1970 El Camino mystery thunk…

I’ve noticed a “thunk” sound when changing direction front to reverse or visa versa. It doesn’t matter what the starting drive is.

This will happen when the wheels are turned all the way into one direction. I need to investigate.

This is a place holder posting.

1970 El Camino Seat Issue…

I removed the driver seat again this time removing the seat cover. That itself was not an easy task especially if you’ve never done it before. The broken edges were in the direction of pressing against the leather seat cover risking the chance of cutting through. It took awhile but I was able to get the seat cover past the edged area.

You can see by bending the metal back to the original position it doesn’t look as bad. I’m going to have the seat frame welded later on today.

1970 El Camino seat lean…

Since owning the Elco the driver side seat has always leaned back further then the passengers. Really didn’t bother me much until wifey sat on it and is sitting way ahead of me and it blocks part of my view to the right window.

I checked out the usual possibilities and it turns out it is a cracked frame. I just went through this with my 2000 Chevy 3500 dually.

I ordered a hog ring plier and a bunch of hog rings. I plan on removing the driver seat cover and determine what type of work will be needed for seat repair.

1970 El Camino Windshield Fluid Reservoir…

Thought about cleaning up the original wiper fluid reservoir. Nah, I could get a reproduction that is a drop in fit and did.

I even replaced the cap. One thing I noticed the hose was so old and a different diameter then the cap setup I have now. I’ll have to replace if I ever decide to get it all working again.

Squeak is gone!!!

I’ve went in circles trying to find this high pitched squeak with no luck. I had used silicon grease on every bushing under the UMI Suspension System. There are a lot of zerk fittings using this type of tubular suspension and some of them are fairly well hidden from casual view. One good note all fittings were accessible with my particular grease gun that does not have a 90 degree angle.

With the expertise of my mechanic friend Dave he found the source of the squeak in less than 5 minutes. I guess I have a lot to learn still.

The culprit was the top washer end cap for the driver side Viking shock system. You can see in the photo where it makes contact with the frame.

 

Damn Squeak!

Tonight I pulled the driver side rear tire off and redid the brake calipers with brake quiet adhesive and lubricated the friction point with grease. As soon as I got off the driveway I knew the squeak was not fixed. Grrrrrrr!