Gary Countryman's
1960
El Camino
Owner: Gary Countryman
Year: 1960
Paint: Blue
348 Tri-Power, 4-Speed Hurst
My first car at 16, was a '60 EI Camino, a Copper-Sand 283, 3 speed with dog-dish hub caps & 14"tires. Before too long it was painted Caracus yellow - had a 327, from a '66 Corvette Muncie 4-speed, with Hurst linkage, 4.11 positraction and 15" tires on American spoked wheels.
The cars that followed were a '63 Corvette, '72 EI Camino, '67 Camaro, '62 Corvette, '66 Corvette, '65 T-Bird convertible and a '65 Riviera.
When I turned 50 I bought this 1960 with 348 Tri-Power, 4-Speed Hurst, 4.11 Pos. rear end and tonneau cover. I installed my wheels, from my first EI Camino, with new tires and drove this car for about 12 years, . before the clear coat started going bad. So it was time to restore, re-do the body and replace some things. The first attempt was my brother-in-law in Eastern Washington, who has a big restoration shop. Dropped it off and rode back to the Monroe Swap Meet with him. A year and a half later I trailered it home, after being bumped 2 or 3 times, he returned my $4,000 & my trade of a 1972 Ford Truck and the cost of paint and supplies to the tune of approximately $2,000.
The second attempt, I found a friend of a friend, a body and paint guy, that would do the car for $5,500 if I stripped the chrome lights, bumpers, etc .. He said he was going to make me happy, Wrong! Got it back with orange peel, runs, starved areas of paint, dirt and scratched bumpers with chrome hanging. Drove it to the tire shop, to put my tires and mags back on. The guy drops the car on the jack handle and dents the bottom quarter. After a few days I drove the car back to the shop, where the engine caught on fire, due to a glass fuel filter. The smoke rolled out then the flames shot up to four foot high!! I grabbed the fire extinguisher and put it out. The whole engine compartment was melted and scorched.
Fortunately, the insurance would cover it. I got 2 bids and the insurance approved the lower one. 5 months later, I am going to the Wings-to-Wheels show in East Wenatchee. I picked it up a half hour before we are planning on leaving. It had runs and dirt in the new paint job and the engine was poorly done, not to original replacement parts. Also, they ran it out of gas. The chrome was hanging in some areas, I took
it off and threw it in the cab. While they were getting gas, we pushed it onto the lift, because it wouldn't shift into reverse. They had tied up the spark plug wires with zip ties, the alternator was wiggling and the battery cables were Kmart specials.
We were still able to meet the gang at King Charley's. We made it over the pass, to the rest area outside Wenatchee, and the car was running on 6 cylinders. We limped, the rest of the way into Wenatchee, and took it to a shop to fix the distributor, that had fused and killed two of the spark plugs. The next morning we made it to the show.
On our return home we took it back to the body shop, to have it gone over again. 4 weeks later i drove it home, but the Tri-Power wasn't acting right. It turned out that the they hadn't rebuilt the center carburetor correctly. He would come to the shop and fix it, that the body shop people had done the work, not him! He had to redo everything over and he was sorry. But he would make it right. He ordered the parts, got them installed and the car is finally running good. It's now having new carpet installed and the kick panels replaced. Just a few things left to do and it will be ready for the show!
~ SPONSORS ~
