I just picked up a 1965 Rambler American 2 Door Post. It needs very little but the stuff it does need is hard to find. The sheetmetal is great except a small hole in the trunk. The windshield is broken and some of the interior trim is missing. The shifter for the three speed manual column shift is jacked up but the engine runs well and the trans seems fine when you can find the gears. I found a 1964 Rambler American 2 door hardtop that I can get cheap. My question is, what parts can I interchange and what parts can't I . Obviously the rear passenger windows are out since mine is a post and the parts car is a hard top. Can I swap the windshields? What should I pay for a parts car. The body is shot but it has a lot of good mechanical parts, trim and glass. The bumpers look better too. Can I swap those out directly? Any help you guys can offer will be appreciated.
What you need is access to an earlier Edition of the Hollander Interchange Catalog. These are reprinted and readily available, not like the old days when we had to find real ones, overpriced real ones.
You would do well to join AMO, join their community and attend the AMO Nationals - this year in Illinois... http://theamcforum.com/forum/34th-amc-natiOnals_topic35650.html http://www.amonational.com/chapters.htm https://hollanderinterchange.net/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=30&osCsid=968cc9bb6ba01caf6a6cf75defc4283e
check out a web site called planethoustonamx run by a guy named Eddie Stakes. mostly geared to AMX and Javelin but lots of good AMC info. Eddie is an AMC fanatic and is always quick to answer a question or put you in touch with someone who can.
You can have this old turd of a piece for free if you come and get it. Its out of an AMC Pacer. I just took it out of my 46. Its going to sit in my driveway for about another 2 weeks and then its going to the crusher!
If I had a way to Joisey, I'd be headed today. I've accumulated just about everything to rebuild the suspension...springs are the same as a 4.3 Caprice...and you can substitute a Mustang rack for that rare factory Saginaw piece. I'm planning to put my Pacer IFS under my '52 International; if I had a second one, it'd go under my '51 International.
An intro is an introduction. You do it by telling us about yourself, your cars, where you came from. Pretend the HAMB is a big garage and you just walked in off the street. You have to let us know who you are before you sit down and crack open a cold one. But don't post it here, post it in the intro section... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=18 And welcome.
Most parts from any 64 or 65 American will interchange. The only differences are obvious -- four door and two door doors and rear quarters, for example. Mechanical parts will fit from 65-69 models as well. Many parts from a 63-66 Classic will fit, but most body parts won't. The exception is doors from 63-64 Classics are the SAME as 64-65 Americans. The window frames bolt off and are different though -- steel on Americans, Aluminum on the Classic. I don't think the frames will interchange, haven's tried it. That was one way AMC tried to reduce costs in the early days -- same doors for all models. The American rear wheel well on four doors comes right up to the edge of the door, there is about a 2" wide panel between the wheel and door edges on the bigger Classic.
farna, the frames interchange i took the aluminum frames from a 990 station wagon and put them on my american, i kept all the side glass from that parts wagon too, just incase
That's good to know! Guys, this is JUST for 63-64 Americans interchanging with 63-66 Classic/Ambassador frames. Might interchange with 65-66 Americans, but there were some changes to the American sheetmetal in 66... might not. The big cars changed to a totally new body in 67.