we did this past weekend.
the scenario:
84 el camino, runs and drives well, rotted floorpan and bed
84 el camino, completely stripped. has almost rust free floorpan and bed
so we had originally planned this for a few weeks ago when there was no snow, but then i got super busy with work and such, travelling here and there, that we decided hell or high water we were going this weekend. now maybe you dont know but from friday - sunday afternoon it was snowing in massachusetts non stop, and actually broke a few records, one of them being a 54 year old record for snowfall on a particular day.
anyways, in the midst of the BLIZZARD, jared and pepper and i set out for the great white mid-state maine north where it was very white and very cold.
jarrod is a remarkable RWD guy in an old 80s volvo (longislandboi will love this car) and has some amazing driver skill, being the only non-experienced autox guy to beat me in my car in a legitamate time trial. hell .02 seconds is .02 seconds. pepper goes with him, i dont know why... the volvo doesnt heat up very well and my car is more comfy because there is no passenger seat. it is also noted that jarrod is a remarkably talented welder with many years of experience and an avid v8 guy who hates japanese imports
i dont care for v8s, but we reached an understanding many months ago.
so yeah we leave. 220 miles mostly highway until the last 50 where we drive rt26 up to greenwood. im kinda iffy about even going at this point, because ive never actually driven through snow deeper than 2 inches with the snow tires. oh well. as soon as we get on the highway the tires prove their moneys worth. i have really good traction and starting and stopping isnt that bad either. jarrod and i made it in about 5 hours, in white-out conditions where you couldnt see anything in front of you with your lights on for most of the drive. now everywhere i drove the car this weekend on and off the road i didnt get stuck. it was amazing.
one bad thing though. with the swaybar on the back, and the suspension as stiff as it is on soft, when decelerating down a hill the back end wants to end up going first down the hill. i had to accelerate down pretty much any hill to make it stay straight.
also, i knocked the bumper off the fenders driving through some snow drifts and small plowbanks. thanksfully i put 6 zip ties into the bumper to hold it to the car
the car sat for 5 minutes and was already developing snowcover. most of the yard was about 4 inches of hard ice under the snow.
as you see i got a free bodykit enhancement. kinda like widebody, but backwards!
it was about midnight and we went to bed, to wake up at 7ish to go outside and start the festives!
morning! volvo got a "widebody" too
we installed the plow on jerrys jeep, jerry is jarrods father who lives in maine
the caminos
we plow, and drag down the stripped carcass with the good body.
get to work!
funny thing, jerry is a master autobody guy. been doing it most of his life.
cut the bottom after unbolting the body from the frame.
measure and cut the top.
push it out.
the running camino!
jarrod is actually standing in the car.
holla!
all cut and loose. luckily all the brake and fuel lines are run in the frame so we didnt have to really disconnect anything at all except the fuel lines at the tank. the tank sits on the body.
we left the car in the garage, we had a killer plan... it was about 9pm when we finished up for the day.
saturday complete. impending blizzard of doom on the way to start early sunday. we chat about staying and finishing or putting the cars under tarps and waiting a few more weeks. we stay!
now we hoist up the body with a cherry picker, then setup sawhorses that we can wheel the frame out from under and hold the good body.
we rolled the carcass over to the side of the garage and then rolled out the "running" camino,muscled the rotted body (it was way lighter!) onto the scrap chassis and dragged it back up top. then pushed the good one back into the garage for some frame cleanup.
jarrod and pepper hammin' it up.
unfortunately i dont have any pics of getting the body back onto the good car since i had to help.
very close, but not completely forward and bolted down yet.
with everything straight, we had a small gap in the right spots, and the floors meshed together one on top of the other. the windshield even fit perfect!
and there you have it. we finished before daylight ran out.
the scenario:
84 el camino, runs and drives well, rotted floorpan and bed
84 el camino, completely stripped. has almost rust free floorpan and bed
so we had originally planned this for a few weeks ago when there was no snow, but then i got super busy with work and such, travelling here and there, that we decided hell or high water we were going this weekend. now maybe you dont know but from friday - sunday afternoon it was snowing in massachusetts non stop, and actually broke a few records, one of them being a 54 year old record for snowfall on a particular day.
anyways, in the midst of the BLIZZARD, jared and pepper and i set out for the great white mid-state maine north where it was very white and very cold.
jarrod is a remarkable RWD guy in an old 80s volvo (longislandboi will love this car) and has some amazing driver skill, being the only non-experienced autox guy to beat me in my car in a legitamate time trial. hell .02 seconds is .02 seconds. pepper goes with him, i dont know why... the volvo doesnt heat up very well and my car is more comfy because there is no passenger seat. it is also noted that jarrod is a remarkably talented welder with many years of experience and an avid v8 guy who hates japanese imports
i dont care for v8s, but we reached an understanding many months ago.so yeah we leave. 220 miles mostly highway until the last 50 where we drive rt26 up to greenwood. im kinda iffy about even going at this point, because ive never actually driven through snow deeper than 2 inches with the snow tires. oh well. as soon as we get on the highway the tires prove their moneys worth. i have really good traction and starting and stopping isnt that bad either. jarrod and i made it in about 5 hours, in white-out conditions where you couldnt see anything in front of you with your lights on for most of the drive. now everywhere i drove the car this weekend on and off the road i didnt get stuck. it was amazing.
one bad thing though. with the swaybar on the back, and the suspension as stiff as it is on soft, when decelerating down a hill the back end wants to end up going first down the hill. i had to accelerate down pretty much any hill to make it stay straight.
also, i knocked the bumper off the fenders driving through some snow drifts and small plowbanks. thanksfully i put 6 zip ties into the bumper to hold it to the car
the car sat for 5 minutes and was already developing snowcover. most of the yard was about 4 inches of hard ice under the snow.
as you see i got a free bodykit enhancement. kinda like widebody, but backwards!
it was about midnight and we went to bed, to wake up at 7ish to go outside and start the festives!
morning! volvo got a "widebody" too
we installed the plow on jerrys jeep, jerry is jarrods father who lives in maine
the caminos
we plow, and drag down the stripped carcass with the good body.
get to work!
funny thing, jerry is a master autobody guy. been doing it most of his life.
cut the bottom after unbolting the body from the frame.
measure and cut the top.
push it out.
the running camino!
jarrod is actually standing in the car.
holla!
all cut and loose. luckily all the brake and fuel lines are run in the frame so we didnt have to really disconnect anything at all except the fuel lines at the tank. the tank sits on the body.
we left the car in the garage, we had a killer plan... it was about 9pm when we finished up for the day.
saturday complete. impending blizzard of doom on the way to start early sunday. we chat about staying and finishing or putting the cars under tarps and waiting a few more weeks. we stay!
now we hoist up the body with a cherry picker, then setup sawhorses that we can wheel the frame out from under and hold the good body.
we rolled the carcass over to the side of the garage and then rolled out the "running" camino,muscled the rotted body (it was way lighter!) onto the scrap chassis and dragged it back up top. then pushed the good one back into the garage for some frame cleanup.
jarrod and pepper hammin' it up.
unfortunately i dont have any pics of getting the body back onto the good car since i had to help.
very close, but not completely forward and bolted down yet.
with everything straight, we had a small gap in the right spots, and the floors meshed together one on top of the other. the windshield even fit perfect!
and there you have it. we finished before daylight ran out.
