Most of us auto enthusiasts aspire to turn something that is a daily runabout into a car that we are truly proud of. It is something that is not for the faint of heart, and often ends in selling an unfinished project or giving up on a vision we once had. Danny Nicolosi however can proudly say that his daily driver to dream car transformation has come true. Danny was given his 1969 Chevy El Camino SS by a family member back in 1998, and it was by all accounts a daily driver. From getting groceries to towing a boat, it was all that most people would do with a vehicle this versatile. Danny though, had a vision for this car and with the help of his high school friend, John Franceschi, he started restoring it to what he had in mind. In 1999 they did a partial restoration with a new engine and paint. Life happened and years later in 2012, with a healthy budget, Danny and John began a full restoration on the El Camino.

After stripping the car down they started with powder coating the frame. They also added Hotchkis suspension and a Wilwood brake system. Danny’s good friend, John, did the fabrication work such as brackets, stainless steel brake lines and routing the fuel lines through the frame for a clean look.

One major constraint for them as with all good projects, was time. After taking care of the responsibilities of everyday life, Danny and John would work late nights and some weekends determined to finish the El Camino. They built a monster 509 BBC Dart block with a rebuilt turbo 400 transmission. Danny’s friend, Julio Galvez, completed the body work and paint.

Danny knew that dispite all the extensive fabrication work such as custom lemon headers, an American Autowire harness kit, a restomod dash and some Intro wheels, that he wanted to keep the original SS hood. To accomplish this, he used a duel plane intake for clearance. And with these awesome improvements it is no wonder that when he entered it in the Goodguys car show in November 2018, the El Camino won an award.

Builds like Danny’s El Camino are an inspiration to any gear head with a restomod dream. Through hard work, long nights and much determination, Danny has finished his ultimate dream El Camino. This car started from humble beginnings as a lumber hauler and grocery getter. Now it has a beast 509ci engine and has the looks and quality to blow away his compition. With a finished product such as this, Danny says that he “couldn’t be happier with the end result”, and we can see why. The engine work, fabrication work and body work shows that a lot of care went into his El Camino. So Danny, John and Julio, here is to you and the masterpiece that you have created. Enjoy the video and gallery images of Danny’s El Camino below!

Danny would like to give credit to the following people in helping him build his El Camino. John Franceschi for drivetrain & fabrication, Julio Galvez for body & Paint, and Eric McGhee.

The build list on Danny’s car are as follows

509 cid BBC Dart Block

Bore : 4.500″

ScaT 4340 4″ stroke

Trick Flow oval port Aluminum heads 

Compression Ratio 10.20 to 1 

Dual plane Intake 

( hood clearance)

Cam: duration at .050 

Intake 235 degrees

Exhaust 249 degrees 

Comp cam hydraulic Roller Camshaft , lifters , rockers etc

Stall converter:

It’s a Continental converter 10” 2800-3000 Stall converter 

No kick down switch

Exhaust: Flowmasters

3” to the muffler and 2.5” from the muffler to tailpipe. Ceramic coated 

Custom made Lemon Headers

Willwood brake system 

March performance polished bracketry 

Inland Empire driveshaft iedls.com

IDIDIT Tilt Column 

Clayton machine pedals

Ron Davis Radiator 

MSD Ignition

Hotchkis Suspension

20” Intro wheels in rear and 19” Intro wheels in front

Axalta’s Spies Hecker paint 

His preferred vendors are:

Original Parts Group, Summit Racing & Nicolosi Distributing, Dave’s Engine Machining