| Author | Message | ||
     Ebutch |
Hard to find now and expensive $$$$$$$$$$ Remind me of Dodge Coronet.  jpeg{842234,}  But after Army 1969 was heavey into 5 BSA MC Lightnings , Rocket Three.Those days $1180 for a new bike.Rocket III $1780.But the Rebel was Real Nice.  (Message edited by ebutch on December 26, 2018) | ||
| Ebutch |
https://www.autobarnclassiccars.com/vehicles/379/1 967-amc-rambler-rebel-sst It can be had.----- https://www.autobarnclassiccars.com/vehicles/379/1 967-amc-rambler-rebel-sst | ||
| Glitch |
I had one back in the 80s, when it was an 12 year old car. I bought it for $1500!!! Also had a Javelin AMX, but my very first car was a Gremlin X. My Dad only had AMC until they went under. | ||
| Glitch |
Remind me of Dodge Coronet. Had a 66 that I had when I met Ann, it was our "first date car" | ||
| Loose1 |
I want a scrambler. A survivor barn find was found in ND a few years back with new correct alum fenders. They were asking like $20,000. on craigslist. I said that was cheap. It was later for sale for $60,000 | ||
| Cmmagnussen |
AMC made some beautiful hardware. Dream car would be a 78 Gremlin GT with a 401 swapped in. Still need to find another SX/4 in the meantime | ||
| Ourdee |
It was so easy to swap their motors. I swapped a 390 for my 304 in a CJ5. | ||
| Mnscrounger |
Okay this thread hit a nerve, so this will be officially my longest Badweb posting. I was 18 when I bought my AMX in 1983. I sold it in 2002. I'm reposting here a Facebook story I wrote about the car October 2016. I hope you enjoy it. Reunited: I've been meaning to post this story for a while. Last month I took a ride on the Buell down to St Peter for their annual car show. I had talked to Doug Rolloff, the current owner of my AMX, back in June, and he mentioned he might bring it out for that show. I sent him a note via Facebook the week before to see if he still planned to bring it, and if so I would make the trip. His reply was that he hadn't planned to bring it, but since I had contacted him he would. Sunday morning I asked Debra if she would like to take ride. It was a beautiful September day about a week before our anniversary. She knew I had intended to go come hell or high water, but she had worked the night before and wasn't up for a 9:30- 10:00 departure. I arrived in St Peter about 11:00, parked the bike across from the entrance, and paid my $5.00 at the swap meet gate. Once inside, I admired a nice looking 71 Torino GT project on a trailer, with no motor, transmission, or interior. I thought to myself “just a little body sculpting work by the rear quarter windows and that would make a passable base for a Road Warrior style Interceptor. The whole front end is just a fiberglass kit anyway, so all that's left is a right hand drive conversion, a couple spoilers and a 6 ![: ]](http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/clipart/ohwell.gif) 1 blown small block Ford 351C. “ ( easy huh?) I came back to reality and continued on through the swap area. I didn't see much else to spark my imagination, and I didn't bring more than $25.00 anyway so dreaming was all I was going to do. I worked my way into the show cars and saw some fine examples of American auto manufacturing. And a few examples of missteps. The Ford Pinto, an Edsel, a Vega and a couple K cars. One K car jumped out at me. I had completely forgotten about the Dodge Rampage. A cute little 4 banger, front drive answer to the El Camino. I talked with the owner and he conceded the fiberglass topper was probably worth more, due to it's rarity, than the entire car. I moved on for a few more rows spotting some really well done Camaros, Fairlanes, GTOS and a 56 Pontiac Chieftain wagon, and a few others. Then I rounded another row, and there it was. Sitting with a vacant spot on the right side, was the car I hadn't seen for years. I had seen pictures sent by Doug a few years ago, but I had not seen the car in person for nearly fifteen years. I looked to see if Doug was around but no luck. Being a hardcore enthusiast for more than just AMC, I presumed he was in the swap area, or meeting up with old friends. I got married to my high school sweetheart, ( still am ) so this next reference isn't quite right for me, but I think you'll get what I mean. It was like going to your high school reunion, and finding out your first love is still smokin' hot after all the years. ( Okay, it's accurate in that I still find my first love smokin' hot too.) I immediately got what I can only call first date jitters. I was nearly shaking as I approached the car. It was gorgeous in it's new paint (A tribute to the 106 FIA land speed/ endurance records set by Craig and Lee Breedlove in January 1968.) THE cardinal rule at a car show is you do not touch the cars without the owners permission. I taught my kids how to walk around a car when they started walking, and they know what a “car show walk” is to this day. ( Hands behind your back, no food or drink, collect your shirt tails, and cover our belt buckle if you lean in for a closer look.) I walked around and around the car admiring it in the afternoon fall sunlight. The hood was open, and I admired the detail work done on the engine compartment. Obviously done while the motor was out of the car,.All the evidence of the Rust Oleum, engine bay spray job, I had done to make it “presentable” for the AMC National Meet in 1988 was gone. That event was hosted right here on the Fort Snelling polo grounds, a stones throw from my workplace. The polo grounds are gone today, replaced by softball fields. A lifetime of memories came flooding back. I began to remember every detail I had tended to. I looked closer at the engine paint. Sure enough you could see where the clear coat had bubbled in places from the antifreeze blowing out of the original radiator as I pulled onto that show field in 1988. All my work the weeks before negated. I replaced the radiator that very evening with a three core I bought in the swap area, but the hood would remain closed whenever the car went out from that day on. I looked at the hood. On the underside, I could see a faint depression above the air cleaner. I had closed the hood a forgotten Craftsman 3/8” drive ˝” twelve point socket laying on the air cleaner in summer of 1990. When Doug had the car repainted, he saw to it that the top was smoothed out, but I can still see the mark underneath, and I still have that dammed socket. About that time a gust of wind came up from the South. It must have been fate, because it blew the trunk lid, which had been left ajar but nearly closed, wide open. It was as if the spirit of Dick Teague was inviting me in for a closer look. The original hunter green trunk interior was now the same blue as the outside of the rear of the car. Only a small speck of green showed through a paint ding just by the lower deck lid catch mounting. I leaned in and looked at the left tail light. The butt splice connectors from replacing the bulb sockets in the summer of 86 were still there. There is a hilarious story about the Bloomington police, a brief “ high speed pursuit”, and that light socket, But I dare not share it in so public a forum. It was probably best that Debra didn't join me that day. Although we spent many evenings and weekends in the garage working on this or that, (It was her holding the biggest screwdriver I had, to a piece of sheet metal against the floor so I could do my best to braze in a new section.) It was often greasy, smelly, dirty work, and I fell in love with that grime smudged face of hers while working on that car. We burned a lot of undercoating, and fired the passions of our youth in that car. We drove it on our wedding night, and much of our early marriage revolved around work, car shows (and the occasional criusing, impromptu street race). Even so, I doubt she would have had the patience for me last month at that show. I never left the side of that car. For two and a half hours I walked around and around, laying on the ground to look for evidence of our past work, and smiling when I found something just as I had left it. There was a surprisingly a lot of my personality still in the car. As other spectators would admire the car and ask each other questions I would jump in and answer them. Not just questions about the AMX history in general, but detailed questions about the custom work. That day I was often asked “ is this your car?” My smiling response was always “ It used to be” About 3:30 Doug walked up. A first class showman, he was wearing the red white and blue AMC colors mechanics shirt. ( stylish only to AMC enthusiasts) I talked to him for a while about the car and how impressed I was with how he had kept it. I asked how he got the new carpet to fit around the relocated shifter. I really just wanted to open the conversation in hopes I would get to knock that lever through the gears one more time. In 1985 I had modified the clutch linkage for shorter but heavier pedal travel,and replaced the stock shifter with a modified Hurst model. On the Hurst, I had replaced the shifter detent springs with stronger ones, beveled the gates, and relocated it on a custom transmission mount to make it behave more like an inline ( for faster up shifts in a drag race). The capper of the day was when he handed me the keys to hear the first V8 I had ever built, fire up again. Once in the seat, ( the same Mustang seats I installed in 1987, only now with ALL the bolts and seat belts in place), I noticed the dash was absolutely untouched from the day I sold it. Originally a brown interior,I had re-done the headliner in new black vinyl when it fell on my head, someone previous to me had replaced many of the soft vinyl dash parts with black ones, and painted the metal and plastic pieces with interior black The scratches from the key chains rattling around the switch had shown the brown underneath. I put the key in the switch, pushed in the 110 lb clutch and turned the key. The gauges I had put in the radio pod sprang to life and the exhaust note rumbled. It was quieter than I remembered. Originally on the rebuild I had put headers in, but the thin walls made too much heat under the hood, and the poor fit meant they actually rubbed on the steering input shaft. (even more so when the motor rocked over under a hard launch) Within a few weeks I had cut them out, and replaced them with late model stock manifolds, and taken it to a place on Lake street for the dual exhaust work. Doug told me the mufflers had rusted out several years ago, and he replaced them with some (I believe) Mustang units he had because they “seemed appropriate”. It did sound nice, but I still missed the burble of those Fechter customs. The (barely noticeable) lope of that General Kinetics cam at idle was nice to relive too. I thanked him and told him if he is ever in a quandry about which car to bring to a show let me know I would get up at virtually any hour to drive this car to any show that he might want more than one of his fine examples at. The following day Doug contacted me to tell me he had a second place trophy from that show. I'd like to think I might have helped his placing by talking that car up to anyone who would listen. I also think that car couldn't be in better hands. He's done such a great job preserving it. In 2002 He saw in it something I couldn't make happen at the time, and his efforts have taken it to an even higher level of quality. Congratulations Doug, and Thank you.  | ||
| 86129squids |
My high school girlfriend's dad had a pearl green AMX, show quality... she said she'd helped him build the engine. Very cool car. | ||
| Odd |
There is one for sale on the milwaukee craigslist | ||
| Odd |
there is one for sale on the Milwaukee craigslist | ||
| Ebutch |
Steve my kids at car shows I made them keep there hands in their pockets !!!!  | ||
| Etennuly |
The very first solo drive for me, when I turned 16 and got my license, was in my dad's 1970 AMC Hornet. It was a 4door SST that he bought new. 304 automatic. It had about 40,000 miles on it and was spotless. White with blue vinyl top, blue interior, those nice fancy full wheel covers. I guess he was proud of his youngest son for passing the test the first time, and with a perfect score. Therefore why not let the kid drive the family's main car for his first solo trip. I went 8 miles to pick up a buddy, then we planned to go 10 miles to a shopping plaza. He lived on a well oiled dirt road that crossed a paved road on a mountain ridge. I recall asking him if he thought this 304 would burn a tire all the way across the intersection. Well it did. It started spinning on the oil and about half way across the paved part, reading 70 mph on the Speedo, it hooked up.....on that one tire. The thing spun around and around landing in a farm field. It somehow cleared a small upslope ditch, jumped over a foot high single strand electric fence. Me and my buddy gathered our senses, got out looking things over closely, found only the license plate had bent. Not a scratch otherwise. We had to walk that field to find an exit gate to get back on the road. Over the years dad had nearly every inch of that under dash shelf loaded with his stuff. I had never paid attention to where that stuff was. But now nearly all of it was on the back window shelf. I think that was what gave me up about my off road foray. He never said anything but I had taken my last solo trip in that car until I bought it from him three years later. Those 304 engines were like a two stroke. Not much power until 3200 rpm and all done at 4200. But man it came on quick. We cut up a lot of Gremlin bodies for dirt modifieds back in the day. They did a short run of Hornet and Gremlin X cars that were pretty cool. | ||
| Mnscrounger |
The only AMX I'm interested in owning again is THAT one. The current owner has got 15 cars. He's really more of a Mustang guy. Only one other is AMC, a jeep CJ5 sporting the second 390 motor I had built and included with the car sale. He can't live forever.... | ||
| 86129squids |
Mn- yep those cars are bad aisss! Rare as hen's teeth... Here's my "One that got away"... not too long before we met, my sweetie was married- her husband owned a matching numbers Shelby. Major motor in it apparently, she said at idle the entire house would shake. The marriage soured, and they were moving towards separation/divorce... he decided one day he was hungry for a pistol barrel. Beyond the horror of his suicide, he'd left her vulnerable to all the financial loose ends. She lost about everything, including the house and the Mustang. She sold that car for $2500. First time I heard the story I about wept.   | ||
| Etennuly |
My 84 CJ 7 is an AMC. It came with an AMC 258 in line 6 cylinder with a GM alternator and charging system, and a Ford ignition system, and Ford T 5 four speed. Some of the brake parts were Chrysler. I guess that was why they called themselves American Motors. I recall going to NAPA before computers replaced human brains. They stocked everything for AMC but very few actual AMC parts. | ||
| Mnscrounger |
I thought the T5 was a Warner Gear 3 spd? It's true AMC often used off the rack system parts to reduce design and tooling costs.They even considered a Hornet style variant that used the same glass for front and rear windscreens and the left front fender and doors were interchangeable to the right rear. it was called the Cavalier  It might surprise you to know they also made a lot of parts on contract for the big 3. A good number of your plastic molded GM and Chrysler parts came from AMC owned molding machines. | ||
| Buellish |
I learned how to drive in a '58 Rambler American station wagon and owned an '81 CJ7 with a 258 and 5-speed trans. | ||
| Glitch |
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| Etennuly |
Actually mine has a T4. 4 speed. T5 is the 5 speed version. | ||
| Ourdee |
+1 Glitch. | ||
| Mnscrounger |
I just left wikipedia's listing for Borg Warner transmissions. Its way more than I remembered. You're right and thanks for correcting me. I remember considering a T-5 5-speed adapter plate into the AMX at one point. I ended up nixing the idea because the detent modifications made to the shifter would have been lost in the swap, and it banged through the four so fast... | ||
| Ebutch |
Greatest Barn Find Collection Known To Man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRMAQj0yA44 | ||
| Buellerxt |
Weren't those the days! Ramblers, Coronets, Cushmans, Rocket 3's, etc. Thanks for starting this thread, Butch. I'm jealous, man! You were riding a Cushman at 13! I was continuously begging my parents at that time, fruitlessly, while watching the paper boy scootin' by on his every day.  After high school though I bought a 66' Honda 305 Scrambler! Man, I loved that bike, until my Kawasaki 500 Mach III in 1970.  | ||
| Buellerxt |
LOL Great story, Etennuly! Thanks. Yep, I definitely had my 'situations early on too. | ||
| Buellerxt |
Great looking cars, Mnscrounger. (Message edited by buellerxt on December 29, 2018) | ||
| Tootal |
Before my dad and I finished my baja bug I was driving his 64 Rambler American. I had it loaded up with a bunch of friends and it's 164" six banger was a dog. We went around a 90 degree corner squalling tires and everybody laughing. Until the next day and dad wondered where his two left side JC Whitney Mustang hub caps were! I went back to that corner and looked down in the woods and found both of them! He told me not to hot rod the Rambler. I told him it's so slow you can't hot rod it. He gave me that stare and said, "you can hot rod anything!" Vern, I had an 84 Jeep Scrambler with the six banger and 5 speed stick. | ||
| Buellish |
I've always wanted a CJ8 Scrambler! | ||
| Ebutch |
1970 AMC Rebel SST  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdI1Mg5bg60 | ||
| Ducxl |
Like the Rebel Machine style. Was never amused by AMC performance. When I met my now Wife in 1986 She drove a '68 390 AMX with two other AMX in her AMC family.Goofy vacuum operated windshield wipers would nearly stop working at engine idle. Wouldn't stand a chance against a similar 350 Camaro. Very primitive factory in Kenosha too.Nope |
