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Rambler American engine conversion #2

107K views 221 replies 26 participants last post by  ramzoom 
#1 ·
:mwink: Oh boy here we go again....

You might already know we are in the middle of a conversion on a 60 Rambler 2 dr. wagon with a Mazda Rotary...well I also own a pretty clean 59 Rambler American sedan. The motor runs really good but it is looking like a rebuild is coming up so if all goes as planned we will be yanking the stock l head 6 and trans tomorrow and looking to replace it with something "modern"...actually it is a pretty cool powerplant that will provide good pick up and driveability..no it is not a smallblock anything :mwink: The stock IFS and rear end will remain in the car..I will post pics and info as we go..we are hopeing to have this one done in the next few weeks and then back to the wagon.

If all goes well I should be posting some more info within a day or two......

 
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#77 ·
Hi all,
No, the Rambler is not running yet. I towed it to the exhaust shop. We are getting everything built up and then we will be pulling the engine and trans and doing the final details and clean up. We should be firing the car late this month or early June..I do have an AMC show I want to attend and I definetly must have it done by Fathers day for the L.A. Roadster show in Pomona...We did get the throttle cable hooked up and hooked up the cold start and manual cable for the exhaust cut out. The upholstery should begin next week..the inserts look good but they are dried out and stiff. I picked up some nos fabric to do the inserts. Its not Rambler fabric..SMS wanted 85.00 a yard..I found some green nos 61 Impala cloth that will work great and keep the stock look..Most people wouldnt know the difference anyway..actually the Impala cloth looks better than the original stuff! Once the car is done I will video it firing up and running. We are just as curious to hear what it sounds like??? Look for another post next week...Thanks for all the nice comments!
 
#79 ·
Well we went over the Rambler with some compound and it turned out really good. The little car really shines now..Sent the steel rims out to get sand blasted..will be picking them up Monday and shooting them the green like the roof. Disassembled the supercharger and threw in a rebuild kit..painted the blower..I thought the fawn color looked clean and sort of a stock vintage color..in my opinion anyway..Started to disassemble the motor to get ready to pull out which we will do Sun. Motor will get detailed and completed as well as the engine compartment and should be putting engine back in next week..still lots of stuf to do! We are getting very close to firing this thing up..Didnt make the AMC show but L.A. Roadsters is looking doable...




 
#80 ·
To be honest, you'll probably get a lot more attention and positive comments at the roadster show. Some AMCers would see what you've done as making a barely driveable car into a nice daily driver, but there will always be those who take one look and scowl because you "ruined" a really nice Rambler. But there are those types for all makes! I've seen people shudder when seeing some street rods, and heard comments like "if they'd put that much effort into restoring the car it would be a real beauty" when looking at a really nice rod.

I even shuddered looking at a rod once, but it was a 1930s PACKARD!! The owner saw me and asked how I liked it. I said something like "you know, this thing would be worth a small fortune restored". He replied that it was way too far gone -- the frame was damaged, no engine or trans, it was really just a shell with no glass or upholstery, seat frames, etc. He told me he considered restoring first, but price a genuine Packard straight eight with trans. But no one wanted to give him much for the body, though a few wanted things like the fenders. So he clipped the frame and stuck a Pontiac V-8/TH-400 in it, and a custom interior. Looked sharp, but a Packard of that vintage IS a recognized Classic...

I do hate it when some rodder takes a perfectly restored car and cuts it up though. I mean a car that's worth a reasonable amount in restored condition. The little Rambler just isn't worth much restored or as a survivor, no more than when rodded at worst, and generally a good bit MORE when rodded, so I definitely don't mean you! Someone bought a rather rare 37 Lincoln Zephyr a few years back that was already restored, just needed a little detailing to show. They cut it up to make a rod. It was a nice rod, but... The guy was proud of his work and took it by the original owner's home when he was done. The PO looked at the car, turned around and walked back in his house, closing the door behind him, without saying a word. The rodder couldn't understand what the problem was, not with all the "improvements" he'd made. Even if I were buying a good car to rod, I don't think I'd take it back to show someone what I'd done to their work. Few people who restore cars understand why a rodder would want to take a beautiful classic and cut it up, making something else out of it. I can respect that. If the car had been in need of lots of work to be a good showable restoration I can understand cutting it up, but a near perfect car ready to show? I passed on several Rambler wagons that were in really great condition before finding one to stick my EFI six in. I wanted to build something, not restore, but I didn't want to mess up a good restorable car either.

That's just MY feelings on it -- I'm not criticizing anyone! I'm a firm believer in individual freedoms. It's YOUR car, do what YOU want, doesn't really matter what I think about it as long as YOU like it! I really like what you're doing with the Rambler here. Nice modern drivetrain with few mods to the body and suspension. If someone wanted to in the future they could pull the modern drivetrain and put it back to original along with a parts car, or in this case just a few parts. But I think it's a really nice blend of old and new. You made the little Rambler into a nice driver, whereas the old original 196 L-head (or even OHV six) is a bit under powered for today's driving, and requires a good bit more maintenance. Plus a few parts are hard to find, like the water pump. That's a show stopper, and has to be ordered. Can have it in a week, but there's a couple different versions and parts houses often mix them up. Took me three weeks to get one once, that's when I decided I didn't want a 196 as a DD. I was in the USAF and my hobby car had to serve as my second car (meaning MY primary car, family car was pretty much the wife's) or I couldn't have a second one -- moving three around the country was out of the question! I could stand being stranded somewhere 2-3 days waiting for a part, but longer could be a problem!
 
#82 ·
:D Your right Farna about the purists...I really dont care about them..there is a place for a stock restoration and yes alot of guys take their restoration too far for my taste..It is all what you like. If a person wanted to return this Rambler to stock I guess they could but it would take more work and money than the car could ever be worth. I recall being in my old mans 37 Ford woodie when an old geezer walked up and was mad because it was lowered and had a small block Chevy in it..other than that it was completely stock, just modern drivetrain..he told the old man he ruined the car and it was worthless..to which the old man replied that it was worth far more with the conversion than stock..Your right I would not take a Dusenberg and rod it, I would not take a 65 Corvette and flare the fenders, I even hate velour or tweed interior in a 50's car! I see alot of Ramblers "done" and most often they are goofy lookin with ridiculous paint schemes are hacked interiors..gauges loaded up in the dash and trying to look like a pro street car..these cars I dont even look at and could care less..thats why I wanted to do this Rambler so from the outside you would think what a clean little Rambler and if I keep the hood closed noone is the wiser..I would have liked to have gone to that AMC show despite purists...I have no problem informing an Rambler purists that they are a goofy SOB if they think I should have dropped 5k into doing this Rambler stock instead of 5k and having something driveable, way cooler and worth a whole lot more than the stocker.
If this shakes them up then they will probably cry when the rotary wagon is finished..I cant wait :D
 
#83 ·
I pretty much agree with you, but no point in making enemies of the purists. Just not your (our!) thing is all. In my case a reliable driver was most important. Now I find that I don't want a restored show car, I enjoy driving and at least lightly customizing/modifying my rides.

I just want to find a plain 56 or 57 Rambler four door sedan (those two years are virtually the same), install a GEN-1 AMC 327, and adapt a mid 70s Bosch EFI system to it. Rambler was the first to offer EFI in 57, but retracted it before only a few engineering examples were built. The early EFI computers (with tubes!) were slow, and it only worked well in temps between around 50 and 80 degrees. Chrysler put it on their plate later for the 57 model year, but I don't think they sold many -- if any. No EFI 57 Ramblers exist -- the 5-10 that were built were converted to 4V carbs and sold. Bendix (maker of the EFI) sold rights to their EFI system to Bosch. The early Bosch system is very much like the original Bendix, except with a transistor computer, and extra injector (basically as a "choke"), and I think one or two more sensors. I helped a guy change all the little hoses on his 72 Mercedes V-8 with EFI. There's a hose between each injector and the rail -- 16 clamps there, 4 tying the rails together, and I think 4 more connecting the main fuel inlet and return line. Might have been a couple more or less, but it was a LOT of little hoses and clamps! Now that car would be pretty much stock -- except for the "simulated" Electrojector system. Oh yeah, the 57 Rebel was the second fastest car available in 57. Only the mechanical injected Corvette could beat it at test runs at Daytona Beach. In the 50s there was a new car show down there where a lot of the new models were introduced to the press, and the press was allowed to test them on the beach. One of the big car mags (Road & Track or Car & Driver, I think) reported that the Rambler was the second fastest car there from 0-60 and in a quarter. Heck, the thing had 4.10 gears with a three speed + OD trans, and the 327! I don't recall if they tested an injected car or just the 4V model though. Only about 20 hp difference.

But your other post does lead me to ask what you plan on putting under the hood of the 65. Big block? I think I'm safe to assume it's a 65 American, not the bigger Classic?
 
#84 ·
If I kept my '65 American, I was going to put a Ford 302 V8 in it.. the 196 ran ok at best and a light blue cloud followed it wherever it went. with it holding less than 10" of vac it needed rebuilt/ replaced. off idle stumble, and gutless. idled and started easy tho, and did get me to work and back for 2 months... still got some flac for wanting the 302, but there cheap and plentiful in my area ( 2-300 can get a rotted out crown vic with a good engine ).. and the car needed major body work.. rockers and rear 1/4's were shot, but the floor and all structure was solid, and the interior was all there.. worth fixing, just not with the original 196..

sold the car to a kid who had aspirations of fixing it up, but I guess he may not have realised, AMC's cost money to fix up, as the local Mechanic ( amc nut ) told me he's trying to sell it for 1/2 what he paid.. an AMC collector from a town about 1hr away is probably aquiring it. I would re-aquire it but I don't have the time or space to give it what it needs
 
#88 ·
Yep, you're gonna have to start another thread for that one! 65 was the first year a 232 could be ordered, but most still had a 196.

Interesting tid-bit on the 65 American: you couldn't order the 232 with air conditioning. If the dealer tried to order both (seems like a natural!) AC won and the engine was bumped down to a 196/2V. There wasn't enough room under the hood lengthwise to fit the AC condensor and the much longer (than the 196) engine. To fit the 232 in the radiator had top be moved forward 1.5"-2.0" and a special short shaft water pump made.

If it had a 232 one of those little blowers or a turbo would be nice under the hood, but you already mentioned this one was gonna be something special, so I bet it's a V-8. But I can wait for another time and thread!
 
#92 ·
farna said:
If the car had been in need of lots of work to be a good showable restoration I can understand cutting it up, but a near perfect car ready to show? I passed on several Rambler wagons that were in really great condition before finding one to stick my EFI six in. I wanted to build something, not restore, but I didn't want to mess up a good restorable car either.
I totally agree with you on this one. Want to cut fenders and stuff? Make a tube frame? Find a car with a rusted out frame, or rusted fenders (they're pre-cut :thumbup: ) Save the good bodies for the resto crowd, which I sort of am- I'm a sucker for era correct speed parts and mods. :thumbup:

I really like how this build keeps the character of the car (it's hardly cut up... easily restorable) but the SC'd quad4 will make it a little screamer! And the 'goldish' finish on the blower adds a vintage vibe, which I really appreciate.
 
#93 ·
Hi all,
The engine is out and going to get detailed and final sealing in the next day or two. Buttoning up the trans with a new gasket set. Have to clean up under the hood (alot) :) Like I said before we still have lots of stuff to do but its getting closer all the time..Meeting with the upholstery guy tomorrow morning to finalize the seat vinyl color..Will have the seats back Thursday..Painted up the steel rims. Still trying to get to the tire shop to mount the front tires..still have to get rears! I am going with steel rims and little Rambler caps...Trying to keep the stock grandma econo look. I should have some pics up in a day or two..
 
#95 ·
I've posted before how cool this car is/will be, but I think you are really killing the cool look by not putting on the Polished Torque-Thrusts like you showed us in the 1st post picture. Could have looked as cool as the drivetrain is, now it will just look like grandma's old Rambler with new paint :rolleyes: . Maybe you need to look at that photo again?? :confused: :thumbup:
 
#96 ·
I went back and forth on the stance and rims...My background for the most part is sleeper sedans..I love cheap sedans with little caps..The whole "Grandma" look does it for me...I will admit the lowered stance with the Americans does look really good and would probably appeal to more people as lowered with americans is a fairly common thing to do..I just decided to go the whole sleeper/grandma route for now. I can always change it up later..its just rims and tires and a drop.
Thanks....
 
#97 ·
ramzoom said:
I went back and forth on the stance and rims...My background for the most part is sleeper sedans..I love cheap sedans with little caps..The whole "Grandma" look does it for me...I will admit the lowered stance with the Americans does look really good and would probably appeal to more people as lowered with americans is a fairly common thing to do..I just decided to go the whole sleeper/grandma route for now. I can always change it up later..its just rims and tires and a drop.
Thanks....
I love the stance and all on the first pic, but I also ove how everything will look era correct with the steelies. :thumbup:
 
#98 ·
I just like the whole sleeper stock look..I guess I thought it would be more fun to have it this way..the world is full of lowered Ramblers..yes, it looks good but I dig the wolf in sheeps clothing approach more..If I dont raise the hood most people would just keep walking by not even knowing whats up...I kinda like that :D

Heres a shot of the motor out and getting finished..not done yet though!



 
#99 ·
Rambler-

You have made a nice car into something special- I would not change a
thing. The sleeper aspect of it is perfect- The factory made some nice
cars especially later in the 60's/early 70's, but the early 60 models never
were cool. You may have changed that, as well as doubled the asking price
of any resonably clean ramblers left! Great job. Jim
 
#101 ·
I LOVE the way the engine looks (side draft induction through those velocity stacks, supercharger... some sort of 'correct looking' (if it's not you have me fooled) paint... I doubt many will recognize it as a quad four... :thumbup:
 
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