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1982 Pro Street ElCamino Conquista refresh

CarterKraft

CarterKraft

Red Skull Member
Joined
May 21, 2020
Member Number
892
Messages
3,159
Loc
DFW
Built this in high school ('97) after the 1980 version was totalled by a red light runner.
It was for the best, this car is 100% straighter and nicer.

It was briefly "street car" 355/TH350, 275/60 rears 4.10 posi in a A-body 12 bolt rear axle. Ran 8.50's in 1/8 mile with full subwoofer wall, 4 amps etc.
Fastest car at my school, maybe that's not saying much....

After killing the bushings in the A-body axle and traction struggles we decided it needed more tire and a better suspension.
I found a buddy that had a a Chris Alston chassis works 4 link kit and frame rails from a project he didn't finish.

So we started chopping shit up to do a back half 4 link.
I was 17, didn't really no shit and my dad was a career crane operator, we're fucked LOL.

We got it done and i'd say successfully really. I'll get more pix as we go but the car is still on the lift. With my recent winnings from Tech Wars I said it's past time to get this mofo back on the street...
Then we had a 400 built for it, reused the sportsman II heads from the 355. Forged crank, h beam rods, SRP dome pistons. Ran a 6.98 in the 1/8, foot breaked on motor.
Life caught up with me and I couldn't afford a race car anymore. Drove it to a car show one night and it damn near burned to the ground from a leaking accelerator pump diaphragm. Got that all fixed and it pretty much sat for 5-6 years.
10 years ago maybe I tried to convert it back to "street" from "full race". I put in a passenger seat, alternator. 13:1+ compression (off memory) didn't really like street driving so it pushed the head gaskets out.
I'm not sure exactly what failed it but with just ARP head bolts and the cheapest Felpro head gaskets it might not have had a chance.

I ordered ARP head studs and MLS gaskets in the same thickness, hoping to not fuckup up a good running combo.
Ordered a ball hone and the rest of the gaskets to put it back together.

It's been sitting on the stand for 10 years with no cover (trash bag disintegrated) and at one paint I tried to coat the engine in fogging oil that just washed off the ATF I had wiped on everything and promptly rusted the rod journals...:flipoff:
When that happened it kind of killed my spirit for the whole deal and I haven't wanted to work on it.

I got $1500 burning a hole in my pocket and I decided I would finish my cnc plasma table or put this motor back together. I did what any OG irater would do and bought hot rod engine parts:lmao:

All the parts look good, there is some minor rust on the rods, pins etc. but IMO none of it is a problem. Going to try a evaporust bath for some of this stuff, but probably gonna YOLO anything I can't get rid of easily.



Explain this shit I didn't have this shirt made....
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Funny story about time passing.
When this happened I bought some used flat top pistons on ebay to convert it to street. My recollection of this was I bought .030" over pistons and the engine was only .010" over. Well after cleaning this shit all up today and deciding to just it back together as is with better head gaskets and bolts I thought I 'd check the pistons I bought to "just make sure" they aren't the same.
I measured them in various spots and it sure as fuck seems like they are the same as the domed pistons in the engine...

As a plan to deal with the high compression I was thinking of trying E85. I'g going to have to re-hose the fuel system for sure and I have gently used Aeromotive A1000 fuel pump and regulator. I think even with that high of compression, the size of the cam can make it "rowdy" street able which is plenty good for me.
Enough blabbing. More updates to come.

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The flat tops are Wiseco 5016H3 pistons.
4.155"
5.7" rod
And 3.75" stroke so if the block bore size is correct I might be able to swap rings and have pump gas friendly setup out the gate...

I'm going to have to borrow a bore gauge, micrometer or something because trying to mesure with $15 6" caliper and snap gauge wasn't working out for me.
 
I only recognize this car from photos elsewhere on the site. Glad you're getting back at it.

I think YOLO is the best attitude for this.
 
Piston to wall clearance seems "good" for the wisecos so I swapped the rods over and started swapping rings.
I had to pull the timing cover and cam gear to get the cam #, its a old discontinued Howards 112331 but it looks good and with the flat tops I think static compression is around 11.74:1 but dynamic is 8.77:1 which is what matters.
This will keep me from having to fuck with E85, not that I don't want to I just don't want to go through the expense of modifying the carb.


I swabbed the bores with a buddies 400 grit ball hone and so far everything looks like it might make it.

I tried calling World all day yesterday to see if they can ID the heads to confirm CC size but they don't do phones I guess and haven't responded to the "web request" this is my shocked face. :homer:
 
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SLOWPOKE693 said:
You should be putting lots of nitrous or a big blower on that engine, not de-performancing it for street use.:shaking:



:laughing::flipoff2:
Click to expand...
Ideal setup is 5.3 with rear mount (behind the seats not rear of the car) turbo(s).
I don't enjoy carburetors, Im the wrong generation.
I hope to having a running driving car to showcase the engine for sale.

A roots blown SBC/BBC would be perfectly acceptable but I lack the budget for that build with EFI.
 
Getting there. Built a rod bolt stretch gauge first thing this morning just for fun more or less. Had to add a spring between the point and the indicator, it helps to keep the indicator firmly on the bolt and entered.

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Any thoughts on painting the steel heads in aluminum paint?
I've always painted them black because I'm scared of how fake they might look...
 
SLOWPOKE693 said:
That thing is way more race car than I thought it was. :smokin:








Borg Warner turbos are cheap, and so is methanol.... Just sayin.
:flipoff2:
Click to expand...

Yeah it got out of hand at one point.
Musi, Mike Moran and the rest of the fastest street car class had my attention every month when the new Hot Rod magazine came out.

I wanted a 66 chev II, Malibu or Nova but we looked at our wallet and decided that was going to happen. There was a 1980 Elcamino behind my cousin's rent house, on blocks with no wheels for $100 so we figured worst case we would save some money.

The body and interior were shit. But we built it anyway. Then when the chick ran the red light and t boned me I bought this car with the money.

I saved cash for a entire year to buy Art Morrison back half kit/cage and when we showed up at the fall nationals in Ennis I went to the AM trailer to order it all the dude says oh man you don't want to build a Elcamino drag car, you want a Camaro Chevelle etc. We told him to fuck off and that pretty much sealed the deal of me having a Elco for the rest of my life. Knowing people don't like them makes me really happy.:flipoff2:
 
Well paint went off shitty as expected :mad3:
Something didn't jive with the paint I got or I got the wrong kind (both are possible) story of my life in regards to painting. Fuck it on with the show.

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I had a short intermission to fix the free engine hoist my dad got me a while back. The front legs were shortened 3' to use on a job they had, obviously It can't pick shit with 2' long legs. Once I got it straightened out I started putting the engine in.
Solid motor mounts are fighting like crazy, not really sure what to about it but I'm adding washers between the mounts and the block and that seems to get me really close, stepping down from 1/2" to 7/16" through bolts should get the rest of the way, that will wait until tomorrow then I can start hooking shit up and un fucking 17-21 year old me's shitty work:lmao:

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Pulled the motor mounts all back off and drilled the holes out 1/2" and some 9/16" as they were dead nuts on at 3/8".
With all that reassembled I could use the 1/2" bolts and not the 7/16" do it was worth it.

After that I started fitting the new exhaust. This may prove to be dumb but I always wanted the exhaust to be cleaned up and more fitting of the 406. The headers I had on the car were the original Hooker 1 5/8" primary, 2 3/4" collector.
Basic low HP stuff. When the 406 was put in with the bigger engine and ported heads the flanges barely sealed and I always felt like they restricted the output.
So with my winnings I got some Hooker Raceheart stainless 1 3/4" primary, 3.5" collector headers. I got some 40" x 3.5" 304ss pipes to connect the flow masters to the headers. I'll have to add new flanges to the mufflers and build some pie cut turn outs but again that's stuff I have wanted to do, might be fun even.

I got some 02 bungs welded in the collectors for possible AFR gauge down the line. Some stainless 3.5" v band flanges tig'd on for starting the exhaust.

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Added a battery cable distribution post so it will be easier to split up the loads and not have all those cables running to the starter. Also added a relay on the starter to jump from B+ to start, might prevent a low battery non start issue, never had that problem before but it's a better way to do it.
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Progress is gonna stall this week as I'm back in San Antonio for the Tech wars multi dealer finals.

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Assuming the fuel cell foam is dead...
Never messed with wiffle ball baffles or others like that.

What's the consensus? My brother in law raced 4500 and had some sort of stackable tubes to put in the cell, better than wiffle balls?
 
First time working on this car on the lift, I can't tell you fucking nice that is.
Storm came in early and humidity shot up, hotter than I'm acclimated too right now so I fired up the window unit and what a difference that makes In happiness level :smokin:

I'm sure my speed of progress sucks but I want to right some wrongs right now so I can just drive it if it doesn't scatter out the gate.:laughing:
 
Got one side of the exhaust done-ish, still needs the turn out extension added and final welded but that will wait for the second piece of 3.5" pipe to come in. I made a impromptu design change and moved the mufflers back a extra foot or so, maybe that will help keep some heat out of the cab.
 
CarterKraft said:
Got one side of the exhaust done-ish, still needs the turn out extension added and final welded but that will wait for the second piece of 3.5" pipe to come in. I made a impromptu design change and moved the mufflers back a extra foot or so, maybe that will help keep some heat out of the cab.
Click to expand...

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So do I put my shitty black paint job on the AC delete panel or leave it bare? Paint it another color?

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