Thread: 1972 El Camino!

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Ok, i bargained with the seller today and he's willing to take 2000 dollars for the 'mino and he's going to help me clean it up and get it running right again. It needs seat recovering, new carpet, that rusted floor pan replaced, and just all around washed up and tuned, ect...We are gonna pull the th350 tranny apart in it and regear it...he has a way that he reconfigures the planets (custom gear ratio) that makes the motor run a lot harder...it made his daughter's 305 chevelle run like a 350... Im anxious to see what a 350 will do with a bulletproof super th350 behind it and a good set of rear end gears.

Lemme get some input and suggestions on what Can be done with this 'mino and any tips or tricks that could be helpful!

I'm sure theres some people here with great ideas, but if you want a LOT of relavent info on elcaminos there are forums at elcaminocentral.com sounds like you got a great deal on your 72, good find

ok my first question is more on an upholstry side of things...The door panels in my future elky are gone...If i were to take the elky to an interior man, would he be able to make new door panels? what am i to do about door panels?...

second question...My door locks are missing, you can still lock the door with your finger on the inside of the hole, there is just an open hole where a key would normally go...How do i need to go about fixing this so that i can securely lock my door and make it so that anyone with a finger cant just jack my elky?

third question...need a vote...BENCH AND A COLUMN SHIFTER OR BUCKETS AND A FLOOR SHIFTER? My seats are in need of a recovering so i figure now would be the best time to put buckets in if i wanted to do it...with buckets id have space in the middle for a floor shifter OR something else...

fourth question...anyone know of an aftermarket body part dealer? Im gonna need a new grill for my future elky...

fifth question...(im almost done! :P) would it be good to go with the quadrajet that is on the 350 or should i rip it off and put something better?

if the locks on my 83 camaro will work, i can send them to you. i also have bucket seats from the camaro that might work if you decide to go that way. it's a parts car, so anything you need let me know. the seats are in good condition, but probubly won't match your interior, so reupholstery would be wise.

well, im gonna go check at o'reallys (my nickname for them) because i get a good discount, ill see if he knows where i can get the locks...If i put buckets in the elky they will be racing buckets with 5 point harness...Im lookin to make a bad mother street car out of this elky...Maybe the next one ill restore it to classic but this one i want to be a good street car with racing seats..ect.

ok people! question of the day...with the late model chevy bench seat (the one that has a fold down in the middle for armrest and stuff) out of like the newer chevy shortwides fit in a 1972 elky? Im looking into modernizing this elky a little more...Maybe put an injection system on it later down the line but for now im going to start with the seat.

Pickup seats are too wide. Chevelle buckets or bench bolt in. There isn't enough room for high-back buckets, they hit the back window unless you're less than 5' tall. A tilt wheel from a full-size Chevy will fit , too, if you only use two of the four bolts. My old Camino got the front end totaled, the guy who got it put a front end off a '67 Chevelle on it, looked different but bolted on. The '72 Elky (and wagon) were the basic '67 stuff underneath.

Sounds like you have the "new car" fever and are going in all kinds of directions.

I think you should prioritize the "Have to do's" from the "Nice to do's". That way you can focus on each step better. I've seen too many projects wind up three years down the line as boxes of parts because the owner became overwhelmed and lost interest.

Familiarize yourself with the '72 and don't make some of the mistakes I made with mine early on. Especially the difference between the El Camino and the Chevelle. They are NOT the same, particularly in the front end sheetmetal area.

Good luck.

question # 2
Do some junk yard scrounging, door handles from practically anything GM made in '72 should work., probably other years also. Take them to a locksmith and have them re-keyed or do it yourself, it's not as hard as you would think.
Question #1
Year One will sell you replacements or make them yourself. I would imagine there are threads on this board that cover the subject pretty well.
question # 3
I prefer buckets,but that is a personal choice. Again check the junkyards with a tape measure in hand.
question # 4
Year One
question #5
Unless you are good at adjusting a Q-jet or know someone that is, I'd go with an Edlebrock 600cfm or a Holley

i would really like to make a radical street machine out of this elky using the chevy 350/th350 powertrain...But at the same time i want it to be comfortable and functional...Any suggestions on how to fit it with air conditioning? Also, I need a wiper motor...anyone know what will work for that? thanks for any help!

the wiper motor can be found at your local auto parts store, just ask for a '72 Elcamino. Get an air conditioning unit someone dumped from a '72 Elky or Chevelle, it will bolt in you just got to make shure you got everything, from the evaporator to the pump to the controls, also Vintage air makes kits that will fit. If you want comfort, you might want to keep the bench seat it has, and ya can still have a floor shifter. Door panals are available reproduction, from comapny's like classic industries and NPD.

A bench seat will put that sweet thing up close and personal
Buckets will put her on the other side of the car

haha, my thoughts exactly tech, my thoughts exactly.....

true, so true, my sweet thing loves my bench seat in my truck...Thinkin maybe it would be 100% easier and a lot more usable to just use the factory bench seat...I think itll also be easier and more space friendly just to use the factory column shifter and fabricate a custom shift handle and have it powder coated or something.

Is there anything i can do about the speedometer? Like a new dash that lets me use circle gauges? I really dont like the straight line speedo...

I don't know if i expressed this or not but... I really don't want a classic look with this elky...I want to go custom...No reproduction door panels or anything like that... WHAT IM THINKING ABOUT DOING IS THIS:::

Black paint, chrome grille, chrome door locks/handles, blacked out windows, I want to take the split back window out and put a full window in that is also blacked out, chrome wheels with mid profile tires (the rubber bands are too little and the fatties just seem like too much tire to look good), bed sprayed in rhino liner.

THEN to the interior: Black headliner with "Chevy v8" raised up in it, black cloth seats, black carpet, black dash, chrome steering wheel with black rubber steering ring, chrome shift handle, i want to incorporate that same "Chevy v8" into the dash somehow...like have an emblem cut like chevy puts on their dash when they do "silverado"

for the engine compartment, i want it to be a rather stout chevy 350, i want the block to be black, heads to be a dark silver (like the color of unpainted cast iron) intake needs to be silver, vavle covers will be black with bowties on them, and i want a nice brushed silver filter cap. engine compartment will be also painted in black... Tell me what you guys think...Im going for a clean and mean look and i can think of any better way to do it than with black and silver...

I could also build a 388 small block... That would be rather interesting I think... 350, .060 over, with a 3.75 stroke by using a 383 crank...That works doesnt it?

Not sure if you are aware of it- but The door panels, door latch, headliner, floor pans... - pretty much anything you want for the car is available reproduction....

www.opgi.com
www.npdlink.com
www.yearone.com
www.ss396.com
and many many others....

Mechanically The elcamino is identical to the Chevelles from 68-72. Same brakes, same suspension components, etc etc-
Interior wise- they got custom sized door panels of course, but seats, dashboard, emblems, etc etc are all the same.
Sheetmetal wise- 68 & 69 share the front fenders, hood & radiator support with chevelles, but 70-72 the front fenders are unique to elcaminos & chevelle wagons- hoods & radiator supports are the same though.

Glad to see another elcamino nut around...