[Amc-list] Miles. Low? High? Real? Original? Redone? What???

["jerijan baldwin" <jerijan@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

It sure IS a nice car.. (that CrossCountry on EBay)
*hehehehe*
BUT..
These are the parts I love most, like you Frank, the Nitpicking..
The hood spears are dumb looking.  Those are '60 American (didn't the '59
have one, the '60 two or something??)  The '10' series NEVER had anykind of
hood ornament I've ever seen.  So, the Red roof probably got there the same
time the spears did.
As for 1,000 on the 'clock'.  Yeah, that could be.
About as likely as it being 'original' 101,000 without a rebuild (or some
other 'magic')...
I had a '60 with under 50,000 miles and it smoked up blueblazes.  Never did
compression check, never did anything but add oil (and lots of it).
It turned out (so I'm told) that it was the fuel pump sucking oil from the
crankcase, not rings.
I had a '61 with a dealer replaced '63 Aluminum engine.  It needed an
Engine.  Enough Said.

You know, I have yet to see with my own eyes the 50's, 60's Rambler hit that
kind of milage without needing or having had some help.  The rings just got
kind of old kind of quick.
(Every Rambler I currently own, approximately 10 or so??, has NOT yet
reached 90,000 (the Ambassador Convertible is the leader at 88k, the next is
in the '70s but I haven't yet even seen that one...all the way down to
'Gracie', my '67 with 30,317 when she got dragged out of her Garage (and she
didn't want to come out either...she 'screeched' all the way half way down
the driveway until she figured out I was 'her new boss' and let the wheels
turn).  My '62 Ambassador had 36K (now 50K), my '63 Ambassador 50K (and dead
on arrival with one detonated piston and rings which had become a permanent
part of the pistons), my '65 American Convertible is 'smokey' (but only a
little) at 65K, the '62 American Convertible simply hasn't an engine at 80K,
it's parts car was 'DOA' at 62K (some pistons chipped and burned, four
cylinders broken rings, and two 'hopeful' (but the rest didn't count).
The V-8 appears more durable than the 195.6 (327 and 287) and this shows in
the health of these engines..of course my '63 eats that theory with it's
detonated piston and frozen rings.
PlainJaneVanilla STILL is not here (because my crapheap Dodge truck won't go
fetch.  Took it to a local 'fixer shop' and they charged $100 to change the
distributor cap (I asked for a DIAGNOSIS, not a distributor cap; it STILL
starves for fuel anywhere past idle and can't get out of its own way)
I must go to Vermont next week and I will likely return here with my '62
Ambassador (with that 'economical' 327 4V *Sigh*).  But at least it will tow
the butt off anything else.  I shudder to think of the cost in fuel..hi test
time 10-13MPG for nigh 700 miles...WAAAAAHHHH!
Anyway, I still don't know PlainJaneVanilla's internal engine health, and
won't till I get it back here.

I do not plan to buy any more cars (believe it or not) because I have enough
for the rest of my life (OK.  I've said that before.  Once or twice.  Or
Thrice.  Or...well, I don't PLAN to.  Enough IS enough.

Now my daughter's '76 Gremlin was a different story.  A 232 with what did
appear to be either stupidly high or reasonably low miles (showing like
42,000 or so)...  She ran it's wheels off (what a great little critter that
car was...NEVER failed to start BUT ONCE (its last day), although toward
'the end' (of life #1, or 'original engine')it did seem to have lost some
power.  It finally stopped running at 'four cornors' (the VERY heart of
Bennington).  Pushed it home, determined the engine was quite tired (we'd
already bought a parts car for it with a known good 232), and switched
engines.  When dismantled we found out where the power had gone...
The cam had wiped out nearly completely...ONE (yup, that's ONE) lobe was
'good like new'.  The rest?  Various states of diminution down to 'just
about gone'.  (how is hell did this thing RUN??  Better question...this
happened in March, January and February were SUPER cold months that year
(below zero a few times).  The Gremlin ALWAYS was the first 'awake' and was
the car used to 'jump start' all the others on the block.  Mechanically it
could NOT do that, although it really did.  Daughter's belief?  "Gremmie
Loves Me".  (Obviously true.  But does 'Love' give an engine sufficient
compression to start at 10 below zero and run even though NOT ONE cylinder
had 'complete' compression?  Folks, this story IS TRUE, not exaggerated and
is one of my AmericanMotors mysteries (the 327 in the '62 had BETTER
compression yet did not start...the Gremmie was wiped across the board, yet
ALWAYS brought Kim (Daughter) home.  ALWAYS.  Love?  I don't know, but I AM
impressed.
(Even her '70 'saved her life' once, but that's another story for another
time.  It has to do with 'pull over and go to sleep, not go to sleep and
pull over).  
So American Motors car CAN do magic, but 100,000 miles doesn't appear to be
a regular feat.
I KNOW just about everyone reading this will tell me about their high milage
195.6's.  I don't disbelieve it, mind you.  I just have NEVER had one that
high (perhaps I'm lucky.  I just never bought one.  Further, I KNOW none of
mine are 'clocked' or 'over the top'.  Period, and I won't argue it.  They
are NOT.  I've been doing this stuff far too long to be fooled by the
odometer.  I know low, I know high, and I know inbetween.
Since we've got a nice conversation going here...
Who has the HIGHEST VERIFIED HI MILAGE RAMBLER STORY??
(Original Engines only please.  Rebuilding counts.  Highest miles ANYWAY
achieved one category, Highest ORIGINAL UNREBUILT engine.  (let's use 'rings
and bearings as criteria.  Valve job won't count as 'rebuild'.)
Frank, I am betting you will have the highest milage Rambler.  
(Oh, yeah.  Let's break it down by engines too.  195.6 is NOT the same as
199/232/258 (these became 'bulletproof', like the SlantSix of
Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth).  
Catagories:
Flathead, any CID
Aluminum.  (This was AMC's 'Chevrolet Vega' engine.  Any of these ever go
over 10,000 miles??)
OHV 195.6
199/232/258
V-8's early (265, 287, 327)
The later the engine the more indestructible they became.

OK, Folks, this game has only ONE RULE: exaggeration by more than 1%
disqualifies you.

The next 'mines better than yours' will be MPG figures.
(I have kept records of just about every gallon of gas I've used in nearly
every car I've ever owned.  The figures I ended up with don't qualify as
'brags' in most cases, but tragedies!  AMC's, in spite of their 'claim to
fame' as economical champions did not turn out (by other claims and
criteria) to be such misers.  Only when compared to others under strict
guidelines (as in Mobilgas economy run).  
My '55 often did return 30 Rambler Miles on a single gallon of gas.
Unfortunately, the Odometer 'miles' did not quite match those of other
sources, like the milemarkers on the Thruway.  Approximately 10% error
(tires, etc).  But still, 27MPG for a '55 Wagon?  That IS braggable.
On the other hand, there's the '62 Ambassador and it's legendary ability to
make fuel disappear.  But I stop here.  I really want to hear the stories
I'm about to hear!


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