Rambler Father/Daughter/Son Build

[viperedvette]

Hello everyone, my 8yr old son and 11 yr old daughter are always helping me with my G-Body cars and are very interested in learning how things work, so I thought what better way for them to learn than to have there own car and do what they want with it! :wink:

It started out with just the idea of picking "anything" up that was free and just letting them tear into it with there new tools that the Easter Bunny brought them this year! What I found was a 1964 Rambler American 330 sedan on a farm close by. The farmer said his son drove it to this spot a few years ago before he went off to college and never came back for it.

When I went to go grab it I was amazed at how good of shape it was in (visually) and how complete and original it was! It even had all the dealer stickers, service manuals, ect in the glove box. the seats were not ripped and all the glass and chrome, lights ect were in great shape! When loading it though the rear brakes were seized on and had to use a tractor to get it on the trailer .

So like I said I gave them the car and let them tear into it! They had the door panels off and horn removed in a matter of an hour!

Then they went to town on taking the seats and interior carpet out

While cleaning out the car, my son found a magazine dated 1990 so I figured it has been parked probably since then!! No wonder the rear brakes were seized! :shock:

I did get the rear wheels freed and rolling by just spraying the hell out of everything with WD-40 and letting it sit for a couple days and then beating the hell out of the drum!!

My daughter also found a factory key for the car which was a real bonus because the farmer could not find the keys for it. Unfortunately it was only the trunk key but at least we had that!.

 

[viperedvette]

When everything was removed from the interior I couldn't believe that there was no rust anywhere on the floor boards or trunk at all!.....so I went from not really caring about what kind of car they had to work on , to starting to gain a real interest in this little Rambler and wondering if it could ever live again?? :shock:

So first off I drilled out the ignition key hole so I could turn the ignition with a screw driver and threw a battery in.....turned the key/screw driver and.............nothing! :x ...........wait! what was that noise? :shock: .........clickclickclick.....the signal light!! :?

I had the kids stand at the front and back of the car while I went through all the lights, signals and brakes and had them tell me if the were on or not......They all worked!!! not a single burnt out bulb!...wow!....needless to say I was impressed!.....but still was disapointed in not even hearing a sound what-so-ever from the starter or motor.

I took each spark plug out and with each one i took out my hope of the motor being able to run ever again slipped further and further away!......everyone had such a build up of carbon and oil and "mystery" substance on them that there wasn't even a gap on most! .....still I wanted to know if at least I could get the motor to turn over? :?

Now here is where we sit right now......does anyone have any suggestions on unsticking a motor that has been sitting? and any ideas on getting the starter to at least try and turn it over? I am hooked now in trying to see if I can get some life out of the car or if i should just leave it alone?....it's sooooooooooo intriguing to me now to see this car come to life for the kids. My daughter went on line and found this picture of a 440 Rambler 2 door and wants to make theirs look like it!.......I said you can make it look like however you want but it will take A LOT of work, and maybe by the time your 16 and old enough to drive it would look like that car........except with 4 doors!

 

[pontiacgp]

That is great that your son and daughter are interested in something other than a screen and a keyboard. This project should be perfect to build their confidence in their skills and teach them respect for cars so when they do start driving they don't trash the car. The car itself looks to be solid and it could turn into a nice investment. Kudos to you for getting them the car getting them interested in "old" technology

 

[viperedvette]

Thanks for the Kudos! ......I always wished that I had an opurtunity like that when I was a kid, and when I saw the same interest in my kids eyes, I jumped on it!........because sadly it is easy for them to get hooked on the computer or xbox ect. (they still have their fair share of it! lol)......and it does give them a sense of pride and accomplishment, they already have told their teacher and friends that they have their "own car"! hahaha! :lol:

 

[DRIVEN]

Nice! Mechanic58 and I both had Americans too (pics here close to the bottom of the page viewtopic.php?f=61&t=35107&start=45 ). I never really gave the Ramblers much thought but mine kind of fell in my lap while I was hunting for an early Nova wagon. After spending some time around them I came to the conclusion that they were actually a better built car than the Nova, Falcon, Dart, etc. Is the engine stuck for sure or the starter just not working? I've had good lick with Marvel Mystery Oil freeing up engines. Is it the flathead or the OHV? Either one is pretty simple and a great teaching aid for the kids.

 

[Oldsmoletick]

Awesome Rambler! Great first car project. As far as your engine woes (I6 I take it), you could dump a bit of penetrating oil in the cylinders, it may free it up. I doubt without rebuilding it will run at its full potential, though the amc I6 has been know to come back from the dead :shock: . I took one that sat for 15 years, and with nothing more than an oil change, a couple of gaskets, a tune up, and carb rebuild, put into daily driver status, lol.

 

[DRIVEN]

My parts car had the 196 OHV. It sat for 15-20 years but wasn't stuck. I got it running pretty easily. It was tired and had some blow-by but actually ran really smooth. All it had was a shorty glasspack so it just sounded like a tractor :lol: .

 

[viperedvette]

Thanks Driven! I was just reading your thread and was going to get ahold of you! I love what you did with that little Datsun wagon!...WOW!!!

It is the flathead inline 6. I am not sure whether it is stuck or not, thats why I would like to get the starter working to see if it will move. I tried turning it by hand and tried a wrench on the flywheel bolt but couldn't get it to move. How can I jump start the starter from the starter itself. I know there's a way but I don't know what 2 connections need to be crossed? Any help with these cars would be very helpfull. Thanks.

 

[DRIVEN]

Thanks for the Datsun love. I swear I wasn't trying to threadjack it was just the easiest way to reference the Rambler pics without cluttering up your thread. I'm sure you started to notice quickly that American Motors used parts from several other manufacturers. On my OHV engine they used what was essentially a GM starter. You just jump the large battery cable post to the small one on the right (looking straight at the solenoid from the front) probably marked with a small S. Since yours is a flathead, I'm not sure if it uses the same starter. Too bad you had to drill out the ignition switch. Mine was worn enough that almost any key would start it. If I remember right the switch is held in with a spring loaded bezel so it's really easy to replace. I would probably make sure the engine is freed up first so you don't risk starter/flywheel damage. You could always have the kids pull the starter off and then bench test it.

 

[viperedvette]

Thanks, I think it would be a great idea to have them take off the starter if not for the experience of doing so and then showing them how to bench test it. I will keep everyone posted on how it goes!