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General Motors enthusiast and OPGI Customer Erick Sanchez of Seal Beach, California lives very near the Original Parts Group headquarters, so it makes sense he would take advantage of that proximity when it came time to restore his 1971 El Camino. In Erick’s own words he admits that “OPGI parts made it all happen!” Erick purchased so many parts at OPGI so often that he nearly became a regular fixture in the showroom during the two years it took to complete the car. In the process, Erick also befriended Jorge Lopez, OPGI Sales Associate and Technician, who began advising Erick on how to best complete the work on his prized ’71 El Camino.
Erick wanted his El Camino to be as close to a Super Sport El Camino as possible without making it a complete SS clone. Toward that end, he utilized a variety of SS parts in the buildup, including an SS hood, SS-style wheels and a complete SS dash and gauges inside. Add the black SS-style stripes over the Chevy Lime Green exterior and the result is a unique SS-style El Camino without any SS badging. The El Camino looks great today of course, but it did take two full years of work to get it into shape.
Erick says that “pretty much everything” on the exterior of his El Camino came from OPGI including all of the trim, the wheels, glass, bumpers, bezels, wheel moldings, door moldings, bed moldings, weather stripping, sheet metal and the grille. The once-green interior was changed over to all black, and again, Erick says “Everything is from OPGI” including the carpet, headliner, window cranks, knobs, steering wheel, door panels and seats. The stock dashboard was also tossed in favor of a complete OPGI SS Conversion Dash Kit (Part #CH28301 for 6500 RPM red line tachometers) that Jorge helped Erick install. In fact, the OPGI video tutorial covering the installation of an SS Conversion Dash Kit was filmed using Erick’s El Camino. The complete SS dash conversion is an extensive procedure and includes the following components: dash housing assembly, glove box door, ash tray, lower steering column cover, instrument cluster lens, plastic gauge housing, metal gauge backing, printed circuit board, speedometer, tachometer, amp gauge, temperature and fuel gauges, clock, forward lamp harness, dash harness, ground strap, brake warning lens, and dash lamp socket. You can watch Jorge perform the dash installation (in four parts) using Erick’s El Camino on the Original Parts Group, Inc., YouTube channel. Part 1 of the installation can be found at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O0fC8MWntY
There are more OPGI parts on Erick’s El Camino that can’t be seen as easily as the obvious interior and exterior upgrades including: full front and rear suspension rebuild kits, springs, swaybars, fan shroud and power brake booster kit. Other parts include a Chevy 350 crate engine along with an Edelbrock 4-barrel carb, Hooker headers and MSD ignition. The exhaust system is from Flowmaster and the immaculate Chevrolet Lime Green paint was sprayed by Mark Aquino. Looking at the completed restoration today, it is fair to say that everything turned out to be just about as perfect as an El Camino fan could desire.
1971 Chevrolet El Camino
Erick Sanchez, Seal Beach, California
Chevrolet 350 V-8
Chevrolet Lime Green paint
Turbo Hydramatic 350 transmission
Super Sport 15” wheels
BFGoodrich Tires
