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The Midwest winter weather constantly violates the group's 90 degree
rule (see El Camino Nitrouso, Part 3), so it was decided to see if the
heater could be made functional. Without the heater the El Camino is
just an expensive refrigerator to store the team's beer in. (Which,
while not a bad thing, is not the purpose of this series of articles,
as my wife keeps reminding me.) I checked the dash controls and they
all moved - that is the good news. The bad news is that all of the control
cables and rods didn't. They were all rusted solid, and some gorilla
had broken all of the controls trying to make them move.
I was unable to find a place to buy replacements, so I had to find
a way to rehab the originals. My neighbor Dennis came up with the answer
put them in a pan with a solution of penetrating oil, WD-40, Marvel
Mystery Oil and transmission fluid and let them sit…for a long time.(below)
Besides we next had to find a control console for a '67 El Camino.
Unable to do the fine work on and under the dash because of the wiring
nightmare, the group lead by the Burkster had only one alternative:
start drinking beer and find someone to work on the 'Camino while we
watched. This is where Thomas, elder son of my neighbor Dennis Sutton,
comes into the picture.
 The
15-year-old lad has a Chevelle of his own that he needs money for until
he is old enough to drive. I have a little extra money and a car that
needs to be primered before the Midwest winter arrives. We spend the
waning days of summer and fall at Dennis's garage watching young Thomas
prepare and prime the El Camino's body. The left-over primer went on
the front half of Thomas's Chevelle.
The El Camino is now primered and safely in the garage along with
"Henrietta" the '68 Buick.
In the meantime I'm spending the winter working on the wiring under
the dash and looking for a center heater console. When the weather is
nice enough I drive the Camino around the neighborhood, then pull into
the driveway, turn on the nitrous bottle, and "boom" the nitrous system.
I'm afraid it looks a little like a scene out of "King of the Hill,"
but we're having fun and the drag strip will be open in a couple of
months.
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Gary
Rohe is the 2 time defending NMCA EZ Street Champion
with a record time of 8.471 at 160 mph. His Mustang
is equipped with Mike's Fordglide transmission
available now for: $1390.00 
Powerglide
transmissions are designed with the Super Street,
Super Comp, Super Gas racers in mind. All
of these transmissions are hand made, one at
a time, to exacting tolerances for your specific
application. These are brutally tough and deadly
accurate transmissions. These
transmissions feature:
-
Instant
release pro tree transbrake valve body -
High
tuff input shaft with turbo spline -
Machined direct and reverse pistons to hold
six clutches each -
Heavy duty wide steel hub -
Kevlar
low gear band -
Special pump modifications for superior lubrication -
Torrington roller bearings throughout -
Deep
aluminum pan kit with filter extensions -
Your choice 1.76 or 1.82 heavy duty planetary -
Trimmed case for clearance -
Each
transmission is dyno tested and pressure checked.
-
No
core charge! PHONE
(661) 723-0081 OR
FAX
(661) 723-1521 42541
6TH STREET EAST UNIT #11 LANCASTER, CALIFORNIA
93535
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