Re: [AMC-List] my 62 classic project

[<francis.swygert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"maybe i will wait on that front suspension for when i get home. one of
the guys here, never seeing a rambler, claims to have a buddy with a jav
that is a very competent road racer. suggested looking into adapting
a-arms from one of them to fit. im thinking it will take a lot of work,
but i havent gotten to see the suspension of a jav real close. anyway, i
have torch, welder, will fabricate if needed. "

Contrary to popular belief, there is no performance gain by changing the
suspension on the older Ramblers. A trunnion works as good as a ball
joint. The only gain is in a greater variety of bolt on parts, which is
of little value if you can do just a little fabrication work. To change
to Mustang II brakes, for instance, you just need to fabricate a caliper
mount. The MII  hubs supposedly fit the AMC spindles (I haven't actually
tried, but have talked to a couple people who say they fit, and are
pretty reliable sources), but the flange is further out by about 3/4" on
each side. That's not a problem running 7" wide wheels, but wider may
be. 
The lower arms of the Javelin are nearly identical to the 62 Classic, no
gain there. The upper a arm is angled some, which gives some anti-dive,
but soft springs is what causes all the "wallow" and body roll on the
old cars. Once stiffer springs are installed it will handle more like a
modern car. I used 15% stiffer front springs and the "half leaf" bolt on
helper springs on my 63 American along with 195/65 Goodrich radials. It
would stick to the road like it was on tracks, handled as good as and
rode better than a friends 79 Trans-Am. If it had a bit of power to go
with the handling it would have been a whole lot better! You can only do
so much with a 196 OHV though. I don't think you can make the Javelin
upper arm (or any 70 or later AMC -- all used the same upper arm except
Pacer) fit the 62 Classic. The way the arm mounts to the body is
different. The 62 upper arm assembly is much lighter (lighter is
better!) anyway. It doesn't have to be super strong, the arms don't
carry the weight of the car, they just keep the steering knuckle
vertical. 
Since you have the fabrication tools and skill Dave, adapt coil overs on
the front if you want the adjustability. Once you see how the suspension
is made you will figure out how to do it easy enough. The 62 suspension
is basically the same as the 63. Go to www.wps.com and check out the
Rambler links, one has good photos of the 63 suspension out of the car.

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