Re: [AMC-list] 75 Matador 6-cylinder

[tom jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>]

>
>
> Anyway, I didn't have trouble in traffic, other than trouble of my own
> making.


I wonder if the 64-up Americans are a bit heavier? I still haven't got to a
scale with my 63, but it sure feels very light. Gearing makes a huge
difference in this car. For once, I have a car with perfect gearing; most of
my AMCs have been some variation of 'economy car' with tall final and an
auto trans and six; fine cars and all that but the factory matched fair
torque with tall gears for that 60's/70's easy/lazy driveability thing.

The '63 440 with twin-stick and the 3.77 axle and 26" tires is a perfect
match. The fresh engine, plus the "RV" cam, head work and carb make it
perform just fine. This year I've crept up to cruising in traffic at 65 - 68
mph all the time, easy 70+ and at that point the engine is just waking up
(2500 rpm) on the highway. I don't hang back at all, 'cept to keep my MPGs
up. Braking (below) is more than adequate; I've unfortunately done 60 MPH
panic stops in crazy Orange County 405 traffic and had plenty of brakes left
after.

On surface streets w/o OD and keeping the engine between 1800 and 4000, 4500
it is FAST. Off the freeway, below 50mph, I'd say it's comparable to my '70
Hornet with "RV" cammed 258, 904 auto and stupid steep axle. (On the freeway
with the revs up that Hornet felt like a small V8 due to the cam.)

The slowest part of the car now is BY FAR the transmission, second, the
rotating mass. It's silly how long it takes to drop to idle from 3000 rpm.
It takes 3/4 of a sec to upshift without a crunch. The T96 synchros are
primitive.

This setup will never make for a good true performance car, but it can be
made to be very very respectable. I've got all the bugs worked out (I hope
it stays that way! :-) it's now just a turnkey daily driver. 15W50 Mobil 1
(high zinc) every 5000 miles, uses no oil, headbolts stay tight... gotta
adjust the valves this year then that's it. STILL haven't installed the EDIS
ignition but I will, I can hear spark jitter.



 I could keep up just fine, but braking was more of an issue.
>

The Gremlin drum upgrade plus ventilation -- its been two years of Los
Angeles freeway driving, except in heavy rain they are as good as small
discs. Laugh all you want, this car brakes great, and all my other cars have
been 11" Bendix and in good condition. Nobody wants Gremlin 9 x 2.5 drum
setups so they're cheap! New drums and shoes are cheaper than Bendix disks
at this point, so many American cars had those brakes the parts will be
around for a while yet.

In the rain they still suck, but the ventilation radically improves even
that. There's no issue in light or medium rain, but when it gets to that
deep soaking rainstorm crap yeah, you have to ride them to keep them dry and
all that.

I haven't done much to the rears; they were fine when I got it,
surprisingly. But the fronts, I took the backing plates off, welded in the
wear grooves, ground them flat, etc. That makes a huge difference. New
lines, cylinders, etc.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://list.amc-list.com/pipermail/amc-list-amc-list.com/attachments/20101103/485a6c2b/attachment.htm>
_______________________________________________
AMC-list mailing list
AMC-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://list.amc-list.com/listinfo.cgi/amc-list-amc-list.com