Project 1985 Chevrolet El Camino: Part 1 – Why?

 “Why did you buy an El Camino?”

 Because... El Camino. It’s business in the front, party in the back. I’m the proud owner of Chevrolet’s very light-duty truck built on a car platform. I can’t explain the attraction. Always wanted one, didn’t matter what year. Who says they ever went out of fashion? Chevy bolted close to 1 million of them together during production (1959-1960, 1964-1987). I like them all, and I’m not a grandpa, nor do fit into any of the most-used stereotypes, that people spit out whenever I mention my latest purchase. An El Camino has style, utility, and can be equipped with muscle car performance. Plus, they are budget-friendly – a Junkyard Life fundamental.

  “What’s not to like?”

 

My son, Joe, straps the Chevy El Camino down onto the tow dolly.

Story begins with a convertible

  I bought the 1985 Chevy El Camino after meeting the seller of a barn find 1972 MG. I checked out the MG, (read about it here), but resisted buying the red roadster. During my deliberations, another car caught my eye. A two-tone, medium gray and silver Elky was sitting beside a tiny lake house in Pell City, Alabama. Parked for several months and looking grandpa-fresh, because the former owner was indeed a grandpa. 
  This El Camino needed a new home, a new battery, and a new radiator. I made an offer. One month later the deal was sealed. My son and I hauled the El Camino home in a rain storm. We stopped, got some sandwiches, and admired the rain-soaked El Camino from our seats inside the restaurant. Good times.  

The 1985 El Camino is hauled away from the former owner’s lakeside home in Pell City, Alabama.

Project time with my son

  My 12-year-old son, Joe, says he wants to drive the El Camino to school one day. I decided that he could earn some future seat time by working on the fixer-upper. The first project we tackled, after getting it running and adding a new radiator, was tightening the sloppy tilt steering column.

  GM’s 1980s-era tilt steering columns are notorious for working loose after decades of use. This tilt-equipped Elky was no different. In order to crank the car, the column had to be lifted and the key jiggled. The not-so-simple task of removing every moving and non-moving part on and within the steering wheel and column is necessary to access the bolts that hold the tilt mechanisms in place.

My 12-year-old son, Joe, makes quick work of the steering column tear down.

Every part has a place

  More parts, more problems. My son is a wiz, at putting things together, plus another set of eyeballs is always good when tearing into a complex project. Joe was eager to learn. We dissected the steering wheel and column’s guts on a hot summer afternoon. Reassembling it five times, for good measure, before all was buttoned-up tight and in the correct order. (I documented some of the project in a video, to be added soon.)

  The steering wheel is straight, tight, and the wheels correspond to the direction you hold the wheel. Sounds easy, right? Next time, we will get it right by the second or third try.

The padding in the gray cloth, split bench seat has 148,000 miles of drive time. Some new padding and carpet are a must.

 

One project done, next up? 
  The El Camino is solid but needs attention throughout. Wear parts and rubber need replacement all around. The body has one parking lot ding on the quarter panel and a tree limb compromised the top edge of the tailgate. The paint appears to be the original spray of two-tone, silver and gray. Red primer patina is peering out of worn spots on the hood and driver’s side door. 
  Those hard-earned age spots tell everyone this Elky has outlived plenty of them “foreign jobs” built in the 1990s. Wait a minute! In 1985 GM moved production of the Chevy El Camino and GMC Caballero twins to Ramos Arizpe, Mexico. Today, they continue to build Cadillacs and Chevys there.

Red oxide primer is visible where the silver paint has worn thin. They don’t make cars with good flat spots to sit on nowadays.

To do list (basics):

• Shocks/springs
• Door hinges (sagging)
• Weather strip on doors
• Carpet
• Paint wheels
• Add trim rings
• Brakes
• Exhaust
• A/C compressor (locked up)

Junkyard Life Project: 1985 Chevy El Camino 
  Follow along as we keep you updated on the El Camino project. Our wish list includes: A modern suspension and drive train. Wider wheels with more meat, better seats, the addition of a tachometer, along with a sportier gauge cluster. While we’re dreaming, a modern stereo should top things off.  

Sponsors welcome
  Got a connection to a parts supplier? We are digging for deals and working overtime for parts. Junkyard Life will happily provide a test bed for parts on the Chevy El Camino and give your product(s) exposure. Send us the goodies! Contact Junkyard Life.

Jody Potter
— Junkyard Life

Conquista was an option package on the base 5th generation Chevrolet El Camino (1978-1988).

Manual windows, manual locks. Tell me this isn’t a truck.

Long doors on the El Camino make for worn hinges. Both doors sag.

Beneath the hoses, and vacuum lines a 305-cu. inch V8 engine powers the Chevy El Camino with 150 hp.

Style points for the forward rake on the El Camino’s side glass.

Hood emblems were still in fashion on GM vehicles in the mid-1980s.

Pinstripe and patina on the ’85 El Camino.

A new radiator solved the continuous coolant puddle problem.

An empty window in the right half of gauge cluster could have been filled with a clock or tachometer, if so equipped. During the 1980s, GM reminded customers they opted for the cheapo package every time they scanned the gauges.

The El Camino suffered a ding above the sexy Conquista decal on the tail gate.

GM continued to build the G-Body Chevy El Camino and GMC Caballero until 1987 (745 unsold ’87 models were retitled as ’88 models and sold). GM ceased production of the G-Body Malibu (coupe/sedan) after the 1983 model year.

Finally, bringing one of the 1,015,865 Chevy El Caminos/GMC Sprint-Caballeros built to my driveway.

This 1985 Elky model shows off the wide, 4-eyed headlight design, which continued from 1982-1988.

Very little changed on the sides and rear of the Chevy El Camino and GMC trucklet twins between 1978-1988.

Curved rear glass and solid bed floor, without storage access, are signatures of the fifth and final generation of El Caminos/Caballeros.

Ready to hit the road to home with the El Camino project. This is before the rain storm hit.

Column shift Chevy El Caminos allow 3 passengers (including driver) to ride in elbow-rubbing comfort.

El Camino storage area and spare tire reside in compartment behind seat and under floor of truck bed on 5th gen models.

The El Camino was a low rider, mini truck before low rider, mini trucks existed.

Got the El Camino steering wheel off, now what?

Chevy El Camino tilt steering project underway, and in the hands of my 12-year-old son.

Check back for more updates on the El Camino project.

Send us details about your barn find or project and we’re on the way!  Send emails to junkyardbull@gmail.com.  

1939 Chevrolet Master Sedan: Original classic uncovered behind a barn in Tennessee (video)

Behind the barn. This 1939 Chevrolet Master sedan was among the dozens of classic cars and hot rods that Junkyard Life discovered during a three-day tour of Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. The owner, a gear head with 20 rusty cars scattered across his East Tennessee farm, mentioned that an old Chevy behind the hay barn was a low-mile, solid, original. We didn’t expect a WWII-era car in time capsule condition. Let’s take a closer look.

Looks like a Cadillac
  Chevrolet redesigned their 1939 models with longer hoods, the headlights mounted on top of the front fenders and coil spring suspension. The flashier grille and hood ornament mimicked Cadillac’s luxury line-up. This was a lot of car for less than $900. The price sounds like a steal, but remember the average annual income was $1,300.

Only 590 miles show on the odmoeter of the 1939 Chevy. The wear on the brake pedal reveals that the actual mileage may be more.

A trunk was integrated into the body lines and the rumble seat option disappeared from the line-up of 1939 Chevrolets sedans.

Only original once
  The Junkyard Life crew crawled all over the ’39 Chevy, noting the 590 miles on the odometer and the relatively unblemished body. The car has probably traveled many more miles on the original inline six cylinder engine and 3-speed transmission, but we can dream, right?
  Everything appeared unmolested and was where it should be on this blast from the past. Values on mostly original, 4-door, 5-passenger, club sedan projects of ’39 vintage have stayed surprisingly low. I’ve seen similar cars, in somewhat rougher condition sell in the $2,000 price range. 

Buy what you can afford
  Hot rodders had a field day transforming forgotten, family sedans from the 1930s and 1940s into custom street rods during the 1980s. Those pastel-painted beauties and quality rest mods often sell for $20,000-to-$30,000 and up. Finding an original car is the best way to budget build your own. What’s stopping you? Time or money?
  Coupes can bring more dollars but the 4-door sedan was the do-everything family car. Imagine pulling into the big box store next to a row of new Chevy Suburbans, Tahoes and mini vans? A 1939 Chevy puts the "class" in classic car.
  Keep your eyes open for old cars and I will see you at the junkyard!

Jody Potter
— Junkyard Life 

Almost 400,000 Chevy Master sedans rolled off the assembly line in 1939,

It's easy to see why we stopped to have a chat with the friendly farmer in Tennessee. He loves old cars too.

Do you have a classic or muscle car barn find? Send us details and we’re on the way!?  Send emails to junkyardbull@gmail.com.

Barn Find: 1972 MG MGB provides a mom joy, refuge; New owner plans restoration

A lot of love in the little red rag top. The 1995 license plate revealed the year that Shirley Hardaman parked her 1972 MGB in a storage shed on Logan Martin Lake in Pell City, Alabama. The red MGB spent life mainly as a toy for a mom who loved to get behind the wheel. It would occasionally serve as her commuter car, back-and-forth to Birmingham. Top down fun and miles of smiles were the norm. Life on the lake was good and the little car made it better. When the MG started to show its age at 94,000 miles, Shirley and her husband, Jim, decided a restoration was in order, but those plans were always put on hold. Life got in the way but their love for the little car never wavered. Keeping it always.

  The primary driver of the red, 4-speed MGB, Shirley Hardaman, passed away, at age 71, nearly 2 years ago. The recent passing of Shirley’s husband, Jim, forced the bereaved family to sell the fun, little roadster that was symbolic of their mother’s happiness. Shirley’s daughter, Vicki, struggled to contain her emotion while showing me her mother’s car. It was time to let go.

1972 MGB barn find as it looked after 20 years off the road.

Finding joy

  Shirley’s MGB brought her happiness after enduring many tragedies. Her mom died, in 1950, when she was 8 years old. In 1973, she also lost a daughter in an automobile accident. Shirley lost many other loved ones in similarly tragic ways.
  “Mom had a difficult life and I don't remember many things that gave her joy, before my kids were born, except that little car,” her daughter, Vicki, said. “I don’t tell you that for pity. Only to say that her car gave her some much needed joy. Mom loved that car and it made her so happy.”

The MGB was a place where Shirley Hardaman could find joy.

Plans, and a tough decision
  When Shirley’s first grandchild was born, in May 1990, she promised the red roadster would be his one day. Now, 24-years-old, her grandson was forced to make a difficult decision. Keep the car or sell it? Keeping it meant letting it sit until he could afford a restoration. Selling the car would allow someone to save his grandmother’s car before it deteriorated further. 
  Letting go was the best but most difficult choice.
  Shirley’s red rag top now has a new owner. More top down smiles are in order when the restoration is complete. There’s no better way to honor Shirley’s memory, than to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Jody Potter
— Junkyard Life

Do you have a classic or muscle car barn find? Send us details and we’re on the way!?  Send emails to junkyardbull@gmail.com.

An MGB is more than 6 inches wider than a MG midget. More room to stretch out and shift the four gear.

Driver's seat of 1972 MGB shows some wear in the padding, seat cover still intact.

A closer look at the barn find 1972 MGB is in order. Let’s get a look inside.

The 1972 MGB has a full complement of gauges on the dash.

1972 MGB’s radio is surrounded by buttons and switches on the center console and dash.

Dirt covers convertible top and plastic rear windows on the 1972 MGB.

Body including quarter panels on the 1972 MGB are solid and straight.

Barn find cars can be found in various stages of neglect. Structurally the ’72 MGB has endured 20 years in storage better than most.

Car rule #1: Do not use the car to stack and store stuff.

1972 MGBs retained chrome front and rear bumpers. Mid-year in 1974, the chrome bumpers were replaced with black rubber versions to meet new safety standards.

MGBs held title to the most popular roadsters in the US until Mazda’s Miata surpassed them. More than 399,000 MGB were sold in the US.

Side mirror droops on the 1972 MGB barn find – as if the MGB doesn’t want to see itself in the mirror.

The 1972 MGB’s average miles per year dropped significantly because it hasn’t moved in 20 years. Only 94k miles on the odometer.

MGBs were equipped with collapsible steering columns beginning in 1968.

MGBs were produced with two 6-volt batteries, stored under a panel behind seats, from the factory.

MG shield and MGB emblem on the trunk of the red 1972 roadster.

The tag on the 1972 MGB shows 1995 as the last year it was registered for the road in Alabama.

The 6th digit "C" designates this a 1972 model MGB. Build plate states a 6/72 build date. The Abingdon, England company built 523,836 MGB of various models from 1962-1980.

The MGB’s spline drive, spoked, knock-off, 14-inch wheels can be tedious to maintain and are heavier than you might think.

A jumble of wire hangs beneath the dash of the 1972 MGB.

Do you have a classic or muscle car barn find? Send us details and we’re on the way!?  Send emails to junkyardbull@gmail.com.