LS3-Powered 1967 El Camino Is Its Owner’s Lifelong Love Affair: Track Time Tuesday Presented by the All-New Nitto Recon Grappler™ A/T
Wicked 1,000-hp 1967 El Camino has been through four engines and multiple configurations for more than 20 years.
As the car-based truck is beginning to make somewhat of a comeback, we can only look back to the El Camino as a bit of a trailblazer. Chevy’s classic car/truck is a beloved vehicle today, and like most other classic Bow Ties, has also become a popular candidate for an LS swap. That’s precisely the case with Chris Decker‘s beautiful 1967 El Camino, which was recently featured over at Street Muscle Magazine, but the story of this sweet classic is a bit more interesting than most.
You see, Decker’s 1967 El Camino – the subject of this week’s Track Time Tuesday presented by Nitto – has been in his possession since he was a here 16 years old. That means he’s owned it for over 20 years, and during that time, the car has changed multiple times and been powered by a built 350, a 427, a 523 cubic-inch big block, and finally, a 376 cubic-inch LS3 crate motor rated to produce 525 horsepower out of the box.
Decker mated his LS3 to a Tremec T56 manual gearbox and simply enjoyed that for a while, but soon got the itch for more. That led to swapping in a Texas Speed Stage 3 cam and a multi-port EFI setup, which netted him 538 horsepower on the dyno. That obviously wasn’t enough, so Decker soon picked up a Whipple 3.0-liter Gen 5 supercharger and had the engine completely machined and balanced to prepare it for the power adder.
That was enough to propel output into the four-digit range at the wheels, which makes it one heck of a fun car to cruise around in, though it’s also perfectly mild when you aren’t trying to win races. Decker has also fortified the undercarriage to help put that power down with an array of upgrades including tubular control arms, QA1 coilovers, and sway bars. The Elco rolls on a set of 18-inch Weld wheels wrapped with Nitto 555 tires measuring 245/40 up front with 555R 305/45 rubber in the rear for a bit more traction.
Decker’s lifelong love affair with his 1967 El Camino is one that’s been ripe with change, but he’s clearly pleased with the current state of his classic muscle car/truck. It looks awesome, goes like heck, and is downright tame when the situation calls for it, and that’s the perfect combination in our book.
Photos: Street Muscle Magazine by Brian Havins
Join the LS1Tech forums now!
