Hot Rods '63 Rambler Classic 550

Neat idea. I want to see if I can get the mats shining by themselves first but flex seal might help with all of the cracked a split areas.

 

Thanks! All the help and support I've gotten during this build has really sped this along. Still cant wait till it's running

 

Here is the gas tank outside the car. Kinda crusty in there but not that bad. Dad tested the fuel pump thing with a volt tester and surprisingly it works. I have my doubts though. Thing looked like it'd break into a few pieces on the first speedbump.

 

Subframe connectors are in and painted, did a shot of undercoating and fogged on some white paint to somewhat match the rest of the underside.Not the prettiest but it’s going to do the job.

 

Brooks’ painted rearend parts are installed. Hopefully for good.

 

Nice!

 

Back from Denver. Got a few bad*** parts for the Rambler.
first is this oldsmobile toronado air cleaner. I've always liked the look of this style air cleaner. But I was never able to find one online for a good price. i also got a 4 blade engine fan. I want to paint this something cool. Not just black. also got these stock sbc valve covers. going to put these rambler logos on the valve covers.. it'll look really cool. also got a Fram fuel filter. Front drum brakes all done for now. Dad also soldered the gas neck to the tank. the radiator also came, didn't get pictures but will show you when it's mounted. I'm excited about all the progress made so far. Still have so much more to go.

 

Cool! Thanks for the progress report

 

Brooks scored some good parts for cheap at the tri state swap meet. One vender dropped his price at fair amount because it was a kid buying the parts. Who ever you were Thanks a bunch.

 

Thank you for following along, I really appreciate it.

 

The three generations of our hotrod family had a great time finding parts at the tristate swap meet!

 

That is awesome! You're making great memories that you will look back on for the rest of your life.

 

Its so cool to see this family, totally involved in bringing this cool, older American Motors product back to life, and as ever, the chase for the parts is half of the fun ( or torture ). Keep up the good work, just remember, " perfection cannot be rushed "

 

Took apart some of the engine to clean stuff better. The inside was really clean. Does anyone know what these numbers mean? Dad mounted the radiator into the engine bay.. it looks really nice. i also finished up the rear seat. it'll all look good when it's squished back in the rambler.

 

Looks like the mains and rods are both .010 under

 

Looks like the Balance job number. I always stamped them on my my balance jobs. But only means something to the shop that balanced it.

 

Painted the motor today. I really like how it looks. We'll paint the valve covers once they're sandblasted. finally got a dash clock too. Now the dash is complete.

 

Brooks didn’t tell you guys that the motor color is Rambler Lancelot turquoise, sort of gives the sbc a rambler vibe.

 

Looks great.

 

Going to have to repaint the valve covers, though it doesn't show well in the picture, i ran out of paint and there are many light spots and splatters. But for the time being, here are some pictures of the engine mostly cleaned up and ready to go in the Rambler.

 

Love it, I wonder how many people will see the blue SBC and guess it's a original Rambler V8? You're doing a great job, I'm enjoying your thread.

 

Brooks also painted the fuel tank so next week that can go back in. We mounted the big Fram fuel filter on the rear subframe and started running fuel lines so it’s getting closer day by day.
We got a call back from the gear guy and got some bad new on the carrier. The ring and pinion were to far gone so a new set was going to have to be ordered but the 3.25 we wanted were not available and it was going to be months before we could get them. I put the word out to several of my hotrod cohorts and within a few days a hotrod friend that I’ve known since I was a grade schooler GAVE Brooks a good carrier!(thanks Skip) It’s hi geared but at this point it will work fine and we can change gears down the road when Brooks has saved more money.

 

The engine looks great, the paint and the Rambler emblems really does give a Rambler vibe. I expect it will fool a lot of lookyloos. I'd come up with a good story about it being some rare Rambler V8 to string along the gullible, see how far you can take them, just for the fun of it.

 

Greenblade nice project and good ideas. One suggestion I have is not to bother with disk brakes on the rear, on front would be good but not needed in rear. Use the 8" rear your Papa has and tying the front and rear sub frames together now wouldn't be a bad idea either. Good luck and keep at it.

Pat

 

Thay already built an impressive set of sub-frame connectors back on page 3.

 

Slayer you are right! I missed 7 pages of posts, don't know what I was thinking about. Greenblade looks like you are doing a great job and the disguised SBC is really over the top.

Pat

 

Thanks slayer, I was going to mention that but you beat me to it.

 

finally got some gauges for the center console

 

The fuel line pretty much done. There were alot of bends. Dad and I also got all the rubber fuel line and the tank all set up.. hopefully no leaks . Needed more AMC representation at the home garage so I hung up this beauty.

 

We are getting closer.