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I will get the assy manual very soon. Wasn't sure it would be as useful (I only bought the service manual). I have the tach, just didn't know those guages existed. Kinda neat.
Posts: 126 | From: Waconia | Registered: Sep 2007
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Well... been turning some wrenches the last few nights. - Popped the intake off. There was a channel of the heat riser-crossover gasket blown out. Cleaned it up, painted it. - Lifter valley is very clean. No sludge, varnish, etc. - Cleaned & polished the vintage "Corvette" valve covers. - PS pump was nothing more than some staring at it, and straightening a bent bracket. - New points, condenser, cap, rotor. (Man did I have to think hard on how to do a points distributor setup! Been too long) - New coolant & heater hoses. (one was resting on the exh. manifold and was really crispy) - Hosed down carb, and a precursory once-over.
This was interesting. For who-knows how long this thing's been driving around with only 3/4 throttle capability! It's got one of those gasket/aluminum plate/gasket/aluminum plate "thermal isolator" setups under the carb. Whoever installed it obviously didn't check clearance or WOT. The linkage lever on the primary shaft would hit the plate & stop dead... just like WOT... but way before true WOT or any vacuum signal would make it to the secondary diaphragm. Never had secondaries or even full primaries! - 10 seconds, a die-grinder, and some aluminum shavings and it's got full throttle throw.
- Test beat/drive! This little 327's got some snort! Pretty much scared the cr*p out of me the 1st time it downshifted under WOT to Low! Musta went from 2500 to 6500 RPM in a heartbeat... barking the tires in the process! (and leaving a CLOUD of carbon & gunk in the wake) Have to fine tune the timing/advance a bit (mild detonation, mostly cured by a premium fill-up), and play with the (now functional) secondary 1/2 of the carb... but all in all it's starting to run good.
Now onto electrical gremlins... dashlights, domelights, PRNDL light, OP light, license light, backup lights.... probably a carton of bulbs worth... I hope!
-------------------- '64 El Camino - 383,4wh Discs,LED lighting '65 El Camino - 327 4bbl, 'Glide, PS/PB '96 LT1 Buick Roadmaster
NCC Tool List or photos - j.delke@earthlink.net
"Some days you're the pigeon, most days you're the Statue..." Posts: 533 | From: St. Louis Park, MN | Registered: Aug 2004
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Reminds me of my '65 LeMans when I got it. I spent a weekend tuning it (including a couple busted valve springs) and got it running really good. I was cruising around town and went by the guy's house I bought it from. I let him take it for a drive. He came back, speechless, and only said he wished he knew something about engines.
It felt like the power had doubled from when he last drove it. I'm sure the seller of your ElCo would think the same!
Congrats!
Posts: 27 | From: Belle Plaine | Registered: May 2006
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90% of the oil leaks fixed. This thing's still got the cartridge style filter on it. Well, someone in the last who-knows-how-long-ago didn't remove the o-ring up in the block. Then every subsequent oil change a new o-ring was put on. "O-ring to O-ring" does not seal... at all... no matter how hard you tighten the canister bolt... even to the point of collapsing the filter cartridge a bit (there's a village somewhere missing an idiot....)! After 15 minutes of digging a crispy/hardened/came out in chunks o-ring out with a hook tool, I installed a new filter cartridge with only 1 o-ring... whaddya know, no leaks!
Just for S&G's I bought a box of bulbs and replaced all the lamps in the dash cluster. While I was in there I pulled the clock out. Hosed the workings down with electrical contact cleaner, then a light fog of "Liquid Wrench" & a gentle blow-down with air... Holy crap Batman! A working clock (and it keeps time too!)
PRNDL light had a broken wire in the column - had to scrounge parts from a spare dash bulb socket and fab new guts... now it lights up real purdy... fixed the dashlight problem by default, the broken wire was shorting inside the column, blowing the fuse.
Dome light - what a PITA! For one, the dang door switches weren't adjusted properly... two, the feed connector on the back of the fuseblock was loose.... three, sometime in the past 40 years the flat ribbon cable under the carpet got nicked. Corrosion set in and chewed through the copper strip completely. So... Adjust door switches, clean & tighten all the fuseblock connections/tors, and solder a "bridge" across the ribbon cable break - whew! All this for a dome light.
Backups & License lights.... another nightmare - about 50% fixed. Friggin' U-Haul & their "Scotchlocks"!! (If I catch you guys using these things I'll stab you with a test light!) Same thing as the ribbon cable - a break in the insulation & corrosion = broken wires/circuits. Plus some knot-head in the past 40 years did some nasty butt-ugly-poor repairs on the harness right at the main connector behind the L taillight (Took me an hour with a razor blade to cut off all the tape!). Some major re-do's/repairs here.
Oil Pressure - new sender & fixed.
About all for now...
-------------------- '64 El Camino - 383,4wh Discs,LED lighting '65 El Camino - 327 4bbl, 'Glide, PS/PB '96 LT1 Buick Roadmaster
NCC Tool List or photos - j.delke@earthlink.net
"Some days you're the pigeon, most days you're the Statue..." Posts: 533 | From: St. Louis Park, MN | Registered: Aug 2004
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These where all items I'd noticed/found when I gave it the pre-purchase once over.(also the basis of pretty fair bucks off on the "non-negotiable" asking price.. ) He'd owned it about 4 years, and basically used it as a sunny-day driver. He struck me as the "buy a done car collector type", willing to bolt-on new trim pieces or dress up knick-knacks... but not really the type to disassemble and repair things. When I asked about the intake leak his reply was "We think it's from the crossover passage."... "We" I'm assuming to be his mechanic or someone who does the heavy wrenching.
(I'm gonna keep the canister filter on it for now. Other than being a real mess on changes, it's original to the car.)
-------------------- '64 El Camino - 383,4wh Discs,LED lighting '65 El Camino - 327 4bbl, 'Glide, PS/PB '96 LT1 Buick Roadmaster
NCC Tool List or photos - j.delke@earthlink.net
"Some days you're the pigeon, most days you're the Statue..." Posts: 533 | From: St. Louis Park, MN | Registered: Aug 2004
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Have you determined whether it was originally a 327 car? In '65 all 327 cars got 12-bolts, and you've got a 10-bolt, so either the engine isn't original, or it lost its rear somewhere in the last 43 years. Posts: 1499 | From: Dexter, MN | Registered: Aug 2004
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It "tags" out to being a 327 'glide car. The rear end thing had me a little puzzled/upset until I read this over on TC...
quote:Not all '65 327s came with 12-bolts. I've owned a numbers matching authentic '65 L79 car that came with a 10-bolt posi. Personally, I think this was only due to a strike at the axle plant and 327 cars were all SUPPOSED to get 12-bolts, but I know for a fact that at least some did not. It is noteable that the car I mentioned was an L79 car not just any 327. This same strike at the axle plant caused some weird stuff on my current L79 car too since it is thoroughly documented to have been built with a 12-bolt open rear (codes on the axle, dates on the axle and the POP confirm it is the original rear) yet it has a posi which is documented on the dealer invoice as being installed at the dealer. In talking with the man who sold the car new to his nephew, a strike at the axle plant caused a shortage of posi axles when the car was built so it was simply built with what they had and shipped and the posi was installed at the dealer. This same axle shortage probably explains the other L79 car I had which had a 10-bolt since it had been built at the same plant but a little later in the month. I don't know how long the strike lasted or how widespread of an impact it made.
posted
John, if anybody would know it's Rich L-79. He was the president of the Heartland Chevelle Club in Nebraska, and lives, eats and breathes '65 Chevelles. Just ask Derek, Rob, and Dan W. They both know Rich as well.
He would be a wealth of information (and a helpful guy) if you need anything on 65's. Although, his is a coupe, not an El Camino. He is restoring a wagon and I think it is a '65. Rob would know as I think he's seen the chassis on a stop at Rich's place near Lincoln, NE.
Posts: 251 | From: Rosemount, MN | Registered: Mar 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Stan Shinker: John, if anybody would know it's Rich L-79. He was the president of the Heartland Chevelle Club in Nebraska, and lives, eats and breathes '65 Chevelles. Just ask Derek, Rob, and Dan W. They both know Rich as well.
He would be a wealth of information (and a helpful guy) if you need anything on 65's. Although, his is a coupe, not an El Camino. He is restoring a wagon and I think it is a '65. Rob would know as I think he's seen the chassis on a stop at Rich's place near Lincoln, NE.
Ditto what Stan says, Rich is the man when it comes to 65's. Seen Rich's wagon chassis, it's sweet. Posts: 294 | From: Forest City, IOWA | Registered: Sep 2004
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Interesting... learn something new every day. It still won't stop me from getting excited every time I see 327 badges on a junked '65 though. Posts: 1499 | From: Dexter, MN | Registered: Aug 2004
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I agree. I did see his chassis in Waverly,NE last summer. Got to ride in his L79 coupe too. He knows just about everything there is to know about 65's. He has just about everything documented in pictures and emails too. I call him on a whim when I am putting stuff together on my frame and he is always able to answer my questions. I tried to mimic my chassis after his,....but ran out of money trying.
Posts: 126 | From: Waconia | Registered: Sep 2007
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