69 El Camino/station wagon ... prove it!

[Rank]

So I got into alittle disagreement with a few friends ..... i.e.:

It has always been my understanding that my 69 El Camino that I owned 30 years ago was built on the chevelle station wagon platform. They both jumped on me saying it was the 2-door coupe platform..... they both own 65 El Caminos .... but I am talking the 69 not 65!

Anyhows I cyber-search and get all kinds of contary (to each other) facts. Does anyone know, for fact, what platform was used for the 69.

For the most part (but not always) I have read that the 59-60 was the Impala, the second generation 64-67 was the coupes platform , and the 68-72 third generation with a four inch longer WB than the chevelle was built on the station wagon or 4-door chevelle platform .

.... can anyone steer me in the right direction with FACT???? There seems to be alot of mis-information on this issue.


I have a bacon and egg dinner riding on this bet.

[flash]

Supposedly the plate cover in the bed right behind the cab is where the rear seat of the wagon would have been bolted down .Dont have any proof positive but I am on your side .I think you will be getting a bacon and egg dinner from this bet .

[Rank]

Yeah I brought up the rear footwell situation to the disbeliever and their arguement was the coupes also have a rear footwell!

My problem has been finding Proof ... alot of claims out there in cyberspace!!! LOL

[Derek69SS]

68-72:

Coupe/convertible wheelbase = 112 inches
Wagon/El Camino/4-door-sedan wheelbase = 116 inches

The mid section of the frame is boxed on El Camino and Convertibles only.
Wagon and El Camino frames are 6-1/4" longer in the rear, and do NOT curve up in the rear; they are flat.

The doors on an el camino are the same length as a coupe door though...

[Berg]

I think they are a hybrid between the 2 but closer to the wagon platform. I know someone who totalled a 69 Elky in highschool and ended up buying a wagon for the parts car. He swapped the nose and frame and even left the 396/TH400 from the wagon right on the frame with the rad support. I think he even cut out some patches out of the wagon for the quarters on the Camino. Looking back on it, I would have put the wagon together and put the dash from the El Camino in it!

[Rank]

I think you are probbably right. The 68-72 chevelles share the same wheel base as the station wagon and four door chevelle which is suspect in itself .... but I have yet to find the proof to clear this bet. It seems GM would have something on the web as actual proof but I havent found it yet.

.... all conjecture at this point.

[Derek69SS]

In 70-72, wagon and El Camino had unique front fenders that didn't even fit the other models. Wagon and El Camino kept the 68-69 side body-lines, and all the other models got the "bulged" fenders/doors/quarters.

Other than the length of the doors, the El Camino has far less in common with the coupe than it does with the wagon.

[Rank]

Wow Derek the coupe and elky fenders are different? I didnt know that, is there some kind of interchange book or something that would state that? ...

[Rank]

BINGO!!! http://www.angelfire.com/tx/lonestar...s/chassis.html
*1964-67 A-bodies used the same frame design, but different models and bodystyles utilized various body mounting, while all frames had a 115 inch wheelbase, which is similar to the 1955-57 Chevrolet.

*1968-72 frames had two different wheelbases, a 116 and 112 inch wheelbase. Sedans , station wagons, and utilities like the El Camino used a 116 inch frame, and the frame is interchangeable, except that the sedan had non-boxed rails.


http://www.angelfire.com/tx/lonestar...terchange.html And this area explains that the 70-72 Chevelle and Elky frontend do NOT interchange

................. pretty dam!n indepth site

[flash]

Does this mean you win the bet ?