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I've owned
my El Camino for 25 years. Over half my
life! When I think about that, it truly
amazes me. Especially when the next longest
I've ever owned a vehicle was three years
and I change vehicles almost as often as I
change my underwear. So, what's the key to
this long relationship? More on that
later. First a little history.
My El Camino SS 396 was born on September 24,
1969. It was special ordered by LeRoy "Sonny" Green through the Arrow Chevrolet
Company in Duluth, MN. Sonny liked hot rods so it's no surprise that he
ordered it with the L-78 375 hp 396 special high
performance engine option. The L-78 396 was the baby brother to the LS-6 454.
Except for displacement, the engines were virtually identical sharing the
same rectangle port heads, aluminum low rise intake, Holley carburetor, cam, and
compression. They also had forged cranks, rods, and pistons. The L-78 was the
highest horsepower engine you could get in a Chevelle or El Camino until it was
canceled in December 1969 when the LS-6 made it's debut. That put the
production of L-78 cars at only 2144 Chevelles and El Caminos combined.
Educated estimates put the production of L-78 El Caminos at only 250! I've
heard of a few others but never seen one in person.
Like so many other muscle cars in those days,
the El Camino saw a lot of dragstrip action. Sonny was a business man and had a
reputation for being a schiester. At least one of his businesses as well as his
home mysteriously burned to the ground. So it was no surprise to anyone when he
had "Schmuck's Truck"
  painted
on the sides of his El Camino. The abuse from all the 1/4 mile racing
finally took it's toll on the engine with a rod exiting the side of the block.
Sonny ordered a brand new L88 427 crate engine as a replacement but never
installed it.
The car sat until 1978 before finally being
sold to Walter Peterson. Walter installed the L88,
gutted the interior, and installed a 6 point roll
cage. He raced it for a few years but wanted to go faster. So,
he bought a 69 Camaro with a full tube chassis, roll cage, narrowed rear, and
all the other goodies. He pulled the L88 out of the El Camino and put it in the
Camaro and then put the El Camino up for sale so he could buy a trailer for the
Camaro. He used to flat tow the El Camino to the race track.
 This
is where my Dad entered the picture. It was 1981, the year of my high
school graduation. The car was only a block away from our house and we'd
always see it sitting there parked outside. I
 never
thought much of it but when the for sale sign went up on it, my Dad was
interested immediately.
To this day I don't know what got into him. Up until that
point, he never showed any
 interest
in muscle cars. It may have had something to do with
the fact that he let his baby, a '36 Ford Sedan Delivery,
go a number of years earlier. There was probably a little mid life crisis
 mixed
in too because a couple years later he bought an original
unmolested '68 Pontiac Firebird. I
don't think it made any difference to him that the El
Camino was a Super Sport. All he cared about
was that it had low mileage, no rust, and had never been
repainted. It easily met those requirements.
The mileage was a ridiculously low 6034. What didn't seem to bother him was that there was no
engine or transmission or that there
were two very large boxes of parts that had been stripped
off the car. Despite my Mother protesting loudly, a deal was
struck and the El Camino was towed home, with me sitting on an egg crate
steering.
We spent that spring and summer putting it
back together. I had virtually no knowledge of automobiles at the time. But
that was to change very quickly and the El Camino was my classroom. It was
literally a life changing experience. It may have happened later under other
circumstances but it was the El Camino that opened the door to everything
automotive for me. That, plus the fact that it was one of the coolest things my
Dad ever did, is probably why I still have the car to this day.
My relationship with the El Camino has been
one of those on again off again affairs. It was stored for three years while I
was overseas in the Military. When I returned, I started learning about what I
had. After speaking to and taking the advice of several
people in the muscle car hobby, I decided to restore it. It was mostly done
except for the smog system and paint when a change of careers took me back to
Minnesota. After that, I just didn't have the time or place to work on it so
it sat in storage for another eight years. It also didn't help that I lost
interest in it in it's mostly restored condition. It was always a hot rod and
that's what really gets my blood pumping. With the El Camino no longer a hot
rod, I started looking at other ways to get my "fix".
I played around with a few turbo cars and then
one day I saw the new Dodge Viper GTS on the cover of Motor Trend. It was love
at first sight. I started saving, and selling and finally in December of 1997,
bought a brand new red GTS. I had a blast with that car and it left a lasting
impression on me. Up to this point, all I did was drag race. When I got the
Viper, I attended a couple road race events and discovered how much fun going
around corners could be. It truly was the most fun I've ever had with an
automobile. But as they say, all good things must come to an end. After
selling the Viper in the summer of 1999, my attention once again turned to the
El Camino.
It was 2000 and I decided to give the El
Camino a makeover for it's 30th birthday. I had it repainted for the first time
in it's life, pulled out the L78 and muncie trans., and sold the SS wheels. I
built the 496 and put a Richmond 5-speed behind it. I also got some Weld Pro
Star wheels and BFG radials. I basically turned it back into a street machine.
It stayed in that configuration for three years. I was much happier with it but
there was something missing. I really missed the all around performance of the
Viper. Instead of buying another sports car, I decided to see what kind of an
improvement I could make in the El Camino. I was basically trying to make it
more "Viperlike". I made a couple changes to the engine, upgraded the
front & rear suspension and brakes, stuffed the biggest rubber I could in the
stock
 wheels
wells, and even installed a "Viper" T56 6 speed. The results have exceeded
my expectations in almost all areas. It puts 466 hp and 506 ft/lbs of
torque to the rear wheels, runs 12.01@117 in the 1/4 mile, and out runs new
Corvettes on the road course. It's been on the last two Power Tours,
completing the long haul in 2004. It's made numerous 1/4 mile passes and
put over 110 miles on the road course in one day and has never broken down.
There's room for improvement and I'm currently looking at some changes but for
the most part, I'm satisfied.
I lost my father in 1986, five years after we
got the El Camino. He'd be pleased that I've kept it all these years. While it
may not be his cup of tea, I think he'd approve of what I've done with it. It's
my rolling
tribute to him.
TECH SHEET:
Engine:
496 c.i. big block
Steel crank
Forged Pistons
GM Performance aluminum oval port heads
GM Performance aluminum dual plane intake
Ultradyne 288/296F10 solid flat tappet cam
Comp Cams Magnum Roller Rockers
Weiand high flow aluminum water pump
Factory original 3 row radiator
Holley 950HP carburetor
MSD Digital E-Curve distributor
MSD Blaster 3 coil
MSD 8.5mm plug wires
Dynomax Pro-Series Jet Hot coated headers, 2" primary, 3.5"
collector
3" home built X-pipe exhaust system
Drivetrain:
Tremec "Viper" T56 6 speed
Triax short throw shifter
Centerforce Dual Friction clutch
Lakewood SFI steel safety bellhousing
Denny's nitrous ready driveshaft
Original 12-bolt rear end, Eaton posi-traction with 3.73 Richmond
gears
Front Suspension & Steering:
B-body spindles
Pole Position Racing tubular adjustable upper A-arms
Global West tubular lower A-arms
QA1 double adjustable coil overs
Factory original 7/8" sway bar
AGR quick ratio steering box
Rear Suspension:
2" drop coil springs
Edelbrock adjustable upper control arms
Wolfe Race Craft spherical bearings in axle housing
Wolfe Race Craft double adjustable lower control arms
QA1 Stocker Star 12 way adjustable shocks
Brakes:
Wilwood polished tandem chamber master cylinder
Hydratech Braking Systems Hydroboost brake assist
Hurst line loc
Wilwood brake proportioning valve
Front:
Wilwood billet aluminum 6 piston superlite calipers
Wilwood 13" drilled & slotted rotors
Wilwood aluminum rotor hats
Stainless braided brake lines
Rear:
Wilwood forged aluminum 4 piston dynalite calipers
Wilwood 12" drilled & slotted rotors
Cast iron rotor hat
Integral parking brake
Wheels:
Corvette ZR1 polished replicas, 17 x 9.5 front, 17 x 11 rear
Tires:
Sumitomo HTRZ, 275/40-17 front, 315/35-17 rear
Interior:
Custom leather racing seats
Grant steering wheel
Factory original dash
Simpson 5 point racing harnesses
Body Modifications:
Lower side body moldings removed
Tailgate moldings & woodgrain insert removed
"El Camino" fender script removed
Drip rail moldings removed
Door edge guards removed
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