1978 ? El Camino Camaro & Monza dealer ads

[71350SS+454]

I think these are 1977 El Camino's and I'm sure it's a 77 Camaro but the Chevy Monza is definitely a 78 model.

The You tube ad says 1978 EC - Camaro & Monza but only the Monza is a 78. I know I'm repeating myself but whoever made this you tube vid is confusing the viewers & is not right about the Camaro (it even says 77 in the Camaro jargon) and I think the El Camino. Maybe he saw the 78 for the Monza and just assumed the other 2 were that year too. I'm almost positive the 78 El Camino is one of the downsized (or Metric) models that everyone calls a G Body.
Anyway there's some interesting shots with a camera pointed right at the computer picked suspension components and some great shots of the Camaro's in the IROC series on the road course.
Check it out if you want to.

 

[Shovelrick]

I had a 73 Elky, 74 Monte, 76 T/A, 73 & 76 Cutlass' all had round headlights, what year did they go to square/req headlights 77? Edit IIRC the 76 Cutlass did have square lights

 

[77cruiser]

76-77 had square headlights. 73-75 were round.

 

[Shovelrick]

My 76 T/A had round, 76 Cutlass had square, I think my Monte might've been a 73, didn't have it very long

 

[71350SS+454]

In 76 & 77 low buck El Camino's could still be equipped with round HL's (I forgot the name of the lower priced EC's option) and in 77 the Trans Am went to square HL's with the first Smokey & the Bandit TA's. That is definitely the best looking of the later TA's but I always thought the absolute best was the 69-70-71 Trans Am's.
Incidentally the whole reason for that stupid switch to square HL's was fuel economy !!! Supposedly it allowed for a lower front hood height and then a lower aerodynamic cd. theoretically a smaller frontal area which pushed less air out of the way.
Sure ??? just ask any TA owner how much gas they saved while matting the gas pedal and doing burnouts

 

[Shovelrick]

My fav T/A’s are 69-72 and 92ish

 

[Shovelrick]

Oh I a 76 6.6 liter 400ci T400 W/AC DD for 7+ yrs and a 84 T top 305 HO 5 spd that I put a warmed up 355 in, very fun cars

 

[71350SS+454]

Here in NJ there was very few ways around the yearly inspection sticker that had to be on the windshield or you got pulled over. So having a performance car that came with a cat wasn't happening for most folks.
They would pull it thru the inspection bay check the front end & ALL the lights run it over a brake plate that measured the way the brakes grabbed and then check the emissions & use a mirror to inspect for a cat converter then if you passed emissions they scraped the old sticker off and you got a new one and were good for 1 yr. What a freakin boondoggle money making crummy yearly POS month till you got the new sticker.
The worst years were after they came out with cats on cars in the 70's and the only way around that was not to mess around under the hood or drive an older car or know someone in a repair shop who could get you a sticker but even old cars had to pass state inspections. Heck my 71 ElCamino passed St inspection 3 times till I got historic plates for it. No St inspection for historic cars as its self inspection for them.
Funny story about inspection process on my EC. So the ElCamino is in the inspection bay and it just passed inspection but the idiot is letting it sit there running. He had revved the engine to check for exhaust leaks and loudness and its sitting idling for about 8-10 minutes, I'm watching and I can see its starting to chug and idle shitty . So he finally drives it over the plates that check your E-brake and then finally shuts it off. Then scrapes the old sticker off puts a new one on and calls me over. Offers a few words about old cars tells me I'm good to go.
As I start the engine I can tell somethings wrong but don't want to get a red "repair or park it" sticker so I just drive out of there & back to work. I can feel the engine missing a cylinder as I'm driving so I pull the pass side valve cover and sure enough there's a broken rocker arm sitting there.
This is with the old 350 that was in there when I 1st bought the EC and the PO must have broken rockers too because there were 4 extra rocker arms in the smuggler box when I took ownership from him. I made dam sure that would be the last time I'd take it to inspection for a sticker.

Luckily NJ has relaxed the inspection process now as you only have to pass emissions and a quick look over windows lights tires and such & then you get a 2 yr. sticker. Plus brand new cars get a 4 or 5 yr sticker. BUT we STILL have to go every 2 yrs with a normal DD. NJ Sucks