Vehicle Owner

Member ID: Sgt_Barks

Location: APG, MD

Vehicle Info

1978 Chevrolet El Camino

Bragging Rights

  • 1/4 Mile0 sec @ -1 mph
  • 0-600sec
  • Top Speed-1mph
  • HP-1
  • Weight-1lbs

Major Upgrades

  • turbo
  • nitrous
  • bore increase
  • port and polish
  • supercharger
  • extrude honed
  • stroke increase
  • engine swap

Ratings

    • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
    • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.

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Last updated: 5 days ago

Hits: 2,680

Phil’s Chevrolet El Camino
“The Elky”

  • Currently 3.3 /5 Stars.
6 guestbook comments

Sgt_Barks's 1978 Chevrolet El Camino

Malibu Racing.com 

Yea, though i drive through the valley of riceburners,
I shall fear no turbo:
for torque art with me;
Thy rod and Thy piston, they comfort me.
Thou hast anointed my bearings with oil;
My car overpowers.
Surely traction and victory shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And i shall dwell in the house of the V8
FOREVER.

Sgt_Barkss 1978 Chevrolet El Camino

 

Page 2 is all updates kinda like a blog

Sgt_Barks's 1978 Chevrolet El CaminoThese pictures are a few years old. You can go to page 2 to see the updates.

Sgt_Barks's 1978 Chevrolet El CaminoThis is my 1978 Elky. I got it some time in 1999. Traded a broke and rusted out 1964 Ford F-100 for it. The guy I got the Elky from said it wouldn't start. I had it running in about 30 minutes and drove it home. He was slightly upset.

I have been slowly working on this thing for a while. I changed the rear end when I still lived in TN with a junk yard bargain. The pass side axle was bent and had a hellatious squeak. When I transferred out of the TN National Guard in 2000 I drove this car/truck from Manchester, Tennessee to Fort Sill, Oklahoma and then down to Fort Hood, Texas where I have been ever since. While I have been here, I pulled out the original 305 and redid all the gaskets. The bearings and rings were fine so I left them alone. I put in a small cam and an Edelbrock Torquer II intake. Later came some headers and a 2 1/2 inch exhaust with 2 chamber flowmasters.

Sgt_Barks's 1978 Chevrolet El CaminoI eventually amassed the parts I needed to build the motor I really wanted. What you see here is a 383 built from a 1969 327 block with a factory 400 crank. Forged Oliver rods with forged flat top pistons spin on the crank journals. The cam is an ultradyne solid grind with 280/282 advertised duration and .510/.525 lift. Hardened Comp Cams pushrods push Comp Cams 1.5 Roller lifters held in place by 7/16 screw in studs with a crane stud girdle keeping it all lined up.

Sgt_Barks's 1978 Chevrolet El CaminoThe heads are production casting that have been ported, polished, and gasket matched by....me. Took a long time for me to finish them but not bad for the first time. With the flat top pistons set .003 down the bore I am around 11:1. Those will be changed some time in the near future for a more suitable configuration (They suck!).

Sgt_Barks's 1978 Chevrolet El CaminoSame Edelbrock intake (which will be changed along with the heads) and a Holly 750 vacuum secondary carb. I removed the metering plate and put on a metering block for more tuning capability. There is currently a full manual TH400 with a trans brake (needs a solenoid) in this thing. All the front bushings have been swapped for Poly and 1/2 lower springs have been put on all 4 corners.

My goal for this car currently is high 11s. Since I don't have to drive it unless I just want to I think that won't be a problem. If you have any ideas advice or just want to tell me I am a dumb $hit let me know.

Updates since this was written:

* New ignition installed
* Removed heater box
* Manual steering box installed
* 8.5 10-bolt w/3.42 posi installed
* G-Force performance crossmember installed (PITA)
* More to come...

Check out page two for specifics...

Guestbook

Displaying entries 1-5 of 6

BigAlH  

Posted by: BigAlH

03/11/2006 08:39AM

Sarge, the Elky is coming along nicely. We need to get it to the track when you get home. Two thumbs waaaaayyyy up. :)

vincentinmiami  

Posted by: vincentinmiami

10/07/2005 03:52PM

GREAT car. I also like the fact that YOU are doing all the work urself. I have an 86 elky I bought a few mnts ago. Allthough I am not a mechanic, I am determined to do the work my self and learn as I go along. So far I am doing OK. I look foward to seeing more pics.

280ZV8  

Posted by: 280ZV8

07/04/2005 12:15AM

Great Camino, but arn't 383s built from 350s with a 400 crank or were 327 blocks the same as 350 blocks.

l3ooherS14  

Posted by: l3ooherS14

05/21/2005 07:21PM

Nice car. You should check out my S14 240 and tell me what you think.

disableddan  

Posted by: disableddan

04/04/2005 11:10PM

That looks like a wicked project! It's cool that you're doing all the work yourself- it's kind of dissapointing when people buy an old car then pay someone else to fix it up :P Keep up the great work and hit up my guestbook when you get some new info, and good luck with it!

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Vehicle Owner

Member ID: Sgt_Barks

Location: APG, MD