1965 El Camino Restoration - LQ4

28159 Views 122 Replies 33 Participants Last post by Clint44, Jan 27, 2018

echristie

Discussion Starter · Mar 6, 2012

Just started this project a few moths ago. When my father passed, I inherited his daily driver - '65 Elk. My wife asked me to restore it for her to drive, so that started the party.

All the rusty parts are being replaced. Stock frame with upgraded running gear. 4 wheel hydroboosted disc brakes. LQ4 bored & stroked (418 cubes), ported 317's, custom HR cam, 4L65 auto, EFI, AC.

I stripped the car and removed the body from the frame. Here's a few starter pics.

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SS Shaun

· #2 · Mar 6, 2012

great start man!

Sinister

· #3 · Mar 7, 2012

Wow nice! You should have just left it and put a turbo on that LQ4. Talk about a sleeper. Can't wait to see the finish project.

echristie

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 7, 2012

Sinister said:
Wow nice! You should have just left it and put a turbo on that LQ4. Talk about a sleeper. Can't wait to see the finish project.

There is still time.... :beers:

The Elk needed a bit of work. The floor pan had some serious holes my dad covered with POR15 and fiberglass. I also want this to be a really nice ride. Especially since it was my Dads and my wife asked me to restore it for her. She goes to all the shows and the drags with me. She wanted something to drive herself. :thumbsup: That's a rare lady...

E

echristie

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 10, 2012

Score!!

Found a very clean set of LS3 heads (assembled) off of a 2012 Camaro. Large valves with hollow stems. These should outflow the 317s that came on the LQ4 that I was planning to port.

Sweet!

I also included a couple of pics from the Elk taken this past weekend. Still cleaning grime and rust. The floor and back of the cab was removed due to lots of cancer....

E

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echristie

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 3, 2012

Slow progress on the body. Bottom has been media blasted. Quarters have been DA'ed, and the hood chemical stripped. Still have work to do on the roof. Patching has begun for all the rust holes.

E.

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Cameano

· #7 · Jul 3, 2012

Beautiful! Wish I had something near that nice to start with.

echristie

Discussion Starter · #8 · Aug 25, 2012

Slow progress. Really hot in these steel buildings in Houston.

Not much progress except for collecting parts needed for the body.

Picked up the lower windshield panel plus the re- enforcement below. Also got 6 cage nuts for the ones we broke during removal.

Close to actually choosing a color too. The list has reduced to 3 choices.

Cheers,
E

Red\one

· #9 · Dec 5, 2012

How's the build comming? I have the opportunity to buy back my first car I had in high school, which was a 65 El Camino. The guy that bought it never did anything to it and now he's moving on. It's rough but not impossible.

echristie

Discussion Starter · #10 · Dec 10, 2012

Red\one said:
How's the build comming? I have the opportunity to buy back my first car I had in high school, which was a 65 El Camino. The guy that bought it never did anything to it and now he's moving on. It's rough but not impossible.

Super slow at this point. The body man's wife was in an accident during the summer. He has has had to a lot more at home since her injury. Spoke to him over the weekend and he is planning to get started back on it very soon. My wife and I hope so, we are wanting to get this baby moving.

I'll update as progress continues. The next step is to start cutting an adding metal where the rust holes are at. I have patches for pretty much everything.

On a good note, we are down to 2 colors. I have asked the painter to create 3 options for each color chosen.
1 - color with clear
2 - color with metallic flake & clear
3 - color with pearl & clear

We have some ideas on how to bring out the body lines, but will likely have to do some test painting to figure it out. More on that when we get to that point.

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echristie

Discussion Starter · #11 · Nov 14, 2013

Finally making a new post. The project started off good, but reached a snag in the summer of 2012. The body man's wife was in a serious accident and he had to stop working on the Elk to take care of her. After 9 months of the car sitting, he finally admitted he didn't know when he would get back to it.

After spending months interviewing and visiting shop after shop, I could not find anyone to take over the work or someone who didn't need me to take a second mortgage out on my house just to get the bodywork done! Long story short, I did find a guy to take care of the sheet metal work and found a body man to deal with smoothing the body and getting some paint laid down on it.

I will post some pictures or PDF file of some of the before and after of the body work. Should be getting sheet metal done, then blasted, then painted with etching primer for the next 4-6 weeks. After that, it will be in body shop until it's all smooth, panels aligned, and paint laid down.

I'mm excited that work has restarted on the project.

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Brian Hoss

· #12 · Nov 14, 2013

Sometimes they go well, other times they get side tracked. Glad yours is back on track!

The Deejay

· #13 · Nov 14, 2013

Eric, i think all of us learn patience on a project of this magnitude, whether we want to or not is another thing......just keep on keeping on, if you're like me, you've come a long way, but still have a long way to go...................................................but it will be worth it......:thumbsup:

echristie

Discussion Starter · #14 · Nov 15, 2013

The Deejay said:
Eric, i think all of us learn patience on a project of this magnitude, whether we want to or not is another thing......just keep on keeping on, if you're like me, you've come a long way, but still have a long way to go...................................................but it will be worth it......:thumbsup:

Amen there Brother Rick!

Yes, you do have to learn patience, I agree. We have a long way to go and I am very lucky my wife supports me on the project. She is the one that asked me to get it restored so she could drive it to the shows and cruises. May be a while before she can, but we will get there. Not like we have 3 weeks to complete and then sell it at auction.....

Thanks for the encouragement! :thumbsup:

echristie

Discussion Starter · #15 · Dec 24, 2013

Attached is some before and after pictures of some of the rust that has had to be fixed.

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echristie

Discussion Starter · #16 · Dec 24, 2013

Smoothy panel burned in...

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echristie

Discussion Starter · #17 · Dec 24, 2013

Door gaps set...

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Brian Hoss

· #18 · Dec 24, 2013

I'm glad some have the patience to do proper body work. I am not one of those people.

echristie

Discussion Starter · #19 · Dec 25, 2013

Brian Hoss said:
I'm glad some have the patience to do proper body work. I am not one of those people.

HA Brian,

It's not me, it's the sheet metal guy. He is pretty particular. A wiz with sheet metal. It'll look a whole lot better after blasting and epoxy primer.

Then off to paint.......

E

echristie

Discussion Starter · #20 · Jan 5, 2014

Fitting the engine and transmission this week. The 4L80 is a beast. Picture below is the LQ4 with the truck pan installed. Lots of clearance between the pan and the cross member, but the pan hangs 2-1/8" below the cross member. Will be searching for another pan. I tried the LH8 but it's only about 1/2" shorter. With the stock pan in place, we could not install the engine and trans together. The pan would hit the cross member and the trans would hit the firewall.

The second picture is the clearance I have with the BRP engine mounts. They mount the trans engine flange about 1" off the firewall. Based on measurements, it looks like if we move the engine 3/4"-1" forward, there will be no need to split the trans tunnel. There will be some mods needed to clear some of the protrusions on the rear of the trans. I will look for some other mounts like - Holley and Dirty Dingo.

Holley's oil pan looks pretty good as well.

It appears that BRP's Hot Rod's LS installation kit will not work for a '65 El Camino ('65 A-Body).

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