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Info on the Drifting El Camino

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  • Info on the Drifting El Camino

    Howdy,
    Saw some threads talking about my El Camino that won the Drift Showoff in Houston recently.

    It is actually a GMC Caballero - same as the Chevrolet El Camino.

    It was my dad's beater for several years, then it became my beater. Last fall i decided to have fun with it and make it a low budget toy. My goal was drag racing and autocrossing. I have around 5k total in it and have done all of the work myself (and a friend helped some).

    Power - It has a low-compression 350 from an 80's camaro, stock internals. It has heads, cam, headers, carbed (about 320 rear wheel hp). It has a three speed automatic (cheap and bullet proof th350). The rear end is a POSI 3.42 out of a Grand National. A 100 shot is used for drag racing. Should do mid 12's on motor and low 12's to upper 11's on spray.

    Handling - the El Camino has a LONG wheelbase 117 inches. It weighs about 3200lbs without me in it. I used Hotchkiss springs, bilstein shocks, poly bushings everywhere, sway bars, homemade boxed control arms and steering box off of a monte carlo SS. The wieght distribution is about 55 front 45 rear. While classified as a truck, it is based off of a monte carlo (car). We put some seats out of a firebird in it (stock bench seat sucked).

    I have been auto-xing it with my friend Derrick several times, and we drifted it at a practice event with some friends last fall. I let my friend Derrick enter it in the drift event, and he won. We are thinking about entering it in the formula D event this June, just not sure if i want to go through the trouble of caging it.

    My site with old info and some photos and short vids:
    http://www.z28evans.com/el_camino.htm

    www.z28evans.com

    Bumper was removed for weight after i got rear-ended

    It's been fun to drive, it's been the little beater that could

    Thanks,
    James Evans
    Attached Files

  • #2
    Sweet ride. It's always nice to see different cars drifting. You should definately hit up Formula D. They could use more domestic drift cars.

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    • #3
      your friend did a great job at drifting. it was very fun watching him. i thing yall would do great in drifting events. i think you should cage it and drop in a stick shift if you want to get serious.

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      • #4
        Rock on.
        I used to drive a malibu wagon based on the same platform
        with a 400 small block from a 1500. torque monster.
        I could spin wheels 20 feet with a stock 350 turbo tranny.
        drifted it once.. i mean crashed it into the woods on a rain road.

        sniff sniff.

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        • #5
          do u go to the Auto-x event's at A&M??? My friend goes, Shaun, u might know him, white integra GSR w/ a cfhood.

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          • #6
            yes, i go to the auto-x's at A&M - and i may know the GSR , but i'm not sure.

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            • #7
              I'd love to see the Caballero out there drifting. Nobody's gonna expect to see an old El Camino out there, especially one packin 420hp and a competition suspension. I'm a pretty big fan of the domestics, so it's great to see 'em out there finally getting into the drift scene, and proving that the V8 guys can hang with the best of 'em.

              I've got a couple of ideas for ya about the cage. When you put the roll cage in, weld in some subframe connectors and tie the cage into 'em so that the cage stiffens the chassis. You could get a peice of Lexan to use for the rear window and send the 2 rear braces through the Lexan and tie 'em into the rear shock mounts so it acts like a rear shock tower brace. Then mount some bars from the front frame through the firewall to the forward cage tubes. Fabricate some strut tower braces. Then you've got a stiffened chassis that won't flex and an 8 point cage that ties everything together and protects ya.

              Good luck!

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              • #8
                Thanks for the reply, I enjoy seeing the crowd reaction when the el camino is out there

                On the Frame / cage - it is a full frame car; ie - no sub-frame connectors, and no strut towers. Welding a cage in it would help stiffen it up some.

                The rear window is curved, and would be a pain to fabricate a window for the down tubes to go through. I'm still trying to figure out a way to do the cage (even though i have other cars, i still want to be able to drive it on the street - it is my truck and i use it to haul stuff)

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                • #9
                  Didn't know they were full frame cars. I've heard that boxing the frame can help stiffen up a car like that, but you've gotta do it in the right place. Since you plan to drag it I'd build the cage to NHRA specs for an 11 or 12 second car, and also check an SCCA rulebook to see what a roadrace car would need for a cage. I'd just make sure you had enough protection to make sure the car can roll over without harming the driver and have something for protection in case of a side impact. A good race seat and a 4pt harness could help the driver safety aspect as well.

                  As you can tell whenever people talk about building a racecar it always get's the wheels turning in my mind

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                  • #10
                    Your car seems to have a pretty nice set up there. Your especially lucky since your car actually has a frame and isnt a damn weak unibody. But hmmm...after watching that footage I'd suggest trying to find some stiffer springs. Your car is about 150 or so pounds lighter then my car yet it rolls like crazy. While the body roll in drifting can be used at an advantage to break out the rear end. When it comes down to sliding it makes it harder and more unstable.

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                    • #11
                      Good stuff!! Come join our club!!

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                      • #12
                        What!? I'm not good enough for you rclub...ha ha just kidding. I think it is great to see more variety or cars drifting. congradulations on the win. It seems you have a pretty capable car there. i wish you the best of luck in the future

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                        • #13
                          Hey, anyone is good enough to join our club. Long as you drift domestic hehe.

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                          • #14
                            Crazy hawaiian, your new avatar.. its hilarious... i supose that means you have a "happy misses" back at the club house?

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                            • #15
                              lol!!

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