Looking for opinions on what to do with my '63 rambler. Picked it up a few months ago. It's a great cruiser, 6 cylinder/auto. What should I add/lose to make it even better? Or do I just enjoy it as is? Thanks in advance guys. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Looks nice as is. Maybe some light pin striping, not a lot. Seeing that it could use a seat cover I might be tempted to have them recovered with something with a bit of color. Nothing crazy.
I think it great as is...although if you are chomping at the bit to change something, I think that it would look awesome with skinny whitewalls and a set of supremes or similar
Looks just right to me. An AMC V8 with a T10 might be fun. But no matter what drive the thing it is very cool.
Thanks guys, that's exactly what I wanted to know. I had already removed the floor mats and dice. Just didn't take a different picture. I couldn't bring my self to get rid of the hula girl just yet! The thing drives like a dream as is, do I really don't want to add power steering/brakes. Thanks for all the kind words those fellas, I've had a lot of hot rods, but this is my first hamb friendly one. It's good to know I'm on the right track!! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
If anything clean up and put your effort into the interior. The rest looks great including hula girl. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Agree with above... really cool just as is... Only suggestion if you really want to do something to it would be maybe some mild scallops...
It is unique enough as it sits, you don't really need to do anything. Some cool wheels and a paint job when you are ready. I see you lowered it.
I had a 63 Classic back in 70, does yours have the aluminum head, if so be very, very careful about engine temp. They would warp a head if you farted near them, fill a cylinder with coolant then bend a rod when you cranked it over. Guess how I know all this!!!!!!!!!
And cracked exhaust manifolds. A neighbor of mine had one with a large crack (the manifold) years ago, and I made the mistake of dating her a couple of times. At first it was good, hot meals right down the street, her two kids to play with. But before long it was "I saw you drive off somewhere last night", and "some WOMAN came by your house", or "What races, I thought we we'd all go to the zoo Saturday". I tried to cut it off but it just made her even worse, to where she was calling and hanging up when I had company over, having her kids leave weird crap around my yard, her dog growling at me all the time. I felt like Clint Eastwood in Play Misty for Me. Anyway I never got the chance to replace that exhaust manifold, and was haunted by the PFFTT PFFTT PFFTT PFFTT every time that dang Rambler chugged past my house, up until the day she finally moved away. Some spotlights might be neat on yours.
RE-TORQUE THE CYLINDER HEAD!!! If your car is stock it has the 195.6 OHV cast iron engine. Easy to spot -- the intake is just an aluminum plate on top of the iron head. Could have a later model 232 in it -- that has a more normal intake on the side. The 196 needs the head bolts re-torqued every 2-3 years or 10-12K miles. That big iron head expands and contracts enough over time to loosen the head bolts. It was a design flaw, but acceptable in the mid 50s when the 195.6 L-head was converted to OHV. You can't bolt the OHV head to an L-head because there were changes in the block casting in the valve area and head bolt pattern is different, but the bottom end and timing set are the same on both engines. Just loosen the head bolts one at a time and torque down to 62 ft/lbs (factory manual says 60-65 -- beam style torque wrenches used then weren't as accurate as the common clicker type used now). If you don't the first sign of a problem will be over eating as the head gasket starts to leak. That big iron head will warp easily when it's really hot, and due to age and being run hot several times over the decades it is subject to crack. Heads are hard to find now. There was an aluminum BLOCK version of the same engine, that used the same bottom end/timing components. The head was iron, and a bit wider with a different bolt pattern than the cast iron block version due to the way the aluminum block was cast. So the head is different for the AL block engine, and even harder to find. It to needs to be torqued every 2-3 years/10-12K miles. The head is unique to the AL block, but the design is unfortunately similar to the cast iron block version.
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