1969 El Camino project

7897 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Mick, May 14, 2013

gdipilato

Discussion Starter · May 13, 2013 (Edited by Moderator)

My newest project is a 1969 el camino mailibu my parents bought 23 years ago and has been sitting in driveway ever since. being a southern car there is very little rust. Me and my dad started to sand it down last year but then it started snowing and now there is surface rust all over the car.

I have sanded it down really well panel by panel with a orbital sander and then wiped it down with mineral spirits. I painted it with rust oleum primer 2 coats then followed up with rustoleum semi gloss black 2 coats. my problem is it just looks uneven and sort of has a rough finish to it. I've only done the front so far. this is almost okay because my goal is just to get this thing on the road and running (rat rod) and then slowly do a proper body off frame resto later on with proper paint. I’m just looking for a flat but not too flat finish. I think I might try wet sanding it to smooth it out. Any other ideas, like i said it doesn’t have to be perfect.

As you can see we are a chevy type of family. my 2013 cyber gray cruze, dads 1996 cavalier and my new el camino project!!!! My dad also has a 96 5.7L pickup that just hit 240k!!!!

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What my dream is for the camino to look like. who knows maybe it will someday

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iKermit

· #2 · May 13, 2013

I consolidated your second post into the first one and broke it up a bit so we can get this more attention.

I love build projects it looks like it may keep your busy for awhile...Do you plan on dropping in any other engine to race it? Or just to cruise along?

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gdipilato

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 13, 2013

iKermit said:
I love build projects it looks like it may keep your busy for awhile...Do you plan on dropping in any other engine to race it? Or just to cruise along?

Its going to be a project that will last me probably for my whole life ( im 20 now). i will more than likely improve it every year little by little. right now there is no engine or transmission and i guess it has wiring harness issues. my thought it to sand the rust off, paint the whole car with rattle cans just to keep it from rusting and throw a 350 small block in there and a 700r4 transmission and cruise around maybe bring it to car shows. i have a 383 stroker to go into it but we tore it down due to damaged heads and valves. that motor is going to cost about 3000 to put back together but i expect well over 425 horsepower. it was originally built by a nascar engine builder and has forged internals so im told. once that motor is in there ill definately run it down the drag strip a few times.

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iKermit

· #4 · May 13, 2013

NICE! 20 years old with a project car, you will come out with a lot of exprience from it. Wish i was lucky to have a car to build.

I don't know how much that rust-o-leum really protects and all that, but if your aiming for a rat rod, i wouldn't worry all too much about it. Keep us posted

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gdipilato

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 14, 2013

i sanded the rust down to bare metal rust-o-leum was just by chance the brand wal-mart carries the most of. so far i think its looking ok especially because i will get it properly painted eventually. my dad said it looked "scetchy" and i take that as a compliment here are some pictures so far i have used about 35 dollars worth of paint. next i really have to focus on getting a powertrain for it. what i might do is get a newer fuel injected motor and see it that will work.

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Mick

· #6 · May 14, 2013

Wow that's going to be some work but I'm sure it'll be worth it once you're done. Keep up the updates and don't let it die.

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