Re: [Amc-list] oops bent 'em again again

[Tom Jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 16 Apr 2007, Sandwich Maker wrote:

> i've wondered if a ford 200/250 would fit.  the 144/170/200 as late as
> '66 or '67 were teamed with a tranny that looks a lot like [and i'm
> pretty sure is] a t96 - little peanut 3sp, 4 bolt top cover...  it
> must be longer than the 196, but maybe not -too-much- longer.  but
> assuming you get this far, you couldn't use the australian/argentinian
> 12-port head; the head would fit but the intakes are very wide.
>
> even if it fit, the 250 would require a tranny swap, because it has a
> different bellhousing pattern than the 200 and was never teamed with
> anything remotely like the t96.

Yeah, but this car is funny, to me. On a car like my Hornet,
I had no hesitation upgrading anything I saw fit to. On this
American, it would seem a crime.

It's not monetary or historical value, it's something else.
I think, the Hornet is more or less a "modern" car, where the
American is definitely an *old* car. The 63 Classic is somewhere
in between.

They were designed for different worlds; the Hornet, for a world
pretty close to this one. Lifestyle marketing, mechanism hidden
away from the owner (the Hornet owners manual tells you how to
turn the knobs, only; the 63 says how to adjust the carburetor!)
The American (really a 50's car with 60's fenders) looks like
a 40's car mechanically. There's simply no "stuff" between you
and the running gear. The Hornet, much more padding, insulation,
plastic and styling.

Cars like the American are like time machines; it's almost a
different thing than a modern car, and I'd hate to ruin that
with a revvy motor with a brainy automatic. I'll never put a
stereo in it, I cleaned up the hybrid tube/transistor radio.

Driving it in traffic (for just that one day so far) requires all
this intimacy with the thing, non-synchro first means you have
to think about exit strategy at a busy 3-late traffic light,
but when you're cruising on a long flat road you can mentally
and audibly count all the parts between the spark plugs firing
and the rear tires turning. Now THAT is driving.

The Hornet, click the key pull the shifter go, totally turn-key.
In 15 minutes I'll drive 45 miles with the windows rolled up
and the stereo ruining the rest of my hearing.

My classic, very 1963-modern (unlike the primitive American),
it gets driven differently too, it's instant calmness, slow-ish
but smooth, soft and springy, long-haul oriented comfortable. It
runs absolutely perfectly all day long at 60mph, speedo needle
straight up. I wouldn't wreck that either. (Though A/C sure is
nice, I did agonize over the downside that it makes you drive
through the desert with the windows rolled up, seriously. It
totally changed road trips.)

We get to do all this with metal we scrounge together. To me
it's what cars are all about.

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