Customs 1963 rambler wagon needs to be bagged

The front should be easy, it should be as easy as swappin' hubs on the front..

The rear I'm not sure how you'd adapt discs too... I think it could actually be easier swappin' in a disc braked 9 Inch or Chevy rear.. Unless somebody else has an idea there...

And then the booster I think you should be able to pull the old master off and put the power master and booster on.. Unless there's something I'm missing there.. like maybe the cowl on the disc braked cars is recessed for the booster or somethin'...

I don't know much about Ramblers either, just some random shit from working on a couple at the shop... Now if you had a Pacer... or an Eagle..

 

Always a SMARTASS on here somewhere. ....and we just found one.

 

Ramblon. The luggage rack is in tact. If you got creativity you got yourself a good car.

 

I think you should put a hemi in it with a straight axle up front, and make a gasser.

call it "the ramblin man"



Oh yeah those rambler 6's sound like an airplane if you run straight pipes, its hilarious.

 

it doesnt have a 6, im not with the car right now though cause im in school, i will find out what it has

 

You can use the complet spindle, rotor, and caliper set up off of a late 70's AMC Concord/Spirit. I used a '79 model when I did my 65 Rambler.

My '65 had drums all the way around..

 

Taylor, is ferndale in CA? If so there are a ton of shops out there that can give some assistance/advice. Try Alex Gambino. He can sell you the parts as well as install them if you need that done.

 

so did you have to swap boosters also?....like yours, mine is 4 wheel drum so it doesn't have a booster....what would you recommend as a donor for rear disks?

 

there is a ferndale in CA but i im from washington.

 

People ask me a lot if my '65 was my dad's car when he was younger. What the hell? My dad wouldn't have been caught dead driving a new 6cyl/auto Rambler wagon in the 60's. Some people have no idea.

 

How about another one. Well not a '63 but close, a '64....

 

if that's your car can you pm me some details on it and what was involved in the bag job on it....looks very good.....

 

If the car doesn't have a six it's got a Rambler (GEN-1 AMC) 287 V-8. The 327 was only used in the Ambassador... which you might have though. Classic and Ambassador looked the same, 62-64 had same wheelbase, 65+ (and 61 back) Ambo had a longer wheelbase.

The brakes you want for the front are 79-83 AMC Concord, Spirit, or Pacer. The older ones work but rotors are harder to find and more expensive. Just get everything, spindle and all, and it all bolts up to the Rambler. A better bet is to buy the AMC kit from www.scarebird.com. They might not list your Rambler, but their AMC kit will fit all AMCs -- I've checked it on my 63-64 models (Classic and American). You end up with around $400 in the kit plus the parts you need form the parts store, all new or rebuilt, and the parts are easy to find and will be for the next 20-30 years. Even the 79-83 AMc parts will get harder to find as time goes on, and some suppliers have been "fire selling" them and not restocking lately.

As for rear discs, forget changing the rear axle. It's a torque-tube axle and the tube locates the rear end. change the axle and you no longer have a way to locate it, so you have to build a new rear suspension. Not too tough, but if you're keeping the original engine and trans there's no need. It's an AMC 20 rear axle, and you can find AMC 20 disc brake kits. Or go to somewhere like www.speedwaymotors.com and buy a universal weld-on kit. They use either front calipers or rear calipers with park brakes built in (no park brake with front calipers!).

Bagging these are pretty easy -- as someone else said, just need to make up an upper mount bracket for the front and back and replace the coil springs with bags. This link is for an older model Rambler, but the suspension is pretty much the same front and rear:
http://www.rgkustoms.com/rambler/progress/airride/index.html

 

thanks alot, im just getting into this and i needed all the info i could get i really apreciate it! and thanks to the rest of you

 

That's cool... Not everybodies did though...

 

In 65 Bendix four piston disc brakes were an option -- a rather rare option! That's the first year they were offered on an AMC, and only on the big cars. Wasn't until the early 70s that disc brakes on front started to become the norm for everyone.

 

Is this your car? if so do you have any build pics or just more in general?

 

A second thanks guys...this info will be an immense help in doing the breaks and later on airbags! My '65 has the straight six and haven't decided if I wanna hang on to it or go 8cyl. I've been told the motor was rebuilt but have no verification of this so we'll see. Car was dropped off at the upholstery shop yesterday so can't wait to see it once it comes back!

 

If you go with a V-8 there's a LOT of work to do unless you have a 63-66 big Rambler (Classic or Ambassador) V-8 parts car and you use that setup. You'll need to build a rear axle locating suspension, but can use the stock springs and spring seats from the old axle. The torque-tube locates the axle, and if you change engine and trans you lost the tube. It's possible to assemble the parts to put a later model AMC V-8 in (67-71 model only!), but you still need a 63-66 big car trans/torque-tube/axle. The six cylinder stuff only fits AMC sixes. You can run a newer 199 or 232, must be a 64-71 model to use the original trans though. The six changed bell housing patterns in 72, shared with V-8 from 72-on. If you have a 232 you can do a lot with the six, equal to a stock small V-8 without too much money and work. If you've got the old 196 (carb right up against the valve cover, all but the top cover of the intake is made onto the head) there's not much you can do to pep it up, but Galvin's Rambler Parts (www.ramblerparts.com) does have a reground cam that will perk it up a bit, adds power/torque in the 1500-2500 rpm range where it's needed most. It would be about equal to a stock 232 with that cam, 2" exhaust, and opening up the air breather a bit. More goodies available for the 199/232!

 

awesome, im hoping you will have some pictures!

 

you are just a bank of rambler information, awesome

 

not the same year , but a bagged rambler none the less ..built this in 4 days as a joke ! turned out to be very popular !

 

Its my wifes car. It has a chevy 350/350 combo and a ford 8" rear end hung on a 4 link set up. I will try to get under the car to take some pics of whats there. If you have any questions just pm them to me and I will get them answered the best I can.

 

thanks, i imagine i might have some questions once i start the build, i gotta finish tech school first but im almost there!

 

not bad for 4 days! i plan on channeling mine cause it neeeds to be on the ground

 

good luck with that on a unibody car. But heres a little morsel for ya. i happen to have a parts 64 ambassador wagon that you might find u could use parts from and im in Tacoma WA, check out my two 64 rambler wagons in my profile

 

I know this is old but I would like to see some more of that Rambler. I may be getting one and plan on bringing it down and cleaning it up in hopes to sell it to fund my falcon wagon. Here it is.

 

Here's mine in its current form. Bagged, 4 linked in rear.

 

I have been thinking about getting new progressive rate springs for the front of my car for some time now. All this "bagging" talk has got me thinking though... why not bag the front? I have a Jag IRS in the rear and won't be bagging it, but I could put bags in the front and just run shraeder valves up in the engine compartment. Won't be able to adjust on the run, but could adjust ride height with a portable air tank or little 12V compressor if desired.

How would bags handle though? As good as new progressive rate springs? I won't be using the front to adjust for load, though I suppose I could let the front down a little if the back was loaded to level the car up...

 

Is that factory trim on the bagged goldish one?
I really like the way it looks.