Hello!
I bought a 1974 Chevrolet El Camino (base model) over a year ago. First car/ project car I ever bought. The guy I bought it from, said it was an original California car that was abandoned on a farm in Alabama. Apparently his friend threw in a junkyard 327 SBC and hooked up a Turbo 350 (no clue what kind of gearing or differential). I should also note, there is very little on this car that is stock. I fixed it up and drove it around last year until an issue came up and the engine wouldn't fire up (still turns over). I am aware 74' is not a popular year, and I will not be making money back if I try and sell this thing. I do not plan to sell the car for a very long time. If I wanted to do a hobby to make money, I would've prolly got into stock trading or something. But I digress.
Since it's my first project I want to keep things relatively simple for now. I want to make a fun street car that I can take on a small road trip but also can put out a decent amount of power. I have taken an engine overhaul class so I do have some idea of what I'm doing. I am on a budget, but I am willing to splurge a little in certain areas.
My first issue, I can not for the life of me pinpoint what kind of engine is in this car. The guy told me 327 SBC, but then when I looked up the Casting number, I had sources telling me it was a 350. Here's the engine block info (Photos included below):
My next task is making a parts list to overhaul this thing. I'm planning to pull the engine out and rebuild it. As it stands, it has a Rochester Quadrajet Carburetor (17056530) (see img-5), and 896 cylinder heads (379896) (see img-6). Those are all the parts I've identified thus far. I want to replace
Apologies if the pictures are unclear
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I bought a 1974 Chevrolet El Camino (base model) over a year ago. First car/ project car I ever bought. The guy I bought it from, said it was an original California car that was abandoned on a farm in Alabama. Apparently his friend threw in a junkyard 327 SBC and hooked up a Turbo 350 (no clue what kind of gearing or differential). I should also note, there is very little on this car that is stock. I fixed it up and drove it around last year until an issue came up and the engine wouldn't fire up (still turns over). I am aware 74' is not a popular year, and I will not be making money back if I try and sell this thing. I do not plan to sell the car for a very long time. If I wanted to do a hobby to make money, I would've prolly got into stock trading or something. But I digress.
Since it's my first project I want to keep things relatively simple for now. I want to make a fun street car that I can take on a small road trip but also can put out a decent amount of power. I have taken an engine overhaul class so I do have some idea of what I'm doing. I am on a budget, but I am willing to splurge a little in certain areas.
My first issue, I can not for the life of me pinpoint what kind of engine is in this car. The guy told me 327 SBC, but then when I looked up the Casting number, I had sources telling me it was a 350. Here's the engine block info (Photos included below):
- Block Casting #: 3970010 (see img-2)
- Vin #: V1004CMB (see img-3)
- Casting Date: Cannot find (see img-4)
My next task is making a parts list to overhaul this thing. I'm planning to pull the engine out and rebuild it. As it stands, it has a Rochester Quadrajet Carburetor (17056530) (see img-5), and 896 cylinder heads (379896) (see img-6). Those are all the parts I've identified thus far. I want to replace
- The carb
- Cylinder heads
- Possibly some internals
- Gaskets
- and Exhaust headers.
Apologies if the pictures are unclear
img-1
img-2
img-3
img-4
img-5
Img-6
