Jerry,
I have a 76 Cutlass 5sp that I bought new. It has a mild 455 .030 over which I built this way for towing. The car has pwr discs and the 5sp is a Richmond with a 2.41 posi. My main tow pkg is a 56 Vette on a 16ft flat, tandum axle trailer with brakes. Sometimes I tow my 70 Malibu conv. My hitch is tied to both the rear bumper and the frame rails. I have air shocks on the Cutlass so that I can adjust as needed for the load. I try to adjust the position of the car on the trailer so that tongue weight, at the hitch, is between 150-300lbs. If your tongue weight is too light, the trailer will weave back and forth too much. I drive about 65mph with cruise on and it does just fine.
Your Elky and my Cutlass should be similar as far as tow vehicles.
Here is what I really believe you need, in order to use your Elky for optimal towing.
1. A big, low end torque motor, NOT a high performance motor.
2. Pwr discs.
3. If you have an automatic (God save us) I really would highly recommend an additional tranny fluid cooler.
4. Something to compensate for the extra rear weight. A lot of people don't like air shocks. They suit me just fine, because I can adjust the ride height just right. I carry both a cigarette lighter plug-in compressor and a small air tank.
5. Cruise control really helps on long towing trips.
6. TRAILER BRAKES, TRAILER BRAKES, TRAILER BRAKES, TRAILER BRAKES. Did I mention you need to have a trailer with brakes?
Give yourself lots of extra room and time on a towing trip, especially for stopping. Drive very defensively, always watching for that idiot getting ready to pull out from the grocery store parking lot. The one who thinks you can stop on a dime if he jumps out in front of you, or the guy who snaps over into your lane without using his turn signal.
I think you will be OK.
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Tom Parsons
