[AMC-list] Speaking of Rodney

[Joe Fulton <piper_pa20@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Another lister mentioned Rodney Dangerfield (gets no respect) regarding AMCs at a car show.   Well, I'm tempted to name my 65 American, Rodney. The car surely didn't get any respect in the past.  It's a high mileage car.  And someone did redo the braking system, put on a cheap paint job and had a Mexican upholstery job done to it.  That last item alone saved the car from the crusher I think.  Joey in Los Angeles was willing to let it go cheap because the engine was locked up. And it did look good in the pictures he sent, because the interior had been redone pretty tastefully.  

But I spent much of the weekend under the dash and the wiring hacks are atrocious.  None of the gauges worked.  The cause was simple.  Someone had removed the instrument voltage convertor.  The car has had at least two aftermarket radios in it.  Yes they cut the dash.  When they wanted power (for an accessory temp gauge or a radio) they just peeled some insulation off of a power wire and wrapped the splice wire around the bare spot.  

I cleaned up the fuse panel and bought a new set of fuses and have purchased a terminal block and new terminal ends from Ron Francis to make wiring corrections.  I'm having a devil of a time getting the headlight switch back into the dash because a P.O. bent the instrument cluster tang which holds the switch and aligning the nut/bezel with the switch is very difficult since I'm working by myself.  I have replaced the cluster with another used one already, but that one was bent to make extacting it from the dash easier.  Getting it back into the dash was a real learning experience.  I also cleaned up the replacement cluster and replaced all of the bulbs with new 158s.

Other things yet to do.  I'll need at least one set of new springs, front or rear.  The car sags on the driver side.  New door seals, at least in the front to replace the decrepit handing rubber strips that are on there now.  

I should not have bought this car.  

Joe Fulton
Salinas, CA
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