What do you think of my "K5"

[66ELMeano]

Hi folks, nice forum you have here, just thought I'd register and post instead of just reading! Here's my truck..

It's a 1966 el camino I shortened the bed, seperated the cab and then boxed it in, sitting on a '79 blazer chassis w/a 350 4" lift, etc.

 

[stockk5]

haha def. different! looks cool though! i assume it acts the same as a blazer off road no? is the body a lil wider?

 

[79k20350]

body is skinnier but it must be hard to see over the hood because of the seating arrangment. i almost did something liek this but the vison thing scared me away. you just cant sit up high enough. it did come out cool though. nice job

 

[jk3078]

Cool. always nice seeing some thing different. There was 1 of those running around up here(northern Id.) untill the guy rolled it now its just rotting away in his back yard.

 

[66ELMeano]

i assume it acts the same as a blazer off road no? is the body a lil wider?

Not really acting like a blazer offroad, the El camino body weighs a lot less so the springs are waaay too stiff. Disconnected sway bar made no difference at all. This spring rate problem is one of the reasons I joined this board, I don't know what to do as coil overs would cost too much and I am sick of the hard ride.

The body is close to the same dimensions, my front tires stick out about 2-3" from the fenders. The rears are in the fender wells nicely. I could get different wheels to tuck the front or fender flares? I like to see the mud fly so if anything I'd get spacers for the rear and match them up that way.

Thanks for the compliments and interest, I daily drive this and wheel the snot out of it. Here are some more pictures...

 

[79k20350]

what brand of springs did you use? tough countrys and bds seem to be the most reccomended on this board. also having a proper shackle angle can really help alot, near vertical shackles dont do much in way of a good ride.

 

[66ELMeano]

I used lift springs I found in the J-yard for the front when I did the 4" lift. They worked better than the reverse arch springs that came on the blazer chassis- it's still too harsh. I looked at the spring rate table in the tech. section and EZ ride looked to be the lowest at 275? Thanks for the tip on moving the shackle mounts, I am anxious to try that out!

 

[spoolnaround]

I have seen several elco and older Chev truck bodies on K5 frames. People laugh but I think its pretty cool.

If your suspension is too stiff pull a leaf or two, see if that helps. or do a shackle flip and run Ford 57" rear springs- nice and soft.

 

[66ELMeano]

If your suspension is too stiff pull a leaf or two, see if that helps. or do a shackle flip and run Ford 57" rear springs- nice and soft.

Nice and soft, I like the sounds of that. Would those work on the front? I'm not ready to go have custom leafs made for my vehicle's weight if I can find something in the J-yard that will work. I looked at some mid size truck springs (before it started snowing) would any of those be long enough? The ford springs are a lot longer and this is what gives them better ride, correct? Thanks again for all of the help, I'm really glad I found this site!

 

[gauder]

Welcome over from the thirdgen board.

 

[66ELMeano]

Hey, small world! Do you ever drive over and mix it up with the guys in Detroit? What's your SN over there?

it must be hard to see over the hood because of the seating arrangment. i almost did something liek this but the vison thing scared me away. you just cant sit up high enough.

I raised the benchseat up about 2-3", got sick of sitting on the floor and tilting my head like I was trying to pimp a low-rider or something. Visibility isn't bad at all now and still a lot of headroom since raising the seat. Other years of el camino might be different tho, like 70's have a longer hood/more slant to the windshield I believe.

 

[78Suburban]

I LOVE your truck.. always give me the warm fuzzies to see something with a unique body style like that. keep up the good work, and welcome to the best website in existance.
James

 

[gauder]

Hey, small world! Do you ever drive over and mix it up with the guys in Detroit? What's your SN over there?

Same screen name over there too. Forgot my old one because I hadn't been there in about 6 months or so. Had to start all over again.

Been to many a street race with some heavy hitters in Detroit. Miss the old Detroit Dragway though, it was so close.

 

[66ELMeano]

Sweet! I've been hopping up the car anticipating some unofficial Canada vs. U.S. 1/4 mi runs next year. I live in the U.P. of Michigan so a lot of the times we go to Canada to cruise and hang out (the largest city even close to here is Sault Canada).

I'd like to start running a couple of local mud drags w/ el meano once I get this suspension thing figured out. The truck will weigh between 3800-4000 lbs. ready to run after I do the fiberglass panels, alum. heads, etc. I'm wondering if I should just look into getting some mid-size truck springs off of an S10 or something. Custom leafs would be nice if my car wasn't soaking up all the Jing so I'm pretty much stuck with backyard engineering on the truck.

 

[beater_k20]

welcome to the board.

and since you asked for an opinion... nice waste of an ElCamino.

 

[78Suburban]

welcome to the board.

and since you asked for an opinion... nice waste of an ElCamino.

now thats what I call a warm welcome.......
ducking and running,
James

 

[beater_k20]

you want me to lie to the guy?

well, at least he's not afraid to use it for what it was built for.

 

[66ELMeano]

I did ask for an opinion, and I'd probably have said the same without knowing the REST of the story (paul harvey)...

Eh, this is what a lot of people say. "why didn't you restore it!?" Well let me tell ya a few things before I get branded as "you might be a redneck if..." The elky was wasted when I got it. Swiss cheese, rust holes everywhere, frame had multiple holes some 3ft. long-no joke 3ft. The rear quarters have three layers of steel in some places where previous owner attempted to fix body damage or rust. I will go on since I seldom pass up opportunity to talk about my creation! LoL The frontend was badly out-of-whack even after new parts and alignment by my frontend/suspension teacher. Wore through tires every couple weeks (good thing I worked at a tire store). The engine/tranny was not original. Holes in the floor boards. gas tank actually fell out of it. I installed 31" bfg all terrains and coil spring extenders, patched some of the frame so I could offroad. All of this was when it was still 2wd with a 250 I6/th400/large 10bolt, oh and none of the guages worked. Probably had 300,000+ at least miles on her. I knew it needed a better frame so I found the blazer chassis with almost NO miles on it, still had the stock brakes, etc. from '79!! I continued to drive it while patching up the body and frame, anticipating the 4x4 frame swap. The car would have never been show quality and was so far gone with so many miles, me cutting it up and fixing junk was probably the best thing that ever happened to it. I have to say I would be stupid for doing this to a better car for sure, anything lower miles/numbers matching/rust free/etc. There was also sagging doors, bad transmission, even the rearend wasn't original to it. The major thing that bothered me though was the frame, by the time I would have fixed everything with the 2wd frame it would have been brand new, anyway, it was gonna see the trails no matter what.

 

[beater_k20]

Well let me tell ya a few things before I get branded as "you might be a redneck if..."

too late, you've already got that one. not that there's anything wrong with that. the first part of the story sounds very similar to my '65 ElCamino. no floorboards, rusted out frame-plated, then re-rusted, interior was toast, etc. then it met my sawzall...

 

[66ELMeano]

It's all in fun, I dunno exactly what the rules are here as far as posting relevant material I just gotta share this though. I had to do a non-written project for a class so my buddy video taped the truck mudding, hill climbing, and prepping/spraying the orange paint job. My step brother dubbed in some music and it was awesome, dukes of hazard theme song and even the "cheers" clip while we were toasting beers in the garage. "where everybody knows your name" it was hilarious and probably the only reason I managed to pull a C in that class!