Head: Not So Mellow Yellow



Head: Not So Mellow Yellow

Subhead: This Daytona Yellow 502 El Camino is proof positive that you can have it all, a practical hauler that in a straight line, can suck out the headlights of just about anything short of a Z06 Corvette.

Text by Richard Truesdell

Images by author except where noted

Back in 1969 Hal Sullivan had the world on a string, a 1,320-foot string. Driving a injected Joe Pisano-built funny car, Sullivan terrorized Southern California drag strips in the 9-second gas-powered ’69 Camaro sponsored by Wayne Smith’s Stick City, a legendary high performance dealership in La Habra. For Sullivan it fueled a continuing life-long love affair with the Bowtie brand. Fast-forward almost 35 years later to a breakfast conversation between Hal and his 22-year old son Mike, a business/finance major at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California.

In typical father-son fashion, the conversation soon turned to cars and Mike asked, if money was no object, what car would you buy Dad? Without hesitation, Hal replied, “An SS El Camino to haul my mountain bike.” Unbelievably, six blocks later driving Mike back to the campus they encountered a yellow 1970 SS 396 El Camino, in Hal’s Bowtie-influenced opinion, the absolute best of the breed, certainly from a style and performance standpoint. The car was for sale and in reasonable condition but had rust in the bed, some in rocker panels and in the rear window area.

Later research indicated that it was 1 of 11 Daytona Yellow SS 396 El Caminos built in 1970 out of a total production of 47,707 units. (Hal noted that Daytona Yellow and Hugger Orange were not RPOs for the 1970 El Camino. On the data plate, where the paint code should be, is simply two dashes, indicating a custom color…some fans might consider this to be in a way, a COPO El Camino.) It was a numbers matching car with original 350-horsepower 396 and TH400 which now safely tucked away in Hal’s garage, supplanted with a Ram Jet 502 crate engine from Chevy Performance; 502 cubes, 502-horsepower with 565-pound feet of torque. A 4-speed automatic Buick Grand National manual transmission from California Performance Transmission, Art Carr's new company, was Hal’s choice to get the power to the pavement.

Since the car was solid all-around, with the exception of rust in the bed the El Camino was driven around for a bit but after it was hit not once but twice while parked near the Huntington Beach dog park. Hal is almost inseparable from his Jack Russell mix “Glory” who loves driving in the El Camino and on the back of his 2001 Ultra Classic Harley, which means that Hal fights a never-ending battle with dog hair. With the double dings to the El Camino, courtesy of the inattentive lady not paying attention at the dog park, he decided that a full rehabilitation was in order. “I wanted to preserve the original drivetrain and wanted to keep the o396 from going south so I shopped for reliable big horsepower with fuel injection and the answer was a trip down to Guaranty Chevrolet in Tustin where I picked up the Ram Jet 502. Best of all, when hooked up to the automatic overdrive Grand National 4-speed, it returns more than 14 miles per gallon on the highway. Of course that’s a distant memory when the hammer goes down. But then why would you install such an engine if you’re not going to use it?”

According to Hal, once the decision was made to rehab the car, things went quickly. The body and paint were done first in June 2005, next came the engine in October last year followed by the transmission two months later. By Christmas 2005, the car was done.

Hal noted that the 502 remained stock right out of the crate and was installed by McGhie Motors in Lake Forest, California. Robin McGhie is the main man there. At the time of the engine build Hooker Super Comp headers were installed. As the build sheet verifies, this was a well-optioned El Camino with factory air conditioning, power steering and brakes, the functional cowl induction hood and the 12-bolt rear end. All the SS elements are intact including the vinyl-trimmed black interior.

Color Masters supplied the original Daytona Yellow hue, which was expertly applied by Cerny’s Auto Painting in Orange, California. As the photos illustrate, the bodywork and the application was flawless.

Stance is always important when it comes building a car and it’s no exception when it comes to a car/truck hybrid. For rolling stock, and because Hal loves the look of a classic 5-spoke Cragar, he selected updated 17x9 SS Cragars at all four corners. Up front they’re wrapped in Hankook 225/35Z R17s; in the rear he selected Goodyear Eagle F1 315/35Z R17s. He has a set of MT ET street drag radials, size P275/40R17, stacked in the garage for a planned trip to the strip this spring. Based on his own experience and what’s under the hood, Hal expects that his Daytona Yellow 502 should easily crack below the 12-second benchmark. In the meantime he’s satisfied to drive the car as much as possible, including to the Cars + Coffee Saturday morning cruise held at the Ford/Mazda/Premier Auto Group campus in Irvine, California where we caught up with Hal to get the shots you see here.

While the Ram Jet 502 is a crate motor, it’s one with a difference. The Ram Jet 502 computer in this El Camino uses a marine-based MEFI IV ECM. There’s only one problem; you can’t just take it to any GM dealership for service. “Most Chevy/GM stores don't know squat about this configuration,” notes Hal. “They do not have the scan tools which is a bit of a headache.”

Hal has the best of all worlds with his Daytona Yellow big block El Camino. Hal says it offers the convenience of a pick up truck and the performance of a balls-to-the-wall muscle car. Of all the people responsible for his pride and joy, Hal is most thankful for knowing Robin McGhie. With 35 years experience as a line mechanic with GM, he knows his way around a Chevy V8 and this is reflected in how well this particular El Camino runs, bulletproof enough for every day use with the air conditioning on in bumper-to-bumper LA traffic, stout enough to shred the rear tires when the need for speed comes calling. And for the former funny car driver, that call comes on a regular basis, a chance to fully appreciate what 502-horsepower can do. Certainly it can induce a smile on the face of any car guy.

Sources

OPG

Guaranty Chevrolet

Hooker Headers

Cerny’s Auto Painting

Cragar

Art Carr’s California Transmission

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download