Rambler Wagon improvements??

Well I finally took some pics on my wagon after my buddy Doug painted some scallops on the wagon and I lowered it a couple of inches. Still in the works is a 4.3 V6 and AOD since the orig L6 is worn out. Love to drive it but the motor is soooo weak and smokes so bad its embarr***ing

 

Beautiful!

I think a little more rake would accent the rear body lines.

 

Thanks, When I do the motor I will have to change the rear as well cause its closed with bones like a 40 ford At that time I will adjust the height again.

 

My motherinlaw had one like that that was a salmon pink color when I first got married.
Yours looks a hell of a lot better than hers did.

 

Also plan on 61 Buick full covers and wide whites when its done?

 

Nice and clean .

 

Thanks, its going to be my Daily if I ever get the V6 OD in it, with A/C of course!

 

dump a litre of transmission oil in that motor and take if for a drive might just need to be cleaned out abit marvel mystry oil is even better might save yourself some money

 

Great looking car, weird, but great. I like it

 

It has almost no compression. I have the 4.3 and trans and the A/C complete, just don't have time to work on it

Thanks, I like different, and that car nails it

 

if you wanna stick with v6's a 4.3 is a great choice. good power cheap parts and cheap to get and a decent amount of after market parts

 

Love Ramblers.
Im not that big on scallops but the car is so nice it donesnt really matter.
I'd love one slammed to its nuts.Congrats, and good luck fixin' it. It will be a sweet daily no doubt.

 

thank your buddy on the scallops , good job. Clean driver.

 

Very clean look, very solid looking car, could use some improvement in the wheel, tires or hubcap dept. , as you stated , and a very minor lowering, dont go crazy, or it wont be a daily , scallops are great. Im working on a 56 Rambler/ Hudson wagon myself, wish my car looked half that good.

 

Thanks! I had a set of 14" American's and new WWW for the car. When I went to put them on the back fit great and the front won't even go on! See it has 15" wheels from the factory and the steering arms and Rod ends actually fit inside the the wheel and 14's won't go over the arm, plus the front drums have a strange concave area instead of a flat surface so a normal wheel won't work!! Soooooo I'm going with the full covers, if I can make them fit!

 

Head turners these days are cars like that.

 

Good looking rambler, did you consider putting in a 4.0 Jeep driveline???

Probably pretty close to a bolt in, They also have a 4spedd OD auto.

 

With the torque tube rear end, I would probably spend a few moments and ponder rebuilding the rambler 6, or maybe upgrade to a bigger rambler 6.
However, I do believe some nascar style rear arms could be mounted between a beefy crossmember and the rearend, using coils (or air bags) and the stock panhard rod.
I have poked around under my sons 64, and it looks quite do-able

 

Too Low??

 

Thanks for the photo lowering, looks great! I won't drop it that low. I plan to use a ranger or Mustang rear and fab up a 4 link. I already have the 4.3 and AOD and it should be an easy install. Just need time to do it!

 

Yep, NASCAR style "truck arms" will work. A friend of mine has bought some used NASCAR arms and intends to make a crossmember for them for his 66 Amb***ador convertible. If you want to go the easy way buy a G-body truck arm kit from http://www.hotrodstohell.net/truckarm/truckarm_gbody/truckarm_gbody.htm. You'll have to mod the crossmember to fit, but this is pretty similar to the Rambler rear suspension setup. A 93+ Ford Ranger axle fits near perfectly. It's 1.5" narrower than the Explorer axle. An Explorer axle will fit, but you might need deeper offset wheels. As a side note, pre 93 Rangers have an axle that's 1.5" narrower than 93+, but finding a pre 93 8.8" is tough.

You could bolt a 64-71 AMC/Rambler 232 right up to the original transmission. There is a 71 only 258, but it's hard to come by. The 72+ engines won't work because AMC changed the six bell bolt pattern to the same as their V-8s in 72. A 232 (3.8L) would be a vast improvement over the old 196. It won't bolt right in -- you'll have to make some engine mounts.

The good thing is the front crossmember on the 58-62 big Ramblers is strong enough to weld mounts to. I'd lower a 232 in place then measure the distance between the crossmember and 232 rubber mounts, then cut some chunks of rectangular tubing the right size to fill the gap.

 

Thanks farna, if the trans wasn't about to go as well I would just have rebuilt the orig 6 and called it done. I already have the 4.3 and AOD and know they are good. It won't be hard to mount, just like SBC, so it just finding the time. Ranger was the rear I was thinking of and thanks for that sugestion. I was hoping they were a little closer to the Rambler orig width though. I am really thinking I can use the Rambler rear bones and just fab a mounting pad on the Ranger rear. I'm not adding any huge HP so It should hold up fine. I hate to get rid of the push ****on trans shifter but that will have to go. I will just use a floor mount Genie with a cable.

 

I have a 1960 rambler wagon, I put a four link in the back and mustang II front in and 97 z28 rearend with 383 sbc. It wasn't that bad to do the 4 link.[/IMG]

 

I have a 1960 rambler wagon, I put a four link in the back and mustang II front in and 97 z28 rearend with 383 sbc. It wasn't that bad to do the 4 link.

 

Very nice! Trying to stay on a low budget on this one. Got a go fast car, plan on using the Rambler for business promotions and a daily driver.

 

The Rambler doesn't really have bones in the back. It uses a torque tube with a flange on the rear axle. The "bones" you see are just truss rods to keep the axle perpendicular to the torque tube. They bolt to the tube one one end and the axle on the other. The torque tube itself is the only thing holding the axle in place, well, that and the panhard rod.

You could mount a set of 32+ Ford bones on it -- that type ladder bar is ideal. You just need to weld in a crossmember to mount them in front. The original panhard rod bracket and shock mounts can be removed form the original rear axle and bolted to the Ranger rear though. May have to alter length of panhard rod. The original rear spring seats and coil springs can be used too. they are held to the axle by a single fine thread 3/8" bolt into the axle tube. Just need enough to prevent twisting and falling off, weight of car does the rest.

 

Dig the wagon bro, good luck with the new drive train, You can do it! ~Sololobo~

 

Thanks Frank, I hadn't looked at the front mount on those arms. If I can't use those I will work up some simple ladder style bars and a panhard and go with that, maybe a 4 link. Just the main focus is to keep it simple and cheap. I have a bunch I am sinking into a couple of other cars and need to keep the cost down on this one.

 

Thanks, time is my enemy!

 

What is a 4.3 Ford V6? Aren't those 4.0s? I've seen stroked 4.0's calling themselves 4.3s...