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Necoa #: 2321
Location: 15(AZ,NM)
Joined: Jan 30, 2004
Posts: 1168
Year: 1974
Model: El Camino
Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 1:00 am Post subject: El Camino Store and 4th gen parts
I just got my shiny new El Camino store catalog and all I can say to all the other 4th gen owners is "I'm sorry"
I can't believe how many 4th gen parts are now "disc" meaning discontinued. It's almost as bad as a catalog from Original Parts Group now. You can't even get the gaylord tonneau anymore for a 4th gen.
Hope this changes soon and ECparts.net can pick up the slack.
_________________ 74 El Camino Classic - project car #1
96 Camaro - RIP, Traded 10-16-2007
2008 Mustang GT, It ain't a Chevy but at least it's American!
Necoa #: 1971
Location: 8(OH,WV)
Joined: Dec 13, 2003
Posts: 334
Year: 1977
Model: El Camino
Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 1:07 am Post subject:
I don't think it's any of the suppliers. The fourth gen was in that time period of Jap re-cycled steel and they are rust hogs.
Also they are in-between being old classic's and the fifth gen which was de-tuned and computerized, but many are still around.
They are the victem's of a bad economic period and most of them went to the scrap yards. There just isn't enough of them to warrent re-manufacturing and all the orginal parts are gone.
I've been looking for the right front wheel well trim piece and a driver's door inside handle for five years with no luck.
I personally feel the the fourth gen's are the LAST of the true Muscle Cars. The only computerized crap is the HEI ingnition which is awsome and everyone is still using it. My drive-train was re-built and souped up in 1992 and it is still ONE BAD MEAN MACHINE!!!
If you need fourth gen parts, hit every bone yard and swap meet you can. That's your only option......the new parts are gone, forever.
Necoa #: 2321
Location: 15(AZ,NM)
Joined: Jan 30, 2004
Posts: 1168
Year: 1974
Model: El Camino
Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:01 am Post subject:
Well, I see quite a few of them (4th Gens) running around my neck of the woods but I see more 5th and 3rd gens to be honest. Could be because I'm not in the rust belt. Of course Toyota had rust problems all the way up to 1990 with their vehicles.
Parts come and go but I think in this economy the distrubutors think it's far safer to stick with a sure thing (musclecar era parts) than to offer up parts for cars that don't make the cover of a magazine.
Maybe it's ultimately a symptom of living in a country that doesn't support it's own industries anymore. Every dollar spent at WalMart kills American industry just a little bit more. Everybody is so broke and corporations are so greedy that none of us could afford to buy anything made here anyway. We end up having to go to a glorified dollar store just to have a chair to sit on. Yeah it's cheap but you get what you pay for, actually you get a lot less.
So I guess you're right, hope for the best in the salvage yards or start getting familiar with a sheetmetal brake!
_________________ 74 El Camino Classic - project car #1
96 Camaro - RIP, Traded 10-16-2007
2008 Mustang GT, It ain't a Chevy but at least it's American!
Necoa #: 4203
Location: 18(N.CA,N.NV)
Joined: Oct 30, 2004
Posts: 300
Year: 1975
Model: El Camino
Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 10:22 am Post subject:
Have you guys been checking out Popular Hot Rodding? A few years ago they featured a 73 Malibu on the cover and now they are getting ready to start a project Laguna. Hopefully stuff like this will help spark some interest and create a demand for the parts.
Although, I'm thankful that we are at least getting some things we didn't have before like the reproduction bed corners and interior plastic a-pillar trim. _________________ 1975 El Camino http://elcaminocentral.com/gallery-album_album358.html
Necoa #: 11112
Location: 9(IN,KY,MI)
Joined: Feb 25, 2008
Posts: 90
Year: 1981
Model: El Camino
Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:03 pm Post subject:
Yea, I agree. 4th gen "new original"parts are harder to find, but they do exist. I just found taillight bodies and lenses. They are made from the original "Guide Lamp" tooling. Granted, I cannot aford them but they do exist.
I have an '81 and a '73 and it is much easier to find the 5th gen parts. I still like the 4th gen more Heck, this is America and bigger is always better.
Restoring is susposed to be a labor of love so a little extra effort is expected. If you are customizing then make it your own and use whatever works.
This is my two cents because that is all I got. _________________ Old Chevys never die
. . . they just go faster
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