1968 El Camino RARE orig L79 327/325HP and 4spd w/matching #s drivetrain

1968 Chevrolet El Camino Custom Level Trim

Up for auction is my very rare 1968 El Camino with its original 327/325hp L79 engine, matching orig Muncie close-ratio 4spd, and original 3.55 12-bolt Posi rearend. There were about 469,000 Chevelle assemblies in 1968, of which about 42,000 (<10%) were El Caminos. The total Chevelle Hi-Perf L79 engine installations were 4,082, or less than 1% of production. Although they weren't tallied separately one can assume that about 10% of the L79 Chevelle production went into El Caminos so it's likely about 400 or less were originally built with this engine. How many can possibly be left, and with their original, #s matching complete drivetrain?
I work in Portland, OR but I live (and keep the El Camino garaged) in Boise, ID. I leave my Portland car in Portland when I fly home on my weekends and the El Camino has effectively evolved into my daily weekend driver when I'm home in Boise. Which has led me to decide to sell it. Although it runs and drives fantastic, and I've used it to haul many a load for landscaping, lumber, and other home projects, with its hi-perf engine, manual transmission, manual steering, and no a/c (not even available with this engine per factory literature) it's not exactly ideal for me to use everyday.
The body is straight with a few imperfections. It was repainted red by an owner prior to the owner I bought it from. It should be Butternut Yellow upper/lower (never had a vinyl top) per the trim tag code "Y-Y”. You can even see remnants of yellow paint under the red in the door jambs. The model # is 13680 which means El Camino Custom level trim, V8 (non-SS396). It was built 1st week of February, 1968 "2A”. "765A" means black vinyl bench seat and "KAN" is Kansas City assembly plant. The imperfections consist of isolated bubbles or blisters under the red repaint at the left front fender bottom behind the wheel opening, aft lower edge of passenger door, and on the right side leading edge of the hood above the battery which looks to me like and old battery leak or rupture with the acid contaminating the hood. Also the rear bumper is damaged - zoom in on the pic and just to the left of the license plate you will see the bumper is torn and should be replaced. And lastly you'll notice the gas filler door is black. That was replaced by the last owner. I have the original (now red) gas door and it was removed due to a broken bracket and/or spring. When the body was painted red the stainless trim was removed and some, but not all of it was re-installed. I have most if not all of it in a bundle the previous owner provided to me. I have not broken it out to assess if it is all there but by the size of the bundle it appears to be. Why they didn't re-install it all I don't know but if I was keeping it, I'd repaint it the correct Butternut Yellow, replace all the missing trim clips, and re-install all the trim or procure new as required since all the national Chevelle and El Camino parts distributors have all the trim parts readily available.
The engine, as stated, is #s matching. The stamp pad serial number matches the VIN and the assembly code, V0102EP (on Chevy block pads the "1”s in the assembly date look like capital "I”s) means the engine was assembled Jan 2nd in Flint, MI and the "EP" means the hi-perf 327/325hp engine. The previous owner bought the car in 2005 with his dad while still in high school. It had already been painted red and the 4spd had been rebuilt. Photos show at the time of him purchasing the engine looks to have still had its original intake and exhaust manifolds, and maybe the quadrajet carb too. But those are long gone and weren't provided to me when I bought it 3 years ago in 2016. I have a ton of receipts you won't believe supporting all the work the previous owner and his father had done to this car. In the first year after they bought it they had the engine fully rebuilt by a respected machine shop in Simi Valley, CA where they lived. No expense spared. New everything. Align-bored, balanced assy, and a high-lift Comp camshaft with .488 intake and .501 exhaust lift along with mechanical lifters and roller rocker valve train. The factory original cam for this engine would've been .447 lift (int & exh) with hydraulic lifters. Also added were an Edelbrock Performer intake, high-end Hedman Headers, and a ridiculously over-carbureted huge Holley double-pumper, as well as Pertronix ignition. So when I bought it the "kid" was now a 28-year old man living in Simi Valley and driving his Econo-box to LA everyday to his engineering job. His dad had moved to Tehachapi and the car had been languishing for 10 years up there, not being driven. So the guy decides to sell it and brings it to his place in Simi where I come to look at it in 2016. It wouldn't idle below about 1500rpm and needed about 3000rpm to launch which he thought was normal! But once moving I was impressed with its smoothness and power so I decided to buy it. Almost immediately I replaced the carb with an Edelbrock 600cfm (electric choke), and removed the ignition setup for a stock-type '75-later GM HEI coil-in-cap distributor and installed new hi-end 8.5mm plug wires (you won't believe how many times they had ignition cutout issues with lots of repair receipts to prove it) and wire spreaders to keep them from contacting the headers. I also retuned it and voila, I got it to idle smooth at 800rpm, and normal launches are at about 1500rpm now. You can even pull away on level ground at the 800rpm idle with smooth, slow engagement of the clutch. Which by the way was also replaced with a Centerforce clutch and so the pedal pressure is very light for a mechanical clutch. With the Hedman headers and the full Flowmaster exhaust this thing sounds so beautiful going through the gears. It may not be an SS but no way does a stock 396/325hp perform as well as this setup. Especially with the 3.55 Posi. The Posi is the one thing that will eventually need attention. On normal stoplight launches you can feel it slip and grab a little. My guess is the carrier clutch packs and or springs are getting worn out. It doesn't affect normal driving in that after you're moving you don't notice or hear any problems. There's no gear whine, bearing noise or leaks at all. Just the same the carrier should probably be rebuilt. The 4spd, as mentioned, was rebuilt around the same time as the engine (all have about 3,000 miles since) and has zero noise and shifts very smoothly - no hunting or looseness whatsoever. The VIN derivative # is stamped into the top of the M-21 unit and was writtten down by the previous owner while the trans was out for rebuild. Hard to see on the top as installed -maybe a mirror and on a lift, but it is documented as matching number. The rearends didn't contain matching #s but do have a code indicating type and date built. This one is "KF1031B" which means 3.55 ratio, Posi, large ring gear, built Oct 31st (1967) and the B I believe is the Cleveland gear plant. If you look at factory Chevelle/El Camino literature the drivetrain specs show that with the 327/325hp engine and close-ratio (M21) 4spd that the standard rear gear is 3.55 (Posi would've been an option).
All glass is intact. Both windows roll up and down easily and the wing vents operate normally. The heater and defroster work perfectly. The lights all work except the back-up lights are inop. The "bright" indicator on the dash doesn't work. This may be just a lamp - I haven't looked into it but the headlights dim and bright as normal with the footswitch. The clock doesn't work but all the optional factory gauges do, including the cool vertical one-year only tachometer. One other inoperative electrical item is there is a short in the turn signal switch - I know because I put it there. The left front turn signal was inop which is important for oncoming traffic which I determined to be a fault in the turn signal switch so I spliced it to the left rear turn signal output wire coming from the switch. It works normally now except that when you step on the brake it cause the left front park light/turn signal to come on steady while you're on the brake due to that's what the rear light is supposed to do. Long story short, a new turn signal switch (readily available, about $60 or so) will fix the issue and there are no modifications to the car's wiring, except the wiring coming from the switch which is part of the switch assy. Note: odometer shows appx 42,300 miles (and works perfectly but I'm sure has rolled-over at least once - actual mileage unknown)
The spare is good and is located behind the passenger seat back which is where they go. The seat was reupholstered in 2006 also in a black cloth which although not original, looks good and is much nicer to sit on in extreme weather. Dash was replaced and is perfect and has a dash cover also. The Ralley wheels are 15x7 I believe which are correct appearing for 1968 but not original. Which would've been 14" and almost certainly plain wheels and little hubcaps. They have nice Dunlop GTs P235/60R15s at all corners which only have 3,000 miles on them. It really drives and handles nicely. Steering is tight but a bit of work in the parking lots as it's the factory manual steering. The brakes would've been factory manual drum also but thankfully the previous owner replaced them with stock-type dual master power booster and front disc brakes. They work awesome and have never been an issue.
The total options on the car were L79 engine, M21 4spd, Positraction, simulated Wood Rim steering wheel, Special Instrumentation, and probably an AM radio (which has been replaced with a functional aftermarket AM-FM radio).
This is a very nice driving car that runs very strong and smooth and of course has it's all-original factory hi-performance drivetrain, albeit with some performance upgrade engine modification, which could be returned to stock specifications if desired.
The prices on basic, decent driver 1968-1972 El Caminos have risen to $15,000-$20,000 recently and you can forget original 396 cars if you don't have $30-$40k to spend, and they made almost 5200 of those.So I'm setting up this auction as a No-Reserve and with a ridiculously low starting bid amount of $15,000 to get things started. This one has the ultra rare L79 engine. You will just love it's performance and sound.
Being a No-Reserve auction any bid is a potential winning bid. Please don't bid if you aren't serious as the winning bid is a binding contract. I highly recommend you personally coming to see and drive it in Boise before you decide to bid. Or at least get a qualified inspector to look at it for you. That's your decision obviously. I've bought quite a few cars on eBay before. Been burned a couple times on sight-unseen purchases. I know a lot of you will buy a car this way so that's why I'm so long-winded. I always try to over-describe a car I sell on eBay and leave no stone unturned so you won't be disappointed if you do buy sight unseen. Still better to look at it in-person if you can.
Shipping is the buyer's responsibility but of course I will help in any way I can such as having it ready to go or dropping it off at a local shipper. $1000 deposit required via PayPal within 48 hours of auction close. Remainder to be paid within 7 days of auction close via BankWire transfer (recommended) or cash in-person. I personally own this vehicle and the Idaho title is clear. Please bid with confidence. You won't be disappointed, especially if you are familiar with the rarity and performance of these special cars (trucks).
Please contact me with any questions prior to bidding:
Kelly ShannonPh# 949-547-0078
* Forgot to mention this is an original California vehicle. It was purchased new in Calif as evidenced by the original 1968 Black Calif License Plates (front and rear) which I have in my possession and will be supplied to the winning bidder upon completion of the sale *

• Make: Chevrolet
• Model: El Camino
• SubModel: El Camino Custom
• Type: El Camino Pickup
• Trim: Custom Level Trim
• Year: 1968
• Mileage: 142300
• VIN: 136808K163598
• Color: Red
• Engine size: 327/325hp
• Number of cylinders: 8
• Fuel: Gasoline
• Transmission: Close Ratio 4spd manual
• Drive type: RWD
• Interior color: Black
• Vehicle Title: Clear
Want to buy? Contact seller!