Re: My (new to me) 1967 American

[Matt Haas <mhaas@xxxxxxx>]

I don't know about a vacation. I think it's just a different set of 
concerns and the stuff I'm already worried about with it is probably harder 
to deal with. I'm already worried about stuff like:

- Should I have the original fuel pump rebuilt or just buy a new one?
- Should I look for factory looking fuel hose and clamps or should I just 
use typical parts store fare?
- Should I find an air cooled automatic from a 1967 American (the guy my 
friend bought the car from may still have the original which would be 
ideal), rebuild it, and replace the existing M-35 that came from a 1968, or 
should I just track down the correct 1967 radiator with a transmission 
cooler, or should I just leave it as it is (wrong tranny, original radiator 
which doesn't have a tranny cooler, and an after market tranny cooler)? 
There's nothing wrong with the current transmission (and I'm sure the 
aftermarket cooler is much better than the factory one) but it bugs me a 
little that the wrong one is in it.
- How much effort do I want to put into finding a better looking heater 
hose (the one from the engine to the heater core)? What I have works but it 
detracts from the otherwise clean look under hood. The original heater 
hoses were about to burst a few years ago and when I helped my friend who 
owned it at the time change them out, we found the heater core has a 5/8" 
fitting and the engine has a 3/4" fitting. We ended up using a copper 
reducer fitting to splice the two sizes together. It works but neither one 
of us really liked how it looks.
- When the car gets repainted (the paint is in really bad shape on the roof 
and thin on the hood), is the body shop going to be able to make the over 
spray look right on the door jambs and rockers? I have no doubt that 
getting over spray in those areas isn't going to be a problem but I don't 
want it to be too perfect.

Then there's the normal stuff that still needs done: dash pad, one of the 
arm rests is cracked, some of the door panels are warped (luckily, the 
vinyl's perfect), there's a cigarette burn in the driver's seat, carpet 
needs replaced, wind lace and weatherstripping have had it, and it needs a 
little rust repair.

I can hardly wait to get started!

Matt

At 10:48 PM 5/21/2005 -0700, you wrote:
> Yes, sir... It looks My-T-Fine!  What you might call getting a head start on
> the fix-up.  It'll seems like a vacation working on that one.  Probably not
> what you're used to...   Nice going.
> _____________________________________________________________________
> Ralph Ausmann  -  Hillsboro, OR - > http://mysite.verizon.net/res79g4m/
> <ralph.ausmann@xxxxxxxxxxx> -  http://clubs.hemmings.com/classicamx
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Matt Haas" <mhaas@xxxxxxx>
> To: <mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2005 2:30 PM
> Subject: My (new to me) 1967 American
>
>
> > I finally got my 1967 American Wagon home today. I'd hoped to drive it but
> > the fuel pump's bad so that wasn't an option. I snapped a few pictures and
> > put them on my web site. You can see them at
> > http://www.mattsoldcars.com/1967american/asdelivered.shtml.
> >
> > Matt

mhaas@xxxxxxx
Cincinnati, OH
http://www.mattsoldcars.com
1967 Rambler American wagon
1968 Rambler American sedan
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