My '69 Elky

I purchased this '69 elky in February of 2001. It was a 350/255 hp, 3 sp auto with 112,000 miles. It was pretty sound mechanically, but not much to look at. In fact, my daughter was embarrassed for it to be in the driveway! Check out the "In the Beginning" page and you'll see why. So...fresh paint was moved to top priority.

After 4 months, the body work was done and the paint was dry. Check the "Phase I" photos. I decided to dress it with SS trim although it didn't say "396" anywhere on it. It was a 350, so the front grille emblem said SS350 (like the early Camaro). My intention was to rebuild the tired smallblock to the old style LT1 specs. Nothing wrong with a strong running  smallblock, and it would have been the engine option that Chevrolet should have offered in 69.

On the "Phase II" page, you'll see the changes continue. As with any old car (truck?) project, it's never really finished. I found some vintage American Torq Thrust wheels on ebay I had to have. After driving it one summer without air conditioning, my wife told me it had to have air if I wanted her to go along! So, I installed a Vintage Air system. Then, I decided to add the vinyl top. Of course I had to get rid of the bench seat and column shift, so I tried my hand at upholstery work. Didn't turn out too bad, but that old steering wheel and column didn't look right then. I'd have to do something about that later. 

"Phase III" is next.....and it's my favorite change. The 350 was beginning to really show it's age. It developed a leak around the rear main and was oil fouling plugs pretty regularly, so I decided the engine rebuild was is order. While checking on parts at a local speed shop, I stumbled across a big block that was too good a buy to pass up....even if it was totally disassembled! So, I took the plunge. Six months later, it was in and running. WOW!! What a difference. I even swapped out the steering column for one with "tilt" while the engine was out.

"Phase IV" was to get the elky ready for the trip to Nashville for the 2004 ACES Chevelle-abration. My goal was to have a COPO el Camino look-a-like......since Chevy never made one. For those who don't know, Chevy offered special performance cars back then under a program called the Central Office Production Order....thus the term COPO. They were basically a standard trim vehicle with all the high performance options. But no SS badges to speak of......just all the neat muscle car stuff in an "almost" plain brown wrapper. The Chevelle was available under the COPO program with a 427/425 horse power engine. But, according to all the experts, no el Caminos were made. So, I researched the info available about the COPO Chevelles and tried to duplicate the look on my elky. Added Ralley Wheels, side stripes, the tach/gauge package and a new steering wheel. No engine size decals or emblems. Came out looking pretty nice, I thought.

"Current" will show you how the elky has evolved from 2005 through 2007. Minor changes were made. Weld Rodlite XP wheels for a while...later replaced with American Torq Thrust Originals. Wider tires in the rear and narrower ones in the front. I also added 454 emblems to the front fenders and rear tailgate to brag a little about the engine. I added ceramic coated headers, slotted front disc brake rotors and an XM satellite radio. It's at the massage and tweak point now as far as changes go. One of the best things done was the installation of a TCI 200 4R overdrive transmission. That made the drive to Nashville for Chevelle-abration 2005, 2006 and 2007 a real  pleasure! In fact, the photo above was taken on Pit Row at the Nashville Super Speedway. I and numerous other Chevelle and el Camino owners were able to take our rides for a few laps around the track. Now that was fun!

There are several additional links and pages you might enjoy viewing. Some neat vintage photos of drag racers I took back in 1970, etc. Please look around and feel free to leave a comment by clicking my guest book below.

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