Finally brought the El Camino back to life yesterday after a LT1 swap. Even drove it around a little in the rain. I was a bit concerned as it didn't want to start Saturday evening (no fire - possibly no spark). Did some testing, wasn't quite sure what was up, then it decided it was ready to work. Must have been a gremlin messing with it. :p Here are some of my thoughts on this swap.

1. Now that I have done an EFI swap, no more swaps for me. I will buy a late-model car with the engine I want instead (i.e. 4th gen with LS1). My old cars will get carbureted engines.

2. The Painless harness did make it easy enough to do, just wish there wasn't so much wire. Still not happy with the underdash part, but not a lot of options either. Good news it it runs without any programming changes to the stock computer. No room for stock heater box though (didn't have it anyways).

3. When a carbed car won't start, troubleshooting is easy. When an EFI swap won't start, it gets interesting.

4. The diagnostic connector in the Painless harness doesn't have the bottom right two terminals that you could jump with a paper clip to pull up the codes, need a code reader to do it now (OBD1 94-95 setup). I do get a check engine light when driving, but that is probably because I do not have a speed sensor (VSS) hooked up. I haven't found a 40-pulse sensor that will fit my Richmond (same as Muncie on speedo part), JTR has one that mounts on the rear axle yoke. I will probably just have it turned off in the computer for now.

5. I had to run the air filter to the pass side, as the MAS hit right into the upper radiator hose with the BeCool Eliminator radiator. The upper hose fitting would need to be lower on the tank for it to route to the driver's side. Fairly close to the alternator pulley but it clears enough.

6. The alternator worked great, just used an adapter harness for 10si to CS alternator. I did have to extend the two wires on the original connector. I ran the battery lead straight back to the battery side of the cutoff switch with 4-gauge cable, plenty big for the 140 amp rating.

I will get a few picts here soon, it does look a bit odd with the engine being so short compared to a carb setup. The radiator is higher than the entire engine.

Congratulations! Sounds like you about got it licked. Hours of enjoyment ahead!

Update: The car survived its first autocross yesterday. The power steering makes is so much easier to drive than the quick-ratio manual box I had. I'm still getting a check engine light, but it only happens when you go past at least half-throttle. It sometimes happens right after it pops in the exhaust, but the popping has gone away the best I can tell. Advance auto couldn't read the codes, they can only read the 96-up ODBII stuff, not ODBI according to them. Otherwise it runs great.

Here is a picture of the engine, better late than never.