Re: [AMC-List] 68 Rebel Convertible Questions

[farna@xxxxxxx]

1. Speedo needle: More than likely it's just a bad cable. Make sure there are no kinks or tight bends in the housing first. Then disconnect the cable at one end and pull it out. Inspect closely. If it looks good, put a light grease (spray can white lithium) or oil on it and reinsert. If that doesn't at least help consider getting a new complete cable before condemning the speedo head. Cheaper, easier to find, and is most likely the problem. AMC vendors such as APP (www.amclives.com) can help, but it should still be available. Check specialty speedo shops too. If it's the head you'll need one of those guys to fix it, or buy a used replacement.

2. The shimmy is most likely caused by worn bushings. The strut rod bushings are the most likely culprit, but you need to chekc all the bushings, ball joints, tie rod ends, and idler arm bushing. If you just want to throw parts at it the idler arm bushing should be replaced first, the strut rod bushings second -- unless the strut rod bushings are obviously bad, then them first. 

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Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2007 10:48:45 +0000
From: John Eckersley <john.eckersley@xxxxxxxxx>
 
Pretty new to AMC, but not to old cars.  I recently bought a 68 Rebel 
convertible.  We were blessed with fine weather at the weekend so I took 
it out for a drive.  I have a couple of faults/niggles and if anyone on 
here has advice/experience, I'd be glad to hear it:

The Speedo needle dances around all over the place - at about 60 MPH it 
is flicking wildly between 15 and 90.  The odometer works fine (at least 
it turns round and I reckon the numbers are about right for the miles I 
covered).  Logic suggests to me it's the speedo head at fault but my 
ex-wife's logic always seemed somehow different.....

BTW I have bought a little gizmo that measures speed very accurately 
using GPS signals - but I need to repair the "proper" speedo.

The other thing is a sort of shimmy that shakes the whole car as I pass 
through about 40mph. It seems to be coming from the front end.  If 
anyone's experienced this I'd be glad to hear about it.....

Thanks

John E

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