So there are TWO Rambler wagon builds with Corvair fronts going on the HAMB now. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/mish-mash-nash-52-rambler-wagon.1291532/page-11
nice project, always wanted to convert a wagon to a two door. got a 67 project two door post car i hope to get back to soon.
Wow! progress on the rambler?? Has hell froze over? Couldn't tell ya, but I did crank up the stove saturday morning. begin to take stuff off the car, and decided to start working on the driver side. My goal? weld in the fillers to connect the corvair crossmember to the original rambler rails/inner fenders I busted out some fillers (1/8 for most of it, 3/16 to cap the original rails.) Once I dis***emble the front end again to paint it, I'll clean up the cuts above the A arms . Now bear with me, this next photo is ugly. whoever torched this crossmember out of the car it was in, really hacked it up. luckily he didn't hurt any structure, and with some (mostly) cosmetic work it will be easy to patch up. but you can see most of the bracing I installed here, I boxed it all into the original structure so its stout. I took more photos when I did the p***enger side. with all the templates from the other side it went pretty quick. Clean metal... Cut metal... Bend and fit, then weld it up! Its not pretty weld, but it was hot, and its good. more of the same on the front... I think this little formed piece added a bunch of structure to it. And before I knew it, (8 hours later) I was done! the A arms are at different angles cause the driver side is hanging, and the p***enger is bolted to a wheel. I had to throw a wheel on cause, I mean, look at it. On sunday, after church, and selling the Vega wagon I bought to flip, I went back out to the shop to get some suspension in place. I installed my mustang 2 Coilovers, and quickly was annoyed by the lack of ability to get the top nuts on. I think it will get easier once I drop a motor in it. till then, I cut these tubes to keep the studs in line with the holes. Onto the rear. I did some rough figuring and It looked like I was gonna need like a 4 inch block. so I built one. I didn't bother finishing them cause I figured I would have to take it apart multiple times (I was right) But with them installed, and a rim that has too much backspace, and a tire that too big, it sits... low. Sorry for the dark pictures, its a black wheel and a black tire in the shadows. its good, but it might be too low for the rear. I need to get the other side sorted, and find a wheel that will actually bolt on. I cranked the brightness up so this photo is ugly, but you get the idea. The nose is about 2" high right now, and the steel front wheels are 1" too far in. I need to put the front tires on my 5 spokes, so I can get a better idea of the front. then buy tires, and steal the rear wheels back from my roadster. It's getting somewhere, after being a shelf for far too long. stay tooned! .
Finally! Another rambler update! I have been trying to get some stuff lined out for this project, mainly revolving around finding the right rear tires for the car, I knew I wanted as tall of a rear tire as could fit, and although the rambler wheel well is small, I wanted to use all of it. I tried to fit a 235/70/15 and it hit everything, but the 215/70/15 I had on hand looked like a tiny rubber band tire. so the search was on for a set of 225/70/15 rear tires, as from my calculations and measurements, that would be the ticket. A set was found from a buddy that were near-new takeoffs from a truck he bought, and I picked them up for welding some stuff together for him. After peeling the "mags" off my roadster, I had the tires swapped onto the 15x7 TTO's that I ran on the rear. I also pulled out another set of tires I previously had on the set of steel mockup rims, and put them on the 15x5 TTO front wheels. with that done, I figured I would mock up the rear and see how bad my 4" blocks were. When I dropped the jack down, the tire nearly bottomed out on everything. Looks cool doing a wheelie. but another issue was the spring plate, and outside u bolt were crashing into the tire on the bottom, not allowing it to turn. so I jacked the car up and looked at 1", 2", and 3" taller ride heights, and determined that 1" blocks would probably be the right choice, figuring the springs will probably settle another 1" or so. so, apart came the rear, and I cut apart the blocks I had made, and used the 4" tubing to jig the new blocks onto the saddles, welding then in place. And after waiting for a little bit, willy showed up to help me get the rearend wrestled out from under the car. I had to grind off the remainder of the factory spring saddles, and get it cleaned up to be bolted together. and with a lot of sparks, some cursing, and grunting we got it back in place, and put wheels on it. Then we ROLLED it out of the shop! The rearend sits killer. the 225/70/15 is the absolute biggest tire you could install in the stock place, and the factory narrow width S10 rear is spaced perfect for the 15x7 rear wheels. I got really lucky. As you can see the front still sits high, and for some reason the rear p***enger side settled down more than the driver side. Hopefully my next installment will be, "making the front end less nosebleed" you'll see it here. but you could see it in person at my open house! June 28th! The front end WILL be lowered by then. Guaranteed. .
from my experiences over the decades, it's gonna drop further before you're driving it. Hard to say which end will go down how much more...just that it will....so I don't get too worried about ride height until the car is all done. Looking good!
Using spring that aren’t brand new sure helps, I think my 46 settled about 3” front and back at least over the years sitting on new springs front and back. Progress looks good! I’m sure even putting a full motor and transmission in would drop that front end quite a lot
he might have something besides springs up front, it's pretty common to mock the front suspension without springs, and with threaded rods where the shocks would go, then later install the springs and see what happens.
thanks guys, The front has way too stiff of front springs right now on the coilovers, (600#) that I bought because they were super cheap. I have two sets, so I'm not worried about cutting a set of them up. I'm sure once it has a motor it will go down, but the springs are so stiff I cant even put the top nuts on them. so I'm gonna cut this set up and use them for mockup, then when the car is done I'll weigh it and try to get close to the right spring rate. the rear on the other hand should probably be about right once I roll it in and out of the shop a few times. I may have to install some air shocks to keep it up with a car full of people, but it shouldn't be too bad. all day at work I've been staring at that rear 3/4 view. I'm gonna try and bust the front springs down tonight. .
Good plan. while your under there throw a hitch on it that and the air shocks you can drag a roadster along on family adventures
haha nah, I don't wanna try and haul anything heavy with a no frame- unibody car. I might be convinced for a small pop up trailer.
OH BABY. its good. I whacked the coilover spring down by one full coil. I think it went down quite a bit just having a pigtail instead of a flat top. for some reason the driver side sits a half inch higher than the p***enger side. I've gotta take all the junk outta the back and see if its weight distributed weird or something. I may also have to lower the rear end another inch if it doesnt sag down. the rear 3/4 continues to not disappoint. The plan for the weekend is to pull the front clip parts out and mock them up. Dang I like it. .
well I had time over the weekend. and boy it got better. I didn't like how dark the rear wheels were, but since they are just Graphite spray, I used a little carb cleaner on a rag to wipe it off the outer rim. much better. I also sprayed the front wheels, and cleaned the rim. In these pictures, the driver side is still a half inch or so taller, but it has since settled down to almost level side to side. I'm still thinking the rear will need to come down an inch once everything else is done, but for now its good. Then it was time to dig out the rest of the front clip. I mocked up the front bumper and boy was it crooked. So I beat it over some wood and made it better-ish. Its got a solid 3.5 inches at the lowest point. I swept the shop out for the first time in a long time, and rolled it back in. I cleaned and sprayed the other front wheel with graphite, cleaned off the lug nuts and stuck on a center cap. (looking for aluminum ones, if anyone is holding) Its really coming around, I need to re-install the rear window and give it a bath. I wanna work more on it, but I really need to finish cleaning the shop. OPEN HOUSE JUNE 28th! .
Well I couldn't help myself . I had to clean it up. I had a buddy come over and help me push it down from the driveway so I could wash it with the hose. boy, I got a bunch of dirt off it. a bunch of scrubbing later... After it dried a bit, we pushed it back up the hill, and back into the shop. I then took some time to clean the windows, and I even used some spray wax on the roof. The roof shined up really nice. I've been toying with the idea of some sort of matte clear on the lower parts. but that's way down the road. now back to work. .
I was about to suggest a cheap winch or even push vehicle vehicle for all these project vehicles but then realized that’s what this is
Thinking of American manufacturers and their signature color schemes, AMC was Red, White and Blue. With the White roof already and a bunch of Blue on the window frames and body, an artsy dude like yourself should be able to come up with a way to incorporate Red into the lower half to cover the bad stuff. Just try not to go too 80s swoops on it!
I've thought many times about a mount on the back wall a winch for dragging cars in, unfortunately, its not right by the house that's hard to move cars, cause my driveway is flat, but out in the yard 20+ feet away from the garage. I've struggled with the idea of shooting some white on the rusty hood and p***enger fender, but I've decided I'm just going to leave it as-is. The patina is good enough, that I think adding to it would look cheesy. .
CLR might remove the rust, & let whatever paint is left underneath, show through. ??? I hate rust... I still think the AMC red/white/blue scheme of the Sc/Rambler(& bits) would look good here. 1 of none, my kinda rig, . Marcus...
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