After a long search for an original muscle car, Gerald found his 1970 El Camino locally on Craig’s List. The car was being sold by the collector because he had more cars than garage space. It was love at first sight! An exterior restoration had been done not too long ago; it ran and drove great. Gerald quickly made a deal to buy it.
It came with vintage `70 Maryland license plates. Less attention had been paid to the interior and engine compartment, so that’s where Gerald focused most of his own work.
Despite being an SS, engine instrumentation was bare bones. Idiot lights are not good enough for a `70 vintage high-performance engine so he added VDO gages and an Auto gage tachometer. Additions of a new dash pad, Retro-Sound radio, steering wheel, window and vent hardware followed. He then replaced the original Muncie unit with a Hurst shifter. There’s a USB drive on the new radio, and it is loaded with Beach Boys and Jan and Dean hot rod songs – played for cruising and Cars & Coffee.
Under the hood, the dead factory AC was overhauled and converted to R-134. The original cowl induction air cleaner hardware was long gone, so replacements were installed, along with a custom induction activation setup. New valve covers and plug wires came next.
Just to make it all the more unique, American Racing Torque-Thrust wheels were added to set off the whole package.
Gerald drives the 1970 El Camino regularly to keep it from getting stale, weather permitting. He gets lots of thumbs-up, compliments and questions. It’s a great ride!
