[Amc-list] Re; '63 American Suspension together.

["John Elle" <johnelle@xxxxxxxxx>]

SNIP

Well there you go. I agree with you on design for conditions. I assume 

people did more maintenance then, and skinny hard bias ply tires, lower 

highways speeds (is that true?), expectations, etc etc, and it was probably 

fine then. But times does march on.

SNIP

 

A Ramble through time.

 

1953 - Firestone
The company introduces the Firestone "500" all-nylon tubeless tire designed
for high speed passenger cars.

 

1963 - Goodyear

Introduces the Double Eagle with a Lifeguard Safety Spare; ...

 

1963 - Goodyear .

Use of polyester cord introduced

 

Times were changing and this precedes the Bias Belted tire introduced about
1965 or so and common use of the radial tire which in AMC land was an option
in 1980. In 1963 many states had 50 and 55 mph speed limits with the
relatively new 4 lane interstates or toll roads with speed limits ranging
from 60 mph to 75 mph and a small sampling of mid west states with unlimited
speed limits, depending on the state of course with some restrictions.  My
experience on driving some of the available cars of that time was a mixed
bag. Most of the newly designed V8 automobiles were fast and powerful and
very contemporary in almost any tune. Some of the V8 engines were second
generation with 1st generation designed just after WWII, and there were no
more in line engines with more than 6 cylinders. However even the newest of
the I-6 engines were still a throw back to 1930 design criteria and for the
most part were under square engines, the stroke longer than the diameter of
the bore, generally under carbureted  and  had a cam that was designed to
give maximum torque at rpm's just off of a fast idle which gave the illusion
of low speed performance while falling on their face at any sustained high
rpm. These cars were hard pressed to exceed 80 mph and were not purchased
for the most part to exist in an environment that fostered high cruising
speed. 

Tires were not that much different from technology that existed left over
from the 30's and although there were many brands to be had, not many came
from Japan, Korea or China or pretty much any other country however radial
tires were being dabbled with in Europe at the time and were supplied on
cars sold here in quantities that were small but steadily growing larger.
Here bias ply tires reigned supreme with the Firestone 500 probably the most
famous of the famous and represented the premium performance tire of the
era!

My primary driver during that time was a 1957 French Simca Elyses with a 4
speed column shift, a 1300 cc 4 cylinder engine that I had milled the head
on and made an adapter for the intake manifold that allowed me to use a
Stromberg 95 2bbl carburetor off of a V8 85 flat head. I could out run Stage
II midgets with my 4 door sedan and I traded it for a 1960 Plymouth 2 door
hard top with a 225 slant 6 in 1964. Heady stuff at the time. Push button
transmission and all!

Eventually the slant 6 became modeled after what was known as the Hyper-Pack
package as outlined by the Direct Connection section of Chrysler and
eventually lead to my Fuel Injected I-6 Spirit. My first performance V8
(other than the '32 Ford w/poked and stroked 48 Mercury flat head became my
1970 Mark Donohue 390 which I still own and enjoy. 

Yup, the world is different today and technology has changed many things but
for some reason or another the AMC products that have not be produced since
1988 but were contemporary in their time, are still capable of serving as
daily transportation with out having to justify their existence in any
particular fashion other than they exist and can get the job done. Every
time I see the Mobile 1 oil commercial with the Mustang featured where the
message is with proper lubricants and care your collector car can last well
into the future, I wonder just how many years in the future I can still walk
out of my house and put a key in my Favorite AMC and wheel it out into the
road to do battle with the daily commute or what is represented as such. 

But trying to guess why things were done the way that the were done a half a
century ago, not sure that I can or that it is worth the effort as long as
it still works today. 

I need to buff out the 80 AMX  as there is a car show coming up and the
paint has faded a bit. 

But, it will be driven there, not trailered as that is the way I like 'em. 

John. 

 

 

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