1959 Fully Restored Chevrolet El Camino on 2040-cars

This is a one year old total restoration.   I can’t think of another think that could be done to this car to complete the job!  It has less than 100 miles on it since it was finished.  The car was a grandfather/grandson project and it pains us to be selling it but we have to.

The project was a ground-up total restoration.  We tore it completely apart and restored everything.  All but a few special fasteners were replaced with new. 

The entire body was searched for signs of rust and all of it was replaced with new metal (see picture).  All floor pans were replaced with new steel (see pictures).  The bulkhead between the ‘smuggler’s compartment’ and the interior was removed so there is a bunch of storage behind the seat.  A sealed roof was welded over the smuggler’s compartment (see picture).  The body was block sanded to perfection before painting.  It is painted with epoxy sealer and catalyzed urethane Chrysler Deep Water blue pearl/metallic.  All the chrome is redone, the aluminum grille is perfect the headlight rims are new all the stainless is restored and polished.  The rear window is the only original piece of glass, all the rest is new.  All the rubber on the car is new. The bed is unique – it is done in tiger wood with polished stainless steel bed strips.  The wood was painted with several coats of clear catalyzed urethane, color sanded and polished.  There are a couple small spots that need to be redone since we didn’t get the bed tarp made as planned and it got a little weathered (gray spots in photo).  Still looks great though.

The gas tank was in great shape but we lined it with tank liner and coated the outside with special stainless steel urethane paint.  Everything that wasn’t painted with the body color was first wire brushed to as clean as possible.  It was then coated with a rust converter.  Finally it was sprayed with Noxudol rubberized undercoating.  We left no rot anywhere on the car.  There will never be rust in this car again!

A picture shows the Dodge Dakota spare tire hoist we adapted to the frame at the back.  It cranks down easily from a fitting hidden in the rear wheel well.  This is where the spare tire should have been in the first place, not behind the passenger seat in the interior like the factory did it.

The engine is a warmed up 307 Chevy with rebuilt QuadraJet, new corvette cam and 283 PowerPak heads.  It was bored 10 over and has all new pistons, bearings, roller tip rockers and screw-in rocker studs.  It has ‘noisy’ timing gears instead of timing chain.  It is like new.  It has a 60 amp chrome alternator; a few chrome dress-up items, new water pump.  We converted the stock distributor to electronic using an ACCEL points eliminator module and.  We added an MSD 6A ignition module.  It has a new high-torque mini-starter.  The small size keeps it away from the damaging exhaust pipes which was always a problem in this vintage GM car.

The transmission is a GM 200R4 OD automatic that is totally rebuilt with a shift kit and hardened input stator which is the main weak link in these units.  We programmed the shift points by trimming weight from the stock governor which is the proper way to do that.  People try doing it by adjusting the throttle cable and that is the best way to burn up a transmission.  The throttle cable on this transmission is controlled from the QuadraJet with a BowTie Overdrives adjustable linkage.  It is done right and is a very good transmission.  We used restored stock exhaust manifolds and built a 2” dual exhaust system with Smitty’s glass-packs and 1980 Trans Am chrome tips.  We have a set of stock type turbo mufflers that can be put back on.  They are milder than the Smitty’s.  We properly moved the transmission mount cross-member to accommodate the slightly longer transmission.

The chassis was stripped to bare metal and painted with black urethane chassis coating.  It was coated internally with Noxudol penetrating rust preventative.  It has front and rear sway bars and rear air bags in the springs to adjust carrying capacity.  We made all new body mounts from 3/4 ” thick Buna-N rubber and pieces of steel  and rubber tubing (see picture).  They are better than factory mounts.  The car came with a factory posi-traction rear end.  We rebuilt the posi and added all new bearings, seals and a new Richmond 3:54 gear set.  The drum brakes were totally restored.  Of course we added all new brake lines and hoses.

It has a new power brake master cylinder and a GM 605 power steering gear.  We adapted a GM tilt steering column with 1959 Impala steering wheel.  Since this car has a floor mounted B&M MegaShifter, we eliminated the key boss (’59 ignition switch is on the dash) and column shifter from the tilt unit so it looks like a stock 4-on-the-floor column.

The radiator is a reconditioned stock unit with factory tranny cooler.  We adapted a Lincoln Mark VIII two speed electric radiator fan to the El Camino fan shroud (see picture).  We installed a speed controller so the fan adjusts the speed to the cooling load.

The Interior was totally redone.  All lights gauges, turn signals, heater controls, wipers, etc., work.  The tach on the dash works.  We installed an EZ wiring harness, a Vintage Air A/C, heating unit, and a Retro Sounds vintage look radio that plays CDs and has ports for I-Pod and cell phone play.  It has a new stereo speaker set In the stock speaker location and two speakers behind the seats. The seats are mid-80s Cadillac split bench full power.  They were widened to fit this car.  We adapted a late model Buick center arm rest with storage and cup holder.  It has 3 person shoulder/lap belts.  A new factory type headliner was installed and all new loop-pile black carpeting.  The upholstery is custom 2-tone gray Naugahyde.  The custom door panels have custom made arm rests and a tiger wood accent strip to tie the bed and interior together.  The 2-speed wiper motor was rebuilt and the washer works.

Notice we used the stock 1959 heater enclosure in the engine compartment to cover the Vintage A/C hoses.  Grandson added the Dixie air horns!  We just put a new battery in it last week and the BF Goodyear tires and Cragar SS mags are brand new.

The only thing we wanted to fix was the package tray.  We tried to upholster the steel one in the car and that didn’t work.  The upholstery won’t stay glued.  All that is needed is to cut out most of the stock steel one, make one from 3/4 ” plywood, upholster it with solid stapled upholstery and screw it to the remnant of the steel one from underneath.  It will be a pretty easy weekend job.

You couldn’t come close to duplicating this car for our reserve price.

$500 due at close of auction, repainder in cash or casier's check at pick up. Will not deliver, must pick up.  Fresh car so should be able to drive anywhere.