Cheap and fast: It’s why we love LS engines. They’re also two adjectives you could use to describe Josh Coleman’s LS-swapped El Camino. He and four friends picked up this clapped-out G-body to build a cheap, fast car quickly.

They started the project last year at the height of COVID lockdowns and intend to run races like the ChampCar Endurance Series and 24 Hours of Lemons . If you’re unfamiliar, both series run endurance races on big tracks for people with little wallets. Rules significantly limit the amount of money invested in the racecar. Lemons Racing is restricted to $500 cars (excluding safety equipment upgrades).

Josh started with a donor Tahoe—a popular budget-build method—yanking out its Gen-III 4.8L engine. He parted out the truck, leaving the team with a primarily free LS. Next, the engine was upgraded with a Summit Racing Stage 3 low-lift camshaft, LS6 springs, and hand-me-down headers. The rest is bone stock.

Josh Coleman’s LS-swapped El Camino was built on a shoestring budget with the sole purpose of having fun, going fast, and getting plenty of time on track.

An increasingly popular junkyard transmission option is the AR-5, a 5-speed you’d find in a truck like a Colorado. Using a Fab Bot Fabrication plate and a 4L60E bell housing, Josh adapted the 5-speed to the LS with a stock clutch.

Out back is a factory GM 10-bolt with 3:42 gears as the budget-conscious racing series the El Camino was built for restricts upgrades such as suspension. Up front are S10 springs and polyurethane bushings. Steel wheels measuring 17x9, with 275mm wide rear tires and 245mm fronts are another junkyard score

Overall, it’s an ultra-cheap build, however Josh believes he has over $8,000 invested in upgrades and safety equipment. This was the team’s first experience with wheel-to-wheel racing, and they’re hooked. “We worked on it as much as we raced,” said Josh. His teammates are Chris Fisher, Dale Kilgore, Hank Goranson, and Richard Barnard.