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1963 Rambler classic 2 door

6K views 14 replies 5 participants last post by  farna 
#1 ·
Hello I haven't looked at this vehicle yet but according to the ad in my local newspaper its a 2 door sedan withe the 6 cylinder it runs and is Rust free AZ car was recently registered also comes with a parts car but with the V8 was in an accident on the driver side both cars for $1200 my question is what model numbers should i look for or do you think the one car thats straight body and the 6 cylinder is worth a grand? i dont really want to haul off the part car the one in good shape needs to be painted and needs upholstery but is complete other then that?
 
#3 ·
'63 could have had an aluminum 6 I think, but they were not all that common.. The 287/327 would be a worthy swap tho. The early 6's were 195.6's and quite anemic and have a lot of required maintinance/ upkeep. I would not leave the parts car behind..

$1,200 is a good price for a running and driving classic
 
#4 ·
Ok so here is the ad i found it on craigslist after looking at the one in the paper. http://prescott.craigslist.org/cto/2362868540.html hope that link works. I 'am not very mechanically inclined to swap the engines although it seems both run. I just want to paint it and upholster it drive it and be able to get my money out of it if i need to. What do you guys think? I mean I 'am from the school of thought a car that runs is worth a grand and he does say OBO so he might take a grand cash when its there in front of him you know?
 
#5 ·
If your not mechanically inclined. Don't buy them. There cool cars but they require a lot of maintinance especially with the 6cyl engines, not many mechanics will be willing to work on them and even if they do, they might hack job a lot of repairs due to not knowing much about them.. And if I were to buy the 1 car, there would be no way I would leave the parts car behind. lot of parts for those cars is not available or expensive/ hard to find.. Most AMC owners have a parts car or 2 with good reason
 
#7 ·
Offer him 800 and snag them both. These old cars are the basics of engineering, you'll learn the basics easily with these cars and a few books or manuals. For 800, unless you absolutely tear the cars up, is a good deal and i can't see you losing money, even if you end up parting them out. Cool cars. :thumbup:
 
#8 ·
Yeah i used to work on old cars but chevys and fords basic tune up stuff, but i dont have the means tools or know how to swap an engine out. I just dont want to be stuck with them forever and have to eventually pay to have them sent to a crusher 5 years later. I would like to just slap a decent paint job on it and drive it on the weekend as a cool car and be able to sell it for what i have into it not trying to double my money or anything ya know. I mean I can get a decent paint job for around a thousand here. I 'am not talking a 200 dollar maco special I 'am talking a decent paint job from a personal friend.
 
#9 ·
These cars are 'special'. Truthfully, there pretty awsome cars to drive and own. The younger generation doesn't know what they are, and the older folks, remember them and some times have stories about them. But they always grab attention.. The issues with maintinance comes where, AMC did not let go of a lot of 50's tech. torque tube rears, solid lifter engines ( good for power but adjust every oil change approx ), oil filters were still not full flow in '63, vac operated wipers ect... A lot of that can be updated but some can't, and things like the wipers. you might just have to get used to rain-x...
 
#10 ·
Yeah well i live in Arizona don't have to worry about rain most of the year haha. My situation is I have a daily driver car i use to get back and forth to work. I just seen pictures of them all painted and nice I think they look cool and it will give me something to do. Just wanted to know if it was going to be a bottomless money pitt or if just normal up keep would make it a weekend or friday night kind of a car? if that made any sense at all.
 
#12 ·
I thought you said the wrecked car was a V8 car?.. 287 and 327 interchange with the 6cyls, but you would need the matching V8 trans for the torque tube which I think all car 287/327 transmissions were.. Jeep in about the same time period used AMC 327's with ( I think ) GM TH-400's that had a special bolt pattern, but those trans will not work. It would be a bolt in swap but a donor car for the parts required would be best... Just don't confuse the 327 with the Chevy 327, there not the same
 
#13 ·
I guess they are both 6's i am gonna go look at them in about an hour. Its not something i would want to do but as you said the 6's had problems so maybe in the future i would need to swap it out and i would want to swap it for a decent engine that would be the cheapest to swap as i said before I couldn't do it. I have mechanic friends though and its not like it would have to be done in one weekend or anything. So i figured since in mid 63 they came out with a V8 that it would be the easiest and therefore cheapest swap?? I don't know. Well thanks for the info and I 'll post again this afternoon after i go look at them. See if they really do run.
 
#14 ·
In '63 all the engines were still the Nash designe. The 287/327 was available since some time in the mid 50's until 1965. The newer 6cyl ( 232 CI predecessor of Jeep 4.0L ) came as an option on the big cars '64- after. I'm pretty sure the bellhousing bolt pattern between the old 6 and the 199/232 until '72 was the same, and therefor you could get the better 6cyl
 
#15 ·
The sixes don't "have problems". They need more maintenance than more modern engine though. The main thing that people overlook is that the head bolts need to be retorqued every other year or every 12-14K miles. Adjust the valve once a year (every 8K or so miles). The partial flow oil filter isn't a problem with those engines -- I drove one for 14 years and put 5-7K on it annually. Never an oil related problem, and no abnormal bearing wear when rebuilt with over 100K miles on it. Point cars need to be tuned up twice a year, spring and fall, or every 4-5K miles. Install a Pertronix unit with a hotter coil to solve that, but you still need to adjust the valves yearly and retorque the head every other year. If you don't retorque the head it works loose and you'll blow the head gasket. First sign of blown head gasket is running hot. At nearly 50 years old the heads have been run hot a few times already and crack easily, so you want the parts car if you can find a place to store it, at least to strip down the most used parts before crushing what's left.

I'd want to see the damaged right side of the V-8 car. Might be easier to use the six car for parts and fix the V-8 car rather than swap drivetrains. Depends on how bad the damage is. Change a fender, door, and quarter panel? Easier than the drivetrain since it has to be painted anyway.

If both are sixes it's a toss-up. The ad mentions "big six". That would be a 232 or 258, but those would require a different bell to hook up the OD trans. Furthermore, the OD trans is a T-96 and wouldn't hold up well to anything bigger than the original 196. It would be okay behind one of the bigger sixes as long as it's just a cruiser, but get a bit rough with it and the trans won't last long. I know that from experience! There is an off chance that the trans is a T-86, but that was the HD fleet only option and I've never seen one behind a 196 (but check -- T-96x or T-86x is cast into the side -- "x" is a letter, varies with year and model).

You can't warm up the 196 much, but a cam change and 2V carb does work wonders for it. Galvin's (www.ramblerparts.com) has a better cam offered on an exchange basis. I think he keeps a couple reground cams in stock but expects to get your core back.

The 196 is acceptable in one of those cars as a cruiser, but that's about it. Will do okay on long trips, but don't get in a big hurry. Holding 65 mph for extended periods is about the best it will do with any kind of load. With just one or two medium size adults (say 200 lbs each) it might hold 70 mph okay.
 
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