Hot Rods 1963 rambler american question?

What are you asking on the drive line? Now you have me worried about another part not fitting ? I was thinking having the right end put on when i shorten the drive line? Maybe?

 

Had a 62' in 70' with over head valve . I put valve seals on it and a clutch. To get the drive shaft off I had to knock apart the rear U-joint.It doesnt bolt on. It made for a good winter car.

 

Just waiting on the weather to break so I can keep working, I am selling the 196 motor for $250 if anyone needs hit me up.

 

damn man, i want that motor, but i'm in Los Angeles. how many postage stamps you think it would take to mail it to me? lol. if you or anyone is driving this way i'm serious i'd buy it from you. where are you? Utah? not *quite* next door...

lol, since last i posted on this site, burned up my motor having an INCREDIBLY SWELL TIME! on the LeMons Rally 2016, tl;dr instead of another home rebuild gave it to local pro builder Pete Fleming, should be back in my hands "real soon now".

as worked out earlier in this thread, the auto trans is the Borg Warner M35, a fine if uninteresting trans, and still quite repairable and quite driveable. the manual is T96, a bluntly unreliable P.O.S. i truly and deeply tried to love it, in two cars, over 10 years, but even with the modest power (mine guessed to be up to 150hp) a weak beast. broken teeth, stripped synchros, etc. i learned to double-shift, i had no problem with that. the 440 models could be had with bucket seats, console, and "Twin Stick" shifter, which is a surprisingly good shifter. the gate separate is very short, there's forged parts in it (!), tight and precise. requires a huuuuuge hole in the floor though. i have one all spiffed up if you are interested.

the 'big nut' axle is a huge PITA, but not so bad if you buy a pair of the comically large wrenches, and cut an access hatch in the floor beneath the rear seat bottom. (i now run a narrowed Mustang rear and a rigid wishbone/panhard with air springs.)

i don't blame you for ditching the motor though. it is not well known, parts hard to find, little knowledge of it. ask me the end of 2017 whether the built motor was worth it.

looking forward to seeing what you do next!

 

oh btw, though i love this little AMC/Rambler ch***is, it's not an easy thing to love. it's basically the early 50's Nash Rambler, revived in 58, then re-styled twice, through 63 model year. nothing else 'bolts in'. just that motor, the auto, the T96. engine bay is 22" wide, and short. the 232 won't fit without ch***is mods (too long). i have a lot of info on my two websites, worldpowersystems.com and sensitiveresearch.com.

but the unibody is very well done. it's very light. the front suspension is actually nice (if peculiar), it's like it was designed for air springs. the rear is typical leafs. it's an "AMC 15", aka the 7-9/16" (i think) Dana rear. build quality is superb, even interior seams almost pretty to look at. zero squeaks after half a century.

i drove a '63 as warmed-over stock for 7, 8 years, and now a '61 sedan severely hacked into a two-seat step-in roadster of 2250 lbs curb weight. much sheet metal and tube work to accommodate suspension, tires, T5z, Mustang rear, etc. given the difficulty of finding stock parts (even the freakin' GAS CAP is unavailable, noris the gas tank filler neck, which is a specially formed rubber thing, i had to fabricate nearly everything, even the simplest bracket or whatever. Scarebird does sell a front disc kit. i even made my own pedal setup (instrument panel removed). i treat it like a 'hot rod' platform and not a car to be restored, etc.

 

There are a couple motors that fit without mods, but not many. Ford 200/250 I6 does, but you still have to fab mounts for it. You'd think most fours would, but the intakes stick out too far on all but a few. Small V-6? Accessories mount way to the side, making it too wide unless you fab custom accessory mounts. Been over this before... maybe even earlier in this thread... contact me if you need more info or look for my posts in one of the 58-63 Rambler American threads.

The little Rambler is unique, but it's a VERY rigid unit body with "rails" (the "frame rails" in a unit body are technically called sills) that run from bumper to bumper. Hot rodders here.... what's fabbing a part or two?

 

I live in southern utah, about 2 hours north of las vegas. I will have the trans also if you are interested for another $100. I could deliver to Las vegas for no charge if that helps, I go there often, If i can find a ride to LA for it i will let you know, Thanks JEFF