30 years!
 

No, not my wedding anniversary, I still have 4 months to go for that anniversary. Tomorrow, the 9th, of October will mark 30 years of owning my El Camino. 374,000 miles and still going strong.

Yesterday the starter was real sluggish. Not a good thing, so I went to the Interstate store, and they tested the battery, and it tested as marginally OK, but I was there, and just splurged for a new battery. Bad batteries are not worth the headache.

When I went to leave, the starter was still sluggish. Oh crap. So I drove right to the local Autozone. I bought a guaranteed for life starter sometime after 60,000 miles original miles. I have the exact date, and mileage that the original starter went but it is pretty much irrelevant now

They used to give me a rebuilt unit, and those were crappy and failed quickly. This latest starter is 100% new, not a rebuild. The starter that was just returned was 10 years old, and was 74,000 miles of use.

It weighs 900 pounds or so, or feels like it when holding it up and trying to start a bolt to screw in. The new starter was indeed 100% free to me. Just the fun of the R&R.

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On the way to get the refund on the starter a group of boys I would guess 10 or 12 years old saw me in the El Camino and two of the three were giving me thumbs up. Very smart kids with excellent taste. ;)

You got me beat. I had a 1/2T PU for 23 years and that's my personal record. The '44 Jeep has been in my wife's family since 1960, but different owners.

I fully realize I am weird, or maybe "different" (special?) in several ways.

Since 1974 I have only had three cars, and I still own two of those. I don't count my wife's cars, as they are her cars, even though my name was on the title with hers. The 911, I have had for 26 years.

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You definitely do not have commitment issues . Nice elky . Original paint ?
They did not fare well in our climate . I think they always rusted in the bed area, and frame rails from just in front of the wheel wheels back .
We had a gold 1972 when I was a kid, .
I was involved in the build of a 1970 GMC sprint with a factory 454, and helped to build a really nice hot rod 1985.
Always thought they were cool . I think we may have also owned a ranchero for a short time when I was very young

I am just going to tell everyone here that my wife and I have met Glen and his wife in person, dinner and breakfast: She is so far above Glen's pay grade it boggles the mind.

There, I said it.

Car stuff? Glen has a way...his 911 just has a certain something when you see it in person. Hard to describe but he has just figured it out.

There, I said it:D

The original owner was a Wal Mart shopper and parked at the front door. It was COVERED in door dings, major door dings. So in 2003 I had it painted with the OEM, single stage paint at a body shop that specialized in Porsches. It was the only American car he had ever painted and he said never again.

It has a very nice paint job and the guy I paid to ceramic coat it, was amazed at the paint quality.

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Now all the miles and years later it does'n not have one single door ding. I get a lot of exercise by parking at the far end of the lots and walking. It certainly does have some "patina" now with a few rock chips, but any car with 374,000 miles will have some chips.

It is not a show car, just a well maintained daily driver. My next project it to replace the carpet. I can get the right carpet package for under $500. The current carpet has some bad fading and worn spots.

Very cool. But how do you get it to hibernate upside down like that? :D:D

Longest I've owned a car is my 2003 350Z. Daughter drove it for a few years (from age 16-19), and my son will be getting it next year. I LOVE that car, but my daughter's not a "car guy" so it had a few rough years. :(

Paul, you and I both married above our pay grade. We both got lucky with great wifes.

I did recently win first place in the Porsche class at a large car show with the 911. The 911 stays a bit cleaner and gets fewer miles. Only 177,00 miles on the 911.

All that driving and worth more than you paid for it. Gotta love quality.

1000% and we both know it. Just poking fun.

You do have a way with cars. I haven’t seen your El Camino, but I am sure it has the same mix of original and “Glen” that your 911 has, which really works.

Glen, you and your EL Camino are an inspiration to me :cool:

I've own a 1994 Toyota 4Runner, had it for only 7yrs, bought it from the 1st owner with 120k on the clock, been my daily driver, best car I've ever owned!

Mileage is now only 500 miles away from reaching the moon

UK winters have not been kind to it so I'm buying up parts for a chassis up nut and bolt restoration, full respray and copious amounts of rust proofing improvements read for when it reaches 250k miles

Hope to drive it for another 250k miles before my son inherits it

So, are you starting to think you might hang onto it? I know we don't like to rush into these things. :D

I tend to hang onto things as well. Here is my 1976 Sportster that I have owned since 1979 or 1980 (I can't remember). Over a quarter million miles we have shared together. Granted, two full engine rebuilds and several more top end only jobs. One transmission refresh, installing some different ratios on 2nd and 3rd. 41 or 42 years together now... I just rode it yesterday...


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33 years with the same Porsche before I shipped it outahere.

Congrats! There's something to be said about knowing every bolt and nut...

Hey, maybe you and the kid could film this for YouTube, maybe turn this project into another Binky.

I have the Toyota pickup of this vintage, 1992 - drove it new off the dealership's lot - and I'd also like to do a respray and fix and renew a few things. Every time I think I should look at new trucks, I realize there's nothing out there that will replace it for my use. I do beat on it a little, because it just has the little 95 hp. 4 banger and it's a bit of a thrash to keep up with modern traffic, but it's a warhorse and we get along...

30th anniversary?

You need to giver her a pearl shift knob. Have a quiet drop light dinner beginning with a toast of 1984 Pennzoil. Snuggle up with her and watch a period correct tv show or movie. The Dukes of Hazard might entertain you both.

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Me and my '64 in the mid '80s. I restored it in the early '80s. Had a wonderful 327 with big carb and split exhaust. Great car I kept for 19 years

Yea, but I am long past getting to blame the previous owner for problems! ;)

Always had a fondness for the '64...nice. My mom had a '64 2 door chevelle wagon. Loved it's mini Nomad look. Alas, she left the key in it one night...stolen...trashed by a couple of punks. A shame. I had restomod plans for that car.

I liked the fleet side and especially the grill on the '64 Chevelles. Clean, flat, no bowtie. I think GM made them from '59? to '61 and stopped. Then brought it back in'64 to compete with the success of the Ford Ranchero. They produced many '65s, not as many '64s

My late father had an '83 El Camino he bought in '85. 485k+ on the engine and driveline and never had a rebuild. Was still running strong with factory compression numbers when I finally sold it to a young local guy who always wanted one.

Incidentally, my dad seemed to always blame the previous owner for problems, especially fresh scratches and dings...

Hey, another good reason to always buy used cars!

October 7, 8, 9..all have been hard days for me..cause on each of those days i have had to deal with the death of a loved one.

Ouch ... sorry 'bout that Tabs... life just sux sometimes.

Be well...

Sorry to hear that tabs. Prayers for you.

You're definitely different. When I read your posts, I read them in the voice of Forrest Gump, since you repeat your old posts so often.

So, what was the car you drove from 1974 through the 90s, when you acquired the 911 & El Camino.

^^^^ Why don't you do a search? The rest of us already know :D

The El Camino was neither a good passenger car or a good truck.
It was never enough truck for me.
I had one for a couple years let the girlfriend drive it.
Nice to see with care and light duty yours has lasted so long.

You cant beat a classic Chevy, the bodies last for ever, new ones are made out of country, but 70's and 80's chevy's are the best. I miss my old 76 camaro, you could walk from the hood, over the roof and back down the trunk and not put a crease or dent on the skin. The 350cid 4bbl rodchester carb would do massive burnouts in parking lots, dougnuts and it would plain haul ass. The massive steel bumpers would wad up any tesla-hundae in a accidental wreck, hell it would wad up a new truck, no problem, and it was fast.:Dhttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1633866246.jpg

It is certainly NOT a real pickup. It was never designed to be. Think of it as a car with REALLY big trunk.

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This is the most expensive thing I ever hauled, a $490,000 aerial mapping camera, the Wild RC-30 that we bought brand new.

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This was this spring. A load of cypress mulch, and cotton seed hulls, and several concrete blocks for my wife's garden projects.

I had to replace the front brake pads a coupe of years back, so I ordered GM Mr. Goodwrench branded pads and they cost me a whopping 12 bucks. My water pump, starter, alternator, power steering pump, are all guaranteed for life, so just labor to swap in a new part. It is super cheap to operate on the cost per mile basis.

Yea, it is a 1980s car with manual door locks, and wind up windows. No backup cameras, adaptive cruise control, tire pressure monitors, and all the stuff new cars have.

Not a month goes past that someone does not offer to buy it, or tell me about how their cool uncle, or brother or someone had one and they loved riding around in something different.

I can't image owning some generic econo-box car "plunger car". A car, no one really wants, but you have one. Or yet another pickup like 1/3 the vehicles on the road. I don't have a boat or RV to haul around, and if I need to haul a heavy load, I can borrow a friend's real pickup.

Just this week we had a 92 degree day, and I was sitting at a traffic light after a 45 minute drive, the AC was blowing 40 degree air, the engine temp was 185, oil pressure great, and voltage at 13.2 volts. My El Camino is worth more than I paid for it, and it gets more comments than my 911 does.

That is exactly right.

As soon as I don't need a 1/2 ton, I am out of the bigger truck business. The RV I want can be towed with the smaller truck. Friends of mine that I never thought would own smaller trucks are buying the Honda RL, Tacomas, Rangers and two have order the new Maverick Hybrid.

Before we went doen the hrose trail, I manged the farm with a 4 cyl SR5 and a 4x8 utility trailer. Easy day.

Great pics!

Is it for sale?:D

I always think of Pee Wee Herman when I read your posts.

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It was this. My 1974 914 2.0 that I special ordered from the dealership. All Porsches were sold only at a VW dealership in those days. The salesmen knew nothing about the 914 or any Porsche. It took them 6 months to get my car delivered. I took delivery on September 13th 1974. I had already made 5 payments on it to the credit union before it was delivered. When I got married my wife rode with me to Arkansas for a fall foliage tour. She told me I needed a car with air conditioning. That is when I started looking for my 911. I bought my 911 in August of 1995. I sold the 914 the next spring. I still miss it, but I don't have room to keep it.

The photo above is from about 1979. I still had the CB radio in it. The rear springs had finally worn out and the Bilstien shocks were stiff enough that if I hit a dip in the road, the springs would compress, but the shocks would not allow the wheel to move down fast enough. I set up the camera, and had a buddy shoot several photos, and then I replaced the rear springs. It fixed the issue.

El Caminos were Chevelle station wagons with the back half reconfigured into a truck bed.

Almost. All the running gear and suspension and brakes and such were. But the El Camino has a frame all to itself, that is longer than a Station wagon. It was a frame only for the El Camino. And it came with load leveling shocks that sucked. They lasted 12 months max, and had to be changed. I trashed them went to Bilstien shocks, and air bags. I can load level left to right or compensate for a heavy load.