cherryelky305

I am in my second year of collage and my parents got me a 1980 el camino for highschool graduation. Its sweet. It will need some body and frame work in the near future, granted it does look good from five feet away. Its got a stock 305, well almost stock. None of the smog stuff is hooked up anymore because someone accidently lost all that stuff long ago. As ive been driving it i have been fixing all the small stuff like the brake lines, radiator, ect... I am also having some american racing torque thrust wheels restored. Anyone know where i should go with this car, keep in mind that i love driving it and i will never get rid of it. I was planning on putting in a 350 some time but the lure of a 454 is begining to be too much. oh BTW its still got the 3 speed auto.

'97ventureowner

A good place to start is here:http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...play.php?f=929
There you can get ideas what other members have done to their cars, and what issues they are having. You can even post your question in the form of a poll to see what other members think. You should decide if you want to restore this vehicle or add some "enhancements" and make it a high performance vehicle. In my part of the country (Northeast), there are very few ElCaminos left. If I came into possession of one , I would probably restore it, doing the necessary body and engine work on it to bring it back. When I was younger, my first instinct was to make it a high performance vehicle, but as I've gotten older and seen how few vehicles I'm interested in are left, my thoughts have gone towards restoration. First thing to do is sit down with a budget and see how much you can afford, and what exactly would you like to do with the vehicle. Maybe you will find out that a restoration would cost too much money now, and fixing up the body and putting in a bigger engine would be a better option right now. It all comes down to what you think you can afford. Of course you can do what I have done. That is make it a high performance vehicle, drive it for a few years, then turn around and restore it. The best of both worlds .

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cherryelky305

Ive got a picture of my car now. Took it myself.

i just dont know how to post pictures. But i do have a picture i wish you all could see it.

jveik

is the tranny a turbo-hydromatic 350 or 400? other names for it are just abbreviations like turbo 350/400 or th350 and th400....

they are both 3 speed autos... the th350 has a square tranny pan with a corner cut out of it, and the th400 has a wacky tranny pan that is not any particular shape, the th400 is more of a heavy duty one, though the 350 likely can take any small block you throw at it

cherryelky305

I would go out and look but its at the shop now getting brakes done. I think its the 350. Which tranny should i look for since i want a 4 speed? I thought that the TH400 was a 4 speed.

silicon212

The TH350 has a square pan with one corner cut off, the TH400 has a sort-of-kidney-shape to its pan. They're both 3-speeds. The 400 can handle more power, but the 350 has better gearing, shift points and wastes less HP (less rotating mass). Yours is likely to be a TH350, since those about went into everything except heavy-duty trucks (i.e.3/4 ton) in 1980.

If you want a 4-speed with OD, you have two choices - the TH2004R and the TH700R4 (4L60 in later years). The TH2004R has gearing that's more or less in line with other transmissions, while the TH700R4 has a short 1st gear that some people don't like due to the distance in ratio between 1st and 2nd, but I actually like it because that low 1st gear brings motivation to a big, heavy car. Both transmissions (if before 1987) in their stock condition can withstand a similar amount of power, about the equivalent of a stock TH350.

If I was making the choice, I'd go with the 700R4. Make sure you get a later model one, the ones made before 1985 really aren't good, and the 1987 and later ones have an auxiliary valve body that makes the shift into gear from park or neutral a little less jolting.

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