1966 Chevrolet El Camino 396/325 - SOLD

**hubleyman** · #1 11-09-2015, 09:54 PM

1966 Chevrolet El Camino Pickup Truck / factory 396 A/T (not a clone) / SOLD

This car was built in December of 1965 in Fremont California and was delivered to Willows, Ca when new. I purchased it from the second owner, also in Willows, in 1990. It was very stock and original and virtually rust-free, with 66K miles on it at that time. Driven to roughly 74K miles before being disassembled.

As with many others, what basically started out as an “Let’s just paint the exterior” type of project turned into a body-off-frame effort. My intent was never for it to be flawless show quality trailer queen, more of a flashy cool car to cruise and enjoy, and it ended up coming out pretty nice overall.

Here’s some basic OEM info on the car:
1966 Custom El Camino / 13680
KK / Artesian Turquoise
710 / Two-tone Fawn interior – bench seat
L34 / 396/325 HP
M35 / A/T – column shift - originally Powerglide (now Turbo 400)
STD / 3.07 NON-posi 12 bolt rear diff
N10 / dual exhaust
A01 / Tinted glass - all
N33 / Tilt Steering Column
N40 / Power Steering
J50 / Power Brakes
K19 / A.I.R. (Air Injection Reactor = Ca smog)
Z19 / Convenience group: lights, remote mirror (removed by second owner)
U14 / instrument panel gauge package with Tachometer
??? / dash mounted bullet clock
U63 / AM pushbutton radio
G66 / Factory air shocks
A39 / Deluxe seat belts
V74 / Hazard warning switch

Runs very well. Engine was properly broken in, starts right up, choke works great, thermostat functions properly, etc.

Let’s start with some unfortunate info: Back in the 90’s I brought the born-with engine to a machine shop for a rebuild, along with several other big blocks I was working on at the time. I typically had blocks decked on my Hipo engine builds, and they accidentally decked this engine even though they weren’t supposed to. Because of that mistake, I pulled all my engine projects from their shop and never used them again. This project was then put on a back-burner for many years. So just for clarity, the block in the car is the original born-with engine block, but has no numbers on the pad due to being decked. I do have the codes from the POP, and maybe even a penciled impression of the original stamp somewhere in my files, but I’m not a fan of re-stamps and preferred to leave the pad blank instead.

And some good news: Most all the other components under the hood are born-with original as well: heads, intake manifold, carb, distributor, air cleaner base, complete smog system (including hoses), exhaust manifolds, all pulleys and brackets, alternator, starter motor, complete P/S assembly, master cylinder, fan shroud, etc.

Non original under-hood items: water pump (generic replacement), radiator, power brake booster (I have the unrestored original), valve covers and air cleaner lid (I have the originals, need to be re-chromed), 7 blade fan and clutch assembly (I have the original 4 blade fan), front end wire harnesses (new repro).

I replaced the original two-speed Powerglide with a three-speed Turbo 400 (which coincidentally was from a 1966 truck). The T400 was not offered in the Chevelle/El Camino until 1967, but I prefer them to the P/G. I acquired OEM 1967 column shift linkage assembly, kick-down switch and bracket assembly, rear trans housing and driveshaft yoke, etc. in order to make this a clean OEM looking and functioning installation.

Original body panels, except RF fender replaced by 2nd owner, LF fender replaced by me during resto (original had a tough dent to straighten on the front body line/nose, and I had a much nicer straight OEM fender to use), and the front below-grill valance panel.

Reproduction dual exhaust system with the correct staggered rear exhaust exits.

This car was built at the factory with a large quantity of inspection paint marks all over the place. I only duplicated a handful, but stopped short of making it a circus car. I have pictures of most of the OEM marks in case you wish to reproduce them yourself…

What’s left to do (updated 03/02/2016):
Install the new tinted windshield and rear glass (on hand), and trim (have all new repro trim, as well as the unrestored original trim).
A few troubleshooting tidbits I haven’t around to yet – very small drip from P/S pump, AM radio died (after installation, of course).
Front end alignment, headlight alignment, verify speedo calibration at higher speeds.
Touch up the paint on some suspension items (due to scuffing from floor jacks, jack stands, etc.).
Finish restoring the original Ca black plates.
Probably a few more minor items I am not currently thinking of….

A little car history:
The POP shows Harold Hendrickson as the original owner, being first sold on Dec 30, 1965, in Willows, Ca. He was actually one of the guys who pioneered fighting fires with aircraft, by retrofitting an old WWII airplane with some water tanks. Way back when, I tried to track him down but he had already passed away so I gave up that effort. On a research whim earlier this year, I thought maybe he had some children I could find who might remember this car and would have some stories to tell. Tracked down his son, Gary (who’s now into his seventies) up in the same area. Turns out Gary was actually the original owner of this El Camino, and dad Harold’s name was most likely just used for financing purposes. It will be 50 years ago this December he first got the car, and I promised him pics of it when it was done. He doesn’t do computers, so I need to print some photos and send them to him. He’s a vintage aviation guy just like his dad, with many WWII planes on his roster, and quite a few old cars to boot. Still drives his 1971 Ranchero that he bought new….

Regrets: If I knew this car was going to turn out so nice, I would have had the body shop spend a little more time on straightening out the bottom of the bed and lower rear cab area. My plan was always to install a rubber bed mat and add a tonneau cover, but now wish they put the extra effort in those areas to make the car even nicer.

Send me a PM, or email me at your convenience, and we can go from there. This sale is an effort to scrounge up some cash, so not really interested in trades…

Thanks, Charlie

**luzl78** · #2 11-09-2015, 10:11 PM

That is a gorgeous color!

**hubleyman** · #3 11-09-2015, 11:32 PM

Here's some POP shots:

**juliosz** · #4 11-09-2015, 11:54 PM

Charlie, what a beautiful El Camino and you did it justice with such a great description........good luck with the sale. PS....this car brings back memories of when I was a kid growing up in Detroit and somebody ditched a stolen Camino nearly identical to this one in the alley behind our house.

Paul

markinnaples · #5 11-10-2015, 12:03 AM

Beautiful El Camino. Just curious, did they not follow the same VIN numbering conventions as the Chevelles with the 138 being 396's? Not real up on the Elcos. GLWS.

**Xplantdad** · #6 11-10-2015, 12:09 AM

Beautiful El Camino...good luck with the sale!

**chevelleheart** · #7 11-10-2015, 02:49 AM

Great looking Elky at a fair price...this shouldn't take too long ! Good Luck on the sale

Jmcdonald · #8 11-10-2015, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markinnaples

Beautiful El Camino. Just curious, did they not follow the same VIN numbering conventions as the Chevelles with the 138 being 396's? Not real up on the Elcos. GLWS.

Good question Mark... 13680 indicates 8 cylinder Custom El Camino. If you look at the RPO list for 66 Chevelles, you'll see RPO L35, which was the 396/325HP engine option for the El Camino (the 396/325 came standard in the 138 Super Sports). You'll also notice that the 396 El Caminos don't say Super Sport anywhere on them, don't have the blacked out grille in front, no SS hood, etc. Same story for the 67 396 El Caminos. The first "Super Sport" El Caminos were 1968, and they were all SS396s.

**hubleyman** · #9 11-10-2015, 03:47 PM

Thanks for all the compliments gang. I'm sure this car will find a happy new home soon.

Couple other little tidbits... As was just described, the SS package wasn't available on the El Camino in 1966, but you could order the 396 engine as a separate option. I'm one of the few who chose NOT to add a SS hood on my B/B El Camino... which always bugs me when I see them.

The L35 325HP engine was the base engine in an SS, and (according to one reference book) in 1966 they built 44,362 Chevelle SS 396's with the 325HP base engine - out of 72,272 SS 396 Chevelles total.

For the 1966 El Caminos, only 1865 were built with the 325HP 396, out of a total production of 35,119 El Caminos. Very small percentage.

And only about 5% of all of the 325Hp engines produced were built with the K19 California emissions, so a reasonable guestimate (with extrapolation) of 100 or so B/B El Caminos were probably built for California use.

Interesting note: The trim tag body build date on this car was 12D, and the car was sold on Dec 30th. That means the body was completed, the car finished, shipped from Fremont plant to Willows, and then sold to the original owner all during the last week of December - Holiday time!

My guess is this was special ordered and the original owner was impatiently waiting for it to arrive... what a lovely Christmas present!

Charlie

P.S. I will try to post some better pictures so you can see the color more accurately. If you Google Artesian Turquoise cars, the pictures will show you a wide variety in the shades of paint. I matched the new paint on my car to the original paint on the unfaded cowl section under the fender.

Jmcdonald · #10 11-11-2015, 02:48 PM

sure is a beautiful Elky... and I'm an Elky fanatic. I've had 6 (so far), 2 of which were 66s with 396 4 speeds, and a 65 327/300 4 speed buckets/console that was Artesian Turquoise. You're really pushing my buttons

I'm curious that you didn't add front discs... since you rationalized changing the trans... not that I wouldn't have made the same rationalization.

So are you going to install the dash clock? And do you have any documentation? I found the build sheet under the springs of the seat in one of my 66s.