Re: [AMC-List] Matador Bumpers (Mark Price)

["John Elle" <johnelle@xxxxxxxxx>]

Removing the bumpers on a Matador Coupe does something else other than
making it look 200% better. I might add though that if you install a
good looking set of wheels it makes a big difference too!. I put a bunch
of miles on a 77 middle of the road 304 coupe as a used car so this was
somewhere around 1981 or so and I spend a couple of weeks driving it
around the freeways of southern California with no bumpers as I worked
on the body to repaint it white from the International Orange that it
was and yes there was a story about that. 
Once you got all of that weight off of the ends of the car and lemme
tell you those bumpers and mounts weighed a ton the basic handling
improved 200% too. What is called Polar movement changed completely and
the beast started handling like a well balanced sports car. I was
driving the car on business at that time and carried a lot of tools in
the trunk. There were air shocks installed and I kept just enough air in
them to level out the car at any given point in time. Once I got the car
painted and the "5 slot mag wheels" installed which filled out the wheel
wells I re-installed the bumpers to protect it from LA traffic. And the
handling once again reverted to factory equivalent of, well can we say
Oink!
The car served me very well for a few years. It was on one hand probably
for what ever reason the fastest 2bbl V8 car I have ever owned, but on
the other hand it never got any better than 11mpg. It could do that
though even if it was parked and un-occupied.  I thanked my lucky stars
for the 26 gallon gas tank many times over. That was also a car that I
learned a basic rule from on the economics of operation. It was cheap to
buy and maintain and it was paid for. Under those conditions you can
afford to put a lot of gasoline in the tank. A situation I still find to
be true today. 
I had a lower control arm go out on the car. As I was debating whether
to fix it or dump it the control arm went really bad. I finally decided
to fix it and dropped it off at a repair shop recommended to me through
the CarQuest store that I bought parts from. As I was driving my Javelin
on business at the time then I got a call after a couple of days, the
shop was unable to find a control arm.  This was at my house first thing
in the AM. A half an our later or so I walked into the shop in your
basic business suit and tie and handed the mechanic a freshly picked
lower control arm that I was able to stop by my favorite AMC junk yard
to get. I will never forget the look on the shop foremen's  face as I
handed him the control arm that a half an hour before he carefully
explained to me that he had spent 2 days not finding and was sure there
was nothing in southern California and my white shirt was not even
dirty. You know, owning AMC cars have been fun for a long time. 
Thanks by now.
John
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