Ed found his El Camino in Loganville, GA., in 2004. He planned a total rebuild project as it needed floor pans, door skins, engine, suspension, many patch panels, right inner fender, chrome, paint, interior, engine, and transmission – basically everything was needed. It was built in the Fremont, CA plant as an El Camino “Custom” with PS, PB, AC, push button AM radio, Powerglide, 300 HP 327, Ermine White, with the Turquoise/Aqua 2 tone interior. It had a full boxed frame, main body, and the original 12 bolt 3:31. NOS stainless trim was found for the side bed rails, re-chromed rear window trim surround and a few repro trim pieces were installed. The original grille and front trim anodized pieces were hand stripped (HD Easy-Off oven cleaner) of the anodizing, hand polished, and new repro bumpers were installed. The 396 Turbo-Jet front fender flag trim pieces were the first to go on the fenders after the Ermine White single stage paint was buffed out! The El Camino now has a 496. This 454 GEN VI block got a Scat 496 Stroker kit with all forged parts, Lunati Voodoo .600 roller cam, Morel roller hyd. Iifters and Scorpion roller rockers. The front disc brake assemblies are off of a 70 Cutlass S and 94 Z 28 rear disc brakes, with a Hydra-boost to make it stop. The drive was updated with new front and rear suspension wear parts, a quick steering gearbox (Spicer is a GM Div.) from a 98 Jeep GC, 1” front sway bar from the 70 Cutlass S, rear sway bar from GM Parts, new rear axles & bearings, and a built TH400 from a 74 BBC Chevy pick-up. The pop-up Smuggler’s box lid was redesigned and fabricated for a hidden storage area (lawn chairs and the cooler for shows) – and just to see if he could. He opted to finish it and paint it himself. The interior, paint and trim are back to the original Ermine White paint and 2-tone Aqua interior codes now. Ed’s El Camino has been honored with several Top Three In Class wins at the Peach State Chevelle shows in May each year in Cumming, GA.
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