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Ruth’s “Daily Driver” BB El Camino

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  • Happy New Years everyone hope you all had a great holiday! I was informed that I didnt post a pic that Ruth wanted up that show "sparks". Its a little out of focus but she thought it was a pretty neat pic so here you go.
    Last edited by BBLemond; August 9, 2017, 10:58 AM.

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    • Just thumbing through this thread tonight this is a really cool project with alot of good craftmanship. Very entertaining and informative. You've got to love those westerian cars no rust sure makes the project go faster. Great job I will check back again.
      Greg & Mendy Dayton, Ohio 2007LH 2008LH 2010LH 2011LH 2012 1st 2 stops 2013LH 2015 1st 2 stops2016LH 2017 first and last stops . 2018 LH ("It's better to be dead and cool than alive and uncool!! Harley Davidson!")

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      • Originally posted by pintoboy77 View Post
        Just thumbing through this thread tonight this is a really cool project with alot of good craftmanship. Very entertaining and informative. You've got to love those westerian cars no rust sure makes the project go faster. Great job I will check back again.
        I cant imagine the work it must take to fix up some of the cars out your way. But they're good for racing... Less weight!

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        • Here's the rearend with the Chassisworks upper and lower arms attached. The lowers use their G-Link ( i think thats what they're called) pivot balls that are encased in urethane and are greasable for both ends. The uppers use the spherical bearing on the housing and the G-Link pivot balls at the frame. I think having the urethane on at least one end of the arms should keep the vibrations down.
          [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdar/1946-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]

          Before I mounted the lower arms I made them the exact same length as the stock lower arms. I assume this was what I was supposed to do. I didn’t actually read this part of the instructions
          [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdaa/1946-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]

          This bracket is for the Varishock coil-over. It just mounts to the Chassisworks rearend housing bracket and where it mounts will dictate the ride height.
          [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdri/1946-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]

          I was surprised to see the sway bar links this big but I guess if I was going to autocross I would need them to be strong. To mount the brackets I did have to open up a hole that was already there and then had to drill one more hole. The instructions made it easy to figure out what needed to be done so that went pretty quickly.


          [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcgwa/1946-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]

          To assemble the sway bar links I just used the grease that came with them and my vise.
          [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcgci/1946-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]

          [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcgil/1946-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]
          Last edited by BBLemond; August 9, 2017, 11:24 AM.

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          • There's something about a nice tig weld in the morning.... I do appreciate it when I buy a product and the small details are done well. Once these stiffeners are installed you cant even see them and yet Chassisworks tig welded them instead of just mig welding them.
            [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcrgr/1946-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]





            The stiffeners triangulate the frame from the upper to lower control arms. I had these in my Chevelle and they are something that in my opinion everyone should have in their Chevelles or El Caminos. The factory frames just werent designed to handle a lot of power or performance driving and so they tend to wear out and the mounts get stretched and moved around over time. I did this to my Chevelle shortly after I bought it in '64 after seeing guys at the track ripping theirs apart. Of course the ones I put on back then weren't nearly as nice as these. A lot of what im doing is to make the El Camino better and nicer than stock but if anyone is reading this that isnt sure how far they want to go make sure you do this. Its worth the cost and effort

            [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcddi/1946-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]

            [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcddl/1946-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]

            To be able to get the jig off and the jack out I needed to mount the Varishocks but I wasnt ready so I made these. Just some all thread and a few heims and I have a shock thats super stiff.

            [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdai/1946-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]

            Here's a couple pics of the rearend back in with all the Chassisworks arms in place
            [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcddr/1946-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]

            Last edited by BBLemond; August 9, 2017, 11:29 AM.

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            • Sure is purty!

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              • Originally posted by Deaf Bob View Post
                Sure is purty!

                Thanks! Its coming along nicely

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                • I dont know about you guys but when Im at the track I really notice when things are designed well and when things arent. I guess because when Im working on the Chevelle between rounds Im in a hurry and Im not quite all there because I have my so so driving skillls in the back of my head. Anyways, I mention this because the Koni drag shocks I have on the Chevelle are good but are not user friendly. Im looking forward to adjusting these Chassisworks Varishocks because they address two issues that really bug me with the Chevelle shocks. One is the adjusters are at the bottom so I shouldnt have to crawl nearly as far underneath Ruth's El Camino as I do on the Chevelle. Of course the El Camino doesnt have wheelie bars but its still not fun for me to get unnderneath the car. They made the adjusters clear and easy to see which knob and direction does what which is really helpful for old guys like myself Im thinking that when I finish this up and get the Chevelle back out of the trailer I will get the Varishocks for it too!

                  [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcgow/1946-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]

                  The other feature that Im ready to try out are these thrust bearings that I added on to my order. On my Chevelle the springs are hard to adjust and I believe the reason for that is when Im turning the adjuster the spring is trying to dig into the aluminum. To be honest it really upset me the first time I adjusted the Konis and it tore up the anodized finish. So with the Varishocks I ordered this spring bearing kit that puts a thrust bearing in between the spring and the adjuster. This should make it a lot easier to adjust the spring and also keep the anodizing on the aluminum in good shape.

                  [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdll/1964-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]

                  Don't ask me how I know but I would highly recommend just ordering the Chassisworks spring compressor thats designed for their Varishocks. I could not get a standard compressor to work and after getting the Chassisworks compressor I wish I would have just used it from the beginning

                  [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdlw/1964-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]

                  [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdcr/1964-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]

                  As you can see it grabs the very edge of the spring on the top and the bottom and i just tightened it up until the top spring seat plate would fit in.

                  [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdca/1964-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]

                  [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdor/1964-el-camino-chassis-works-r.jpg.html][/url]

                  Here's a shot from the top. I thought it would be worth while to show how much little amount of spring the compressor tool actually grabs onto. Also, once I compressed the spring the aluminum top plate just slid in from the side, locked into place on the shock body and then I just loosened the compressor back out slowly until it was seated.



                  After thinking about my last post I wanted to clarify the bolt hole to bolt hole measurement. The instructions say to use a measurement from 11.5" to 12.5" from the top of the upper spring seat down to the bottom center line bolt hole. So I used 12" and then added another 1.5" which is the distance from the upper spring seat mount to the upper bolt hole. This was good for getting me close to the correct dimensions but I will still need to get Ruth's El Camino on the ground with the Varishock coilovers and then adjust accordingly to get to 11.5" to 12.5" range from the top of the spring seat to the bottom hole center line.
                  Last edited by BBLemond; August 9, 2017, 11:37 AM.

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                  • Those look like nice pieces. Good to see quality parts - hope they're made in the USA.

                    Dan

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                    • Originally posted by DanStokes View Post
                      Those look like nice pieces. Good to see quality parts - hope they're made in the USA.

                      Dan

                      I always assumed so but I guess I didnt know so I checked out their website and it looks like most everything is made there at their factory. Also looks like bangshift did a video series of their factory which I assume is pretty cool.

                      It took me a little while to find it so I posted the link to the page in case you wanted to check it out. I guess thats par the course with being old, Im sure the young guys would know exactly where to go

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                      • Ok so apparently I dont know how to use the link option in this thing. Anyways heres the link to the page that has the bangshift videos. I found this on their shop tour page



                        Im gonna try and use the link option too since im learning here. Maybe I did something wrong when I pasted it into the link option? I dont know but sorry for all the confusion

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                        • Well I went on vacation but before I left I got the Chassisworks rear suspension all installed and got the El Camino off to the interior shop. Boy does the interior look good!

                          Here's all the Chassisworks suspension installed and the brake lines reworked to fit with the Varishocks.
                          [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdii/1964-el-camino-chassisworks-re.jpg.html][/url]

                          I relocated the brake lines to fit with the Varishock coilovers. You can see the old bracket that was on the side I just moved them to the top.
                          [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdil/1964-el-camino-chassisworks-re.jpg.html][/url]

                          Boy its nice going on vacation and having someone else do nice things to your truck The leather is grey but its really light so it looks almost white. The carpet is obviously a darker grey and I think it looks really nice.
                          [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdwr/1964-el-camino-new-interior-ca.jpg.html][/url]

                          Here's a picture of the rear panel behind the seat
                          [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdwi/1964-el-camino-new-interior-re.jpg.html][/url]

                          and a closer picture of the door panel
                          [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdwa/1964-el-camino-new-interior-do.jpg.html][/url]

                          And here's the headliner.
                          [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdwl/1964-el-camino-new-interior-he.jpg.html][/url]

                          The nice thing about an El Camino is I only had to pay for one bench seat instead of two!
                          [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdpa/1964-el-camino-new-interior-be.jpg.html][/url]

                          [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdpl/1964-el-camino-new-interior-be.jpg.html][/url]

                          The only issue that I didn’t think of was how to use seat belts with the factory bench seat. I think that he will be able to make a hole in the center of the seat bottom so the seat belts can fit through. Hopefully I will find out soon because I need a seat to drive it


                          [FONT=Calibri][url=[/FONT]https://picload.org/view/rwdgcdpi/1964-el-camino-new-interior-be.jpg.html][/url]
                          Last edited by BBLemond; August 9, 2017, 11:42 AM.

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                          • Sure looks nice!
                            Copper lines? Or coated?

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                            • Beautiful interior work...but looking at the mechanical, I'm starting to wonder if Ruth may not be the only one who ends up driving this thing...
                              ...

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                              • Originally posted by Deaf Bob View Post
                                Sure looks nice!
                                Copper lines? Or coated?

                                Thank you!

                                I've been trying to figure what these lines are called but I cant figure it out. They are not copper but are coated steel. They are easier to bend and flare compared to stainless.

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