our parts running truck,

we installed the suspension parts from Edelbrock and Global West.

Well, after all the pieces were in place, we're ready to run, but we'll get to that in a minute. Hey, hey, first things, first we gotta settle this debate. It's not a debate. It's a car truck, but it's a sacrifice.

We're in the middle of a take

important business here.

We got a serious serious issue

debate.

El Camino car or truck. Now, hold on before you get today. Did you guys really drive down here?

We

did that

thing.

Yeah,

exactly.

8 10 ft.

Lazy, lazy. Thank

you. El Camino is a car.

Thank you. No, it isn't. El Camino is a truck just like the rancher.

It's, thank you.

Well, the debate rages on just like it has since the El Camino came on the scene. Now, I know everyone has their own opinion and even experts will disagree and honestly, this will probably never be solved.

Ok?

We'll get to the bottom of this debate after the break when we take the car

truck out or a stress test. More muscle car after this,

take the car out,

hit it. Maestro our Elco takes the muscle car burnout test

plus, check out a Camino with some serious attitude after the break.

Welcome back to muscle car and our El Camino clico

we got this abandoned project that already had a totally reworked chassis and body

professionally covered in flawless paint.

It's almost ready to show. We just had to give it some go.

We agreed on which engine but still debated the car truck issue, whatever you think, no one can argue that it's still a gear heads toy.

And some guys like their toys way over the top.

R A Stu Stewart A K A grumpy. Not only had a crazy dream, he had the knowledge and dedication to actually make this thing real.

We're looking at three Edelbrock 650 CFM cars sitting on top of a 1471 blower. It's force feeding a Merlin 540

exhaling through Sanderson custom

zoomies,

an ear shattering traffic stopping, throwback to the anything goes attitude in the seventies. This thing guzzles 91 octane pump gas at four

MPG.

And yeah,

it's street legal

El Camino can be translated as the road

and with this power plant

he owns it.

Hit it maestro something that outrageous would have been really cool for our parts hauler.

But that rear end, uh it had a different idea

once we got her back to the shop and popped off the differential cover. It was clear that our El Camino needed a truck rear end

one quick stop by the junkyard and we were in business. We cut out a nine inch Ford rear end and brought it back to the shop.

Now, making one of these fit is a little bit more complex than just bolting it up.

We cut off the old mounting bracket,

fed up some new ones. Then we had to take some of the tube out to make sure it was the right length. So our wheels would be sitting in the proper location.

A set of 373 gears with a Detroit true track from Curry

and our El Camino was ready for the retake.

Coming up on flashback, a pony with the heart of a Cobra.

Today's muscle car flashback. The 69 mach 1428 Cobra Jet

move over 409

move over 427

make room for 428 cubic inches of Ford Cobra

Jet. Power

Ford wasn't just messing around in 69 when they made this beast

and just a hair over 10,000 mustangs had this 335 horse, 440 ft pound torque monster dropped under the hood.

Less than 6000 of them were four beads and only 100 and 54 came in winter blue and only 36 of those had white terriers.

As a matter of fact, there were only two cars made exactly like this one and both of those twins sold out of the same dealership in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Mark Marcus is the proud owner of this beauty. You picked it up in 99. Since then. It's taken her all over the country to car shows and MC A events,

this beautifully restored Mustang has taken top honors in both the driven and trailer at MC A concourse events.

Now, that's no small feat considering that there are 700 points that these cars are judged on.

Obvious points are paint and body lines along with consistent vins.

But these cars can get dog points for things as simple as a sticker out of place and to take the gold, a maximum of only 21 points can get missed. It's no wonder that Carlyle picked this car to be the face of the All Ford nationals brochure.

Now Ford may have only claimed 335 horsepower to keep insurance rates down.

But guys in the know will tell you the horsepower numbers are closer to the 440 mark

and one good push on the gas pedal can even turn back time.

It's like nothing else. It takes you back. I mean, if you were young when you first got in a car like that, it takes you straight back to those days.

A set of 325 gears in the track lock makes sure that all that power is hitting the pavement. And this set of 15 inch wheels wrapped in poly glass tires is definitely responsible for at least a couple of black marks on the road

style points are in no short supply either classic Mustang body lines. A fast back top with rear window. Louvers and a spoiler out back are just the start

side scoops along with head lamps in the front grill are a dead giveaway that you're looking at 69

winter blue paint and a black and gold stripe are touched off with plenty of mock one badging

up front. A flat black hood is held down with a set of pins. But the icing on the cake, this functional shaker hood scoop

inside the white interior is just as clean as the day it left the factory and the paneling engages. Well, they're in the same condition.

Now, winning gold from the MC A says a lot for any car but with a set of

pipes and dual resonators, the big block will do all the talking and any big block owner will tell you size matters.

Don't let anybody tell you it doesn't.

Now if you happen to see a shaker hood scoop on a 69 mustang fast back. You better watch your step

mach ones might be known for their rally days, but a 428 Cobra will deal a deadly bite to just about anything that picks a fight with it off the line

kick that four speed in the neutral and cruised for a little bit. Muscle car will be right back.

Rick gives the El Camino an extra dose of style. The lowdown on pinstriping after the break,

Kool aid, I need some sway bar bushings

hold on a minute.

Hey, welcome back today. We're taking a look at our 78 El Camino parts hauler. Me and Rick still can't agree whether or not it's a car or a truck, but one thing we have figured out it would be really cool with some pinstripes. So, while he's getting ready to lay down the licks, I'm setting up a parts run.

Yeah. Send me an S HR FBB 175 200.

You know, this El Camino has been kicking around the shop here for quite a while and this poor thing has been built up, beat on, broken, fixed, beat on and broken some more. And through all this, the paint job is held up beautifully and it looks awesome in solid silver. But, you know, the other day, me and Lou were kicking it around and we decided that it was about time I laid down some stripes and

hey, break ups, the

silver panels.

Pinstriping wasn't considered an art form until Kenneth Howard A K A. Von Dutch came on the scene

born in 1929 he started the pinstriping craze in the early fifties and made the flying eyeball his trademark. He mastered many types of art. But oddly enough, he despised the art world and spent much of his life. A recluse,

you know, Dutch passed away in 1992 but his influence is still felt today. So we're gonna be laying down some Dutch style striping on the tailgate of this thing, even adding a flying eyeball to the back.

Now, today I brought in my striping kit and it contains everything I need for the job. It's got the one shot striping enamel, some fine line tape for finding centers and laying out long straight lines,

some needs foot oil. Now, this is what I use for preserving my brushes and then of course some high temp producer in case the paint gets a little thick.

These brushes are designed more for lettering and laying out uh designs and, and filling in some larger areas.

Now, these brushes over here are the ones I use most of the time. This is a series 10 for Mac. They come in sizes ranging all the way from four A, all the way up to number four. Of course, the higher the number, the bigger the brush. Now today we're gonna be using the single

line

when I was first getting started. One of the best pieces of advice that a pin striper gave me was to imagine the brush as a curved bladed scalpel and don't think of it as painting so much as slicing through the surface as you make a turn, you turn the brush just slightly like you would do with the blade. When now with a lot of practice, you learn how to steer the brush where you want it to go.

I like to sketch out the design before the paint goes on and you're right. I'm using the wrong P to do this. I couldn't find my Stello. So I grabbed an erasable marker.

What's a Stello? You ask, it's a water erasable pencil that you can paint right over when you're done, it'll wipe off. But for now, oh, the marker will have to do

the hardest part of a design like this is finding the patience to let the paint tack off between colors.

Now, once the basic design is done, trim it out with black,

add some final details,

then you're ready to move on.

Now, people like their cars to reflect their personality. Some people are more outgoing, so they like a more elaborate design, other people and not so outgoing. So they like a more simple design.

Now, sometimes the people tell me what to put down and sometimes the car tells me what to put down. The lines on this El Camino are nice and clean and simple. So my pinstriping is gonna have to match that.

One of the most important aspects of pin striping is palette, which means getting the correct balance of paint and thinner loaded into the brush twisting. It slightly helps to get the paint all the way through the hair.

You always want to keep the feral facing this direction so that the curve of the brush is always facing down. Once the pallet

is done, you can pull a couple of test lines on the paper, but then you're ready to rock.

Now, the nice thing about this one shot paint on a clear coated surface is that if you don't like the design,

you can wipe it right off.

Can you try this at home? Well, sure, 30 bucks will get you a brush, a can of paint and some reducer. Now, throw in some imagination, a lot of patience and practice and you just may surprise yourself. I learned to control my breathing and my nerves sometimes even bracing a knee against a project. Just be careful not to scratch the paint.

Oh, and one other thing, don't watch the brush watch where the brush is going

in about 15 or 20 minutes. The paint will be dry enough that you can wipe off that pencil mark with a damp cloth.

And there you have it

in just a few hours. I've given the El Camino a little more attitude, but this isn't just any old shop truck. This is the muscle car parts hauler. Hey, Lou, here's the keys.

I'm ready to roll. I'm gonna be taking that El Camino out to every part store to show out those fashionable new stripes. Later.

It's a car.