58/59 Rambler questions from the Allpar forums

[Arfon Griffiths <ArfonRG@xxxxxxx>]

rustynewyorker writes:


So I finally got the '58? (58 grille, sold as '59, have to doublecheck VIN 
for the year) Rambler custom I'd been eyeing since last fall. Solid body, 
trashed seats and door panels, some surface rust. Motor is a 6 and in 
pieces with water sitting in a couple of the bores, head elsewhere. So it's 
in need of an engine of some sort, maybe a trans too since it hasn't been 
run in a very long time.

Of course this has a torque tube drive in it... so I have some questions.

Is there a later Rambler/AMC rear or center section that will bolt in and 
give me an open driveline? I guess that's the big thing. I have a couple 
cheap options to remotor it, leaning towards a $75 rebuilt Caddy 425 a guy 
took out of a car he bought to build for the demo derby (thus the low 
price). Should be more than enough to scare people at the lights. But 
anything outside of an AMC 6 or V8 means another rearend - need to know if 
something else fits or I need to weld perches onto an open housing of some 
sort. Pretty much all I have laying around are GM motors, getting an AMC 
for it would mean finding a good one somewhere.

There any front suspension interchangability between these and later AMC 
products (70's)? Wondered about a disc brake swap, but it's not crucial.