Rambler Father/Daughter/Son Build

[Oldsmoletick]

The red car is a neighbors 65 440 2 door with the same engine but an autoomatic. Rebuilt engine but transmission not very good and pretty rusty. He brought it over so I can reference things on the motor, and convincing me to buy it off him for $500.00 😀 It's nice of him to leave it so the kids can see and hear a running Rambler. I'm pretty certain I am going to buy the car and have my own Rambler to work on! 😀 .....I'm getting jealous of the kids and their car!!! 😢

Oh No!! You've been bitten . They really should put warning labels on these things. Avoid craigslist, ebay or other auto classifieds, or more rambler/amc's will follow you home, no joke. A friend of mine is upto 5, I'm at 3 trying to avoid the inevitable # 4.

Doesn't look like too bad a deal on the red one, nice little cars when done.

 

[viperedvette]

What does the flathead look like? Sorry I am not the most technically savvy guy with motors and their names 😳

The red car is a neighbors 65 440 2 door with the same engine but an autoomatic. Rebuilt engine but transmission not very good and pretty rusty.

A flathead (commonly called sidevalve in the UK) has the valves in the block, ohv means the valves are in the cylinder head operated by pushrods from the camshaft in the block (pushrod engine over here), ohc means the camshaft is in the head directly operating the valves.
Your neighbours car should have a Borg-Warner 65 transmission, most British automatics of the same era had Borg-Warner transmissions, the 35 model in our small cars, the 65 in larger cars such as Jaguars. I understand these transmissions are tough and durable, and reasonably cheap to repair.
Perhaps your kids will be able to fix your neighbours transmissions soon at their current rate of progress. 🙂

Roger.

Thanks for the info Roger! I am so not a tech guy 🙁 .......the transmission bit the dust completely on the weekend 😢 It doesn't shift into any gear what-so-ever. It made a big groan and a clunk, and that was it.....done.

 

[viperedvette]

The red car is a neighbors 65 440 2 door with the same engine but an autoomatic. Rebuilt engine but transmission not very good and pretty rusty. He brought it over so I can reference things on the motor, and convincing me to buy it off him for $500.00 😀 It's nice of him to leave it so the kids can see and hear a running Rambler. I'm pretty certain I am going to buy the car and have my own Rambler to work on! 😀 .....I'm getting jealous of the kids and their car!!! 😢

Oh No!! You've been bitten . They really should put warning labels on these things. Avoid craigslist, ebay or other auto classifieds, or more rambler/amc's will follow you home, no joke. A friend of mine is upto 5, I'm at 3 trying to avoid the inevitable # 4.

Doesn't look like too bad a deal on the red one, nice little cars when done.

Hahaha!!.....I know excactly what you mean!! Everytime I go looking for parts, I find another complete car for cheaper than just buying a couple parts!!!.....I found another complete 64 Rambler sitting in a field with an auto-matic for $100.00!!! .......I did buy the red 65 as the transmission went on it (as expected) and is a permenant lawn ornament now (as the wife refers to our cars) and I imagine I will go yank this other one home too! .....but for $100 why wouldn't I?? :lol: ......(The wife doesn't know yet so I am sure I will get an earfull tonight when she reads this!)....... :x

 

[Oldsmoletick]

hahaha, you may have a record , and you're right if the other car is chuck full of things you may need, how can one pass for $100...

 

[DRIVEN]

...but for $100 why wouldn't I??

And that's how it begins.

 

[viperedvette]

Sorry about no real updates lately but it's that CRAZY time of year with Spring Hockey, baseall, Football, Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Track and field, year end school trips ect!!!!!

I did barter for a set of old aluminum slot rims that i think will look good on the Rambler but thats about it. At least the penetrating oil I sprayed down the cylinders is having time to soak in and hopefully free up the engine! :wink:

 

[DRIVEN]

Engine freed up yet?

 

[rustyroger]

I don't want to chase you away from this forum as you have an interesting tale unfolding.

But a friend of mine with a '68 Rebel SST convertible is on the AMC forum, it's a great site for Rambler owners, busy with lots of fresh posts for all kinds of AMC cars.
Like this site for Gbody owners it seems a good place to find useful and friendly help for your particular car.

Please keep us up to date with your progress, we are reading the same book, just not on the same page. 🙂

Roger.

 

[viperedvette]

Sorry I've been away for awhile! Summer vacation, kids sports ect. .......anyways the update on the Ramblers is the engine is still stuck on the 4 door and the 2 door with the new engine but bad transmission has a starter that overheats and quits right away if the car does not start. I also have found another local farmer that has a 66 2 door rambler that he parked five years ago in his barn and will sell for $500 (I haven't mentioned this to the wife yet, so shhhhhh!! :wink: ).......I might as well start my own Rambler parts emporium!!! Over the summer I have been collecting tools for the kids, just the basics but also needed! I also picked up a nice 82 Regal sport coupe that used to have a 3.8 turbo but has had a 400 engine installed. It sat for awhile and suspect the brake cylinders are shot as the brakes push right to the floor. It starts and runs great though so at least I don't have to mess around with that!.....now to find some Cragar soft 8's for this car!!! I will try to update more often and get the kids back on the site as well between sports ect! BFN

 

[viperedvette]

I started looking into why the red Rambler would turn over weak, and then starter would quit like it needed to cool down. I checked the wires going into the starter and noticed the posative post was loose. I went to tighten it and snap!! :shock: .... the whole top of the starter solenoid crumbled like a 2 month old cookie!!! :x ........are there replacement parts for this?? or can it be rebuilt? or replaced with something else from a different car??