1985 El Camino, Conquista being sold from an original owner

Chevrolet EL Camino

Conquesta Model, 1985

Please read thoroughly before considering a purchase!

This 1985 El Camino is for sale by me, the original owner! First thing first.... It is in rough condition, although looks "fairly" good from the outside! It has never been wrecked, but rust had made it a victim of the elements, since it spent its'34 years outside in 2 driveways in Florida! I purchased this car brand new, taking delivery on November 13th, 1984 from a local Jacksonville, Florida dealer. I have all the brochures, (even some from earlier model years), owner's manual, purchase documents, dealer documents and a complete file of earlier maintenance occurrences and receipts. I even have an unused set of keys, and used spares. This car has been parked for several years, until now.

I have repaired most of the exterior rusted areas, not with body putty, but aluminum sheet metal and aluminum rivets, and I used a product called "Steelstick," which is a mastic epoxy, which was used mainly on the firewall and at the left door attachment area, to seal holes where rain water was entering the driver's side floor board area below the dash, onto the carpet. No leaks were on the right side. The carpet on the left is ruined, but for marginal improvement, I spray painted the bad areas of the carpet, and have new front mats over both sides. The rear carpet on the driver's side may get damp with a hard rain.

The engine cylinders still have amazing compression in all cylinders, ranging from 175 psi to 190 psi, averaging 182 psi, plus, even after 5 minutes with the compression gauge still connected, there is only a 5 psi drop. After I bought the car, having only 132 miles on it, I did an 8 cylinder compression check as a "benchmark”, and the cylinders ranged from 204 psi thru 220 psi back on Nov 17, 1984. Therefore, even at today's 182,078 miles on this car, the current pressures are still remarkably good! The Rochester, E4ME 4 barrel carburetor could probably use a cleaning and calibration. However, I added a bottle of "Mechanic in a Bottle" in the gas tank for help in the cleaning category.

Another negative is that when the original transmission (200C) was replaced (twice), I then replaced it with a 700-R4 from Craig's List with the seller saying that it "shifted perfectly" when removed from his car. I had waited more than a year before I installed it, not knowing that 2nd and 3rd gear does not come in. It shifts from 1st to 4th gear when 24 mph is reached when accelerating rapidly, and at 28 mph with gradual acceleration. However, this could be that the "Torque Converter Clutch Solenoid" is not being energized. I purchased and I installed the proper "speedo drive gear”, based on my tire diameter, along with new seals and bushings. Furthermore, in order for me to fit the 700-R4 into the drive line, I had to cut and shorten the drive shaft a small amount and re-weld together. Also, a custom transmission bracket had to be crafted and installed because the original mount would not accommodate the 700-R4. Also, this bracket hangs 1-1/4" lower than the pan, but equal to the exhaust pipe. Therefore, the shortened drive shaft would only allow another 700-R4 in place, without finding another El Camino drive shaft. I have the original bracket set for the 200C transmission, plus another bracket.

Back in 1999, I converted the old R12 refrigerant over to R-134A and installed a new receiver-dryer and compressor back then. AC system works, but has a leak-down. I just re-charged the system again. Interior air is blowing down, but not straight back since the control lever for the settings is not diverting the air flow.

I put in a new Alternator and Starter a few years back, but they only have 23 miles on them, and currently have new battery cables in place. The battery was new in 2017, but has little use on it. Also, not that you would use it due to age, but one of the 2 spare tires is a factory original Good Year "Vector" tire, where those factory tires that were on the road gave me 55,000 miles of use by the time I was ready to replace them. The set of 4 current tires have 3,981 miles on them. The front brake pads have plenty life on them.

I tightened the steering wheel column components to original specs. A while back, I also replaced the relay rod (drag link) recently and had changed out the power steering gear 800 model a few years back, and it has low mileage on it. So, the steering has no slack now. The steering alignment is correct and the vehicle tracks properly! The front brake pads have very little wear on them due to a change-out. The headliner and visors need recovering again. The tailgate works, but is slightly bowed out due to an overload.

Some of the gauges are not working. Some could be the sending units or connection problems in the engine compartment. The Tachometer pegs maximum with ignition on. The Volt Meter works. The Fuel gauge works. The Temperature and Oil pressure gauges are not working. The Clock works, but you can't mechanically reset it. So, you would have to disconnect the car battery until the clock's "frozen" time matches current time, then reconnect the car battery again. The Speedometer and Odometer work fine. The radio / tape player unit is inoperative. A pop or ping is coming from the differential at times, with some rotational slack. The oil level is full in that unit, as I just checked it.

I replaced some of front brake lines 23 miles ago, and also have a new "front transverse brake line" available (because I bought the package), but did not replace it because the old one was not as bad as the others. The windshield wipers work, but the washer pump/motor assembly is missing, because somewhere in the past during either a new set of tires being fitted, or an alignment job, a mechanic must have stolen that unit. I just noticed this recently. A purchase of this vehicle also captures my original GM Factory 1985 Shop Manual that I bought when the car was new. It is worn with notes and markers used for my self-service and repairs over the years. This manual alone is worth at least $100. I have a few parts that are included with the car. As information, there is a company called "Ecklers" (ElCaminoStore.com ) that carries some new parts and accessories.