Chevy El Camino

Between the years, 1978-80, a decision was made at the San Juan Unified School District headquarters to either close La Sierra High School or El Camino High School. A group of teachers and supporters from El Camino High School presented school district officials with an alternative educational methodology that ultimately saved the school from closure. The alternative curriculum became known as "Fundamental." Today, El Camino High School is known as El Camino Fundamental High School.

In March 2010, I bought a 1983 with the 305 4BBL E4ME Quadrajet and found it had the THM 250C with 2.56 posi rear. First highway mileage check surprised me at 23+ mpg. Lowest in over 6 months has been 19.55 mpg in mixed suburban/interstate.

Not sure why 2.56 ratio is in the '83 gas model. My old '83 sales brochure doesn't list it as an option. Everything I have found so far shows that 7.5-in "2BY" rear ring gear belongs in hi-altitude Buick diesel 4.3 liter engines. The vehicle has 218,000 + miles on it via NC State DOT registration records. Torque converter locks in at 34 mph. I'm real light on the accelerator and I plan way ahead in traffic. The car holds 65 mph real well and doesn't take much input to keep it there. I had the '79 267 ci V-8 2 BBL, ( 19-21 mpg), '84 305 4 BBL (17.5 mpg) and a creampuff '87 305 4BBL with the 4AOD automatic (21-22 mpg). Most of my driving has been interstate but I don't know any specs on anything but the '83.

So far the '83 is the surprise in more ways than one.

They were optional

The Conquista is what Chevy decided to make instead of the El Camino becuase the name was dying out and they needed to reamp the name. El Camino being Spainsh for "the road" made the name seem raceist towards the Spanish culture.

It's easy. All you need is a timing light. Attach inductive clip to no 1 plug wire, attach batt leads to battery, aim at balancer & pull the trigger. It will flash & Line on balancer in relation to pointer on timing cover will tell you where timing is. To change, just turn distributor & retighten the 1 bolt on manifold. You will probably have between 8-12 degrees initial. Some advance is normal. Do at idle speed so vac/mechanical does not kick in.

Find the sine of the angle from the toe required per side/wheel (inches) divided by the diameter of the wheel rim (inches) For example 1/16th inch total "toe-in" which is 1/32" per side = 0.03125" Assuming a rim diameter of 15" Toe angle per side is sine of 0.003125/15 = 0.002083 equivalent to 0.119366 degrees which is also 7.16 minutes. Total toe-in is double the per side toe-in, in this case 14.32 minutes. Ray

The power of the engine and the maximum speed of the Chevrolet El Camino automatic 1974 and 1975 are 145 hp and 130 mph respectively.

Usually when someone refers to a car as an "El Camino SS Clone" this means that they took a standard El Camino and upgraded the parts to duplicate an SS. This car will not have the same collector value as a factory SS but may be a very nice car.

Between 12 and 13 qts.

The 1985 Chevrolet El Camino dipstick length is 27 inches. The dipstick needs to be exact in order to measure the oil properly.

Put a new alternator on it or tear the old alternator apart and replace the voltage regulator in it.

probably around 12 mpg if you drive it well ... less if you do fast starts

30 to 35 pounds

same frame as a 70 chevelle.

El Caminos and Station Wagons had the same frames. 4" longer than a Chevelle.

a project car is a car that you aquire in bad condition or undrivable...and you restore it

Yes

get a chiltons repair manual from the library for your car and look at the specs.

Via the build sheet. Chevy liked hiding the build sheets in odd places, and sometimes they are missing altogether; however, with a little luck this could be very informative. You may have to search the internet to see if you can find where they were hidden in these cars. Dad owns a 64 Chevelle and the build sheet was under the passenger side carpeting. Hope this helps:

he 1970 El Camino received the same changes as the Chevelle including a new more blunted Vee front end and a new grille, which was black accented on the SS. The El Camino was still available in either Base or Custom trims, but now the SS option was only available on the Custom trim. The Custom Pickup had bright trim, which ran from the front to rear bumper about a quarter of the way up the side. The wheel wells also sported bright trim. The popular cowl induction hood was also optional on the SS. The SS option included special patern and custom vinyl seat trim, sport mirrors, striping, and badges, 15x7 Rally rims, fat RWL tires, SS emblems, black out grille, and a choice of three of the four high performance 402 cid V8 engines. Interestingly, although the 396 engines now displaced 402 cubic inches, they were either called "396" or "Turbo-Jet." But the key for performance buyers was the introduction of the new corporate 454 engines, the LS5 rated at 360 bhp and the mighty 450 bhp LS6. The 454 engines came only with the Turbo-Hydramatic or a close-ratio four speed manual transmission.

Production: 47,707

Engines: 350 V8 300 bhp. L34 402 V8 350bhp@5200rpm, 415lb-ft@3400. 402 V8 375bhp@5600rpm, 415lb-ft@3600rpm. LS5 454 V8 360bhp@5400rpm, 500lb-ft@3200rpm. LS6 454 V8 450bhp@5600rpm, 500lb-ft@3600rpm.

Performance: LS6/454: 1/4 mile in 13.44 seconds @ 108.17 mph.

Not without modifications to the suspension.

go to manheimgold.com as it's a site for old car prices.

7th of 21 between 1769 and 1823.

The firing order should be 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2.

4300