Tom, You'll find an American 64-69 Rambler to be pretty much a 63-64 classic body squeezed down a bit. They change the trunion style, no big deal, they lost that cluster F*#k of trans mounts that hold the Drive lines fore-aft placement. I like the shift changes made to do away with D1-D2 and the loss of the cable to the trans. I'd look for stick to though. The thing is they kept changing until like yesterday...so every year has its differences. I know you like linkage throttles, I think those went away mid year 68 with the crash upgrades to structure. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. Cellular -----Original Message----- From: tom jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx> Sender: amc-list-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Fri, 20 Aug 2010 21:39:46 To: AMC, Rambler, Nash, Jeep and family<amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx> Reply-To: "AMC, Rambler, Nash, Jeep and family" <amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: Re: [AMC-list] American wagons... Thanks for the words, Bruce. I'm slowly moving in the direction of a non-wagon. I think a 65 (earlyish) American is the way to go. There's far more of them than wagons. I honestly don't care 2 or 4 doors, both have their advantages. I imagine 4 doors are easier to find. A sedan will be better as a daily driver (though the dogs love the station wagon most of all -- they hang out in it when I leave the doors open parked in the yard). There's only one hardtop, 67? Unlikely to find one. Wouldn't rule it out though if I did! I should have enough money to buy someone's full restoration. I'm not saying I will keep it totally stock, but a clean intact car with good paint and the right setup, I doubt I'd do more than bolt-on changes (wheels, tires, Pertronix, etc). Speakers in the door and rear shelf would be the biggest atrocities. Probably remove any stereo, return the AM radio, these days, I do a brick amp under the seat with the 1/8" stereo plug to an iPod clone. Nothing to steal! I know the feeling about "cheating", and it not being *my* project, but buying someone's resto is a hell of a lot better than buying some stock 90's used plastic car! And the one thing I can't do for the next year or so is a full ground-up project. It's gotta be a six, and I strongly prefer no power steering nor power brakes. Prefer manual, but auto would not be a deal killer on the right car. I honestly think the 199 or 232 would be better; mileage matters more than power for daily use. I don't know the details in the 64 - 69 models (I like the earlier body styles better), I know some years (69?) there's a good selection of front suspension and such aftermarket. Not sure about the early stuff, but trunnions are not one of my worries. I probably wouldn't even do a disc swap; I'd do what I did to my little American. The fully ventilated brakes are GREAT. Yeah, it will tow the little trailer just fine. Like I do now, just slow down for the tough stuff, crawling a long hill with a trailer is like .001% of my driving time, saving that extra hour on a long trip isn't worth the cost of a bigger car that other 99.999% of the time. We've found that the camper negates the need to cram the wagon full of crap. On Fri, Aug 20, 2010 at 11:54 AM, Bruce Griffis <bruce.griffis@xxxxxxxxx>wrote: > That sounds like a great driving/camping/cruising project! > > Tom, I've taken my '65 American sedan camping - and while it is not a > wagon, it is a nice little car. It did well with the 600 pound or so > popup. It's fun to drive. I love draping an arm on the bench seat, or > hanging a hand on the open vent window. But when I give it thought - > the idea of a Rebel or Matador wagon keep popping up. > > I know you don't like the newer cars with plastic and all that. But I > wonder if a Rebel wagon with a 232 and 3 speed manual would make a > good every day car? Easier parts, still a Rambler. > > But on the other hand, an American with a 232 and 3 speed manual would > be pretty cool, too. Especially a wagon. Have fun searching and > deciding! > > On Thu, Aug 19, 2010 at 2:14 PM, Joe Fulton <piper_pa20@xxxxxxxxxxx> > wrote: > > Tom if you wanted a project I have a 63 Classic wagon, less than 80,000 > miles (I forget exactly), sat in Nevada for over 20 years.. 195.6 > aluminum (stuck) BW/auto. The interior is cooked but I have an NOS dash > pad, extra 195.6, or I have a 232 freshly rebuilt, Ambassador seats > (somewhat matching the tan Classic interior). All fairly cheap. Wagon > needs paint and all the mechanicals gone through. The underside looks > factory new though, unbelievably clean. Brake lines and fuel lines are > still bright. Oh and I have a windsheld for it. Lower tail gate is rusty, > but I have still another one if you don't use the spare I sold you. This > thing is a time machine. > > > > Joe Fulton > > > > > _______________________________________________ > AMC-list mailing list > AMC-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx > http://list.amc-list.com/listinfo.cgi/amc-list-amc-list.com > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://list.amc-list.com/pipermail/amc-list-amc-list.com/attachments/20100820/9070d6ce/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ AMC-list mailing list AMC-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://list.amc-list.com/listinfo.cgi/amc-list-amc-list.com _______________________________________________ AMC-list mailing list AMC-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://list.amc-list.com/listinfo.cgi/amc-list-amc-list.com