Slow Going

It has been a while, but I'm not that good of a writer. Lazy is more like it. Anyways, I was able to get some work in during the holidays. With all of the radiator fluid dried up, I was able to really get under the car and take some pictures. With the radiator out, and this being a really simple engine, there wasn't too much left to do other than stare it and tell myself "I was really going to have to pull out the engine." So after a little staring, I started disconnecting everything so nothing would be in the way of taking out the engine. The first thing was the alternator. I got a torque wrench for Christmas which gave me plenty of leverage to loosen the bottom bolt. The wrench allows you to really put power behind your turning and it has been a must have tool for me since. The alternator's upper bolt was connected to a flat metal bar with a slot inside of it that stuck out from the front of the motor below the water pump. Once the bolt was loosened, the alternator was able to tilt closer to the engine, producing enough slack to removing the fan belt. Once I removed the belt, I then removed the alternator and put them both on the workbench.

I then removed the electric wires from the starter, the shift linkage cable, the throttle cable, and a spring that was connected from the throttle cable bracket on the engine to the bottom of the master cylinder for the brakes.

I'm not sure what the

spring was for, so I think it probably should have been attached to something else since it didn't seem like there was a working purpose for it, and maybe someone just connected it wrong.

After that I got under the car and placed my jacks under the engine's oil pan with a wood block on top, in hopes of

not damaging the oil pan, and one under the transmission. After they were firmly supported, I went to work on the drive train. Unfortunately, this is where I had to stop. The retaining nut was huge and none of my tools would fit it. I couldn't believe it. It was nearing late afternoon, so I decided to just pack up and attempt the engine removal

another day, instead of just racing the the nearest hardware store for a pair of channel lock pliers or vice grips. So I cleaned up and took more pictures. I also took the rest of my chrome side moldings off with the same

luck I had with the first one. All clips are still intact.

More pics have been added to my Flickr account so check it out.

Topless

Well the hood is off! Last weekend I opened up my tools, donned my Air Force jumpsuit and got up-close and personal with the yet-to-be-named car. As old as this car is, I thought I was going to have one rough time taking the car apart. Afraid of rusty lock-tight bolts, I bought a couple of cans of WD-40 and brake cleaner. To my thankful surprise, the nuts and bolts weren't to bad. After marking the hinge placement where the hood connects, I used a tiny amount of grit before the bolts chunkingly came loose. All that metal was surprisingly light. The oil drain plug came off like someone had purposely not tightened it knowing I was coming. Almost like your Dad leaving loosening it and pretending he wasn't strong enough, and asks for you to give it a try making you feel like you were Superman (thanks Pops). As black as the oil was, it came out fast and clean. No chunky parts or buildup.

The luck ran out when it came to the battery. The nuts on the terminal connector didn't look corroded at all, but they were a little stripped. I used pretty good force to keep the socket pressed against the edges as best I good, but with all my might, I still started to strip it. I thought maybe I was turning it the wrong way, so I tried to go back and was met with the same resistance. So I went back my original way and it just wouldn't budge. So I grabbed a screw driver and started chipping away at the aluminum connector, to make more room for my socket to fully envelope the nut. Long story short, I'm not afraid to admit that I was going the wrong way (yes I know lefty-loosey, righty-tighty, but somehow I just wasn't seeing it right). I got the battery out and went after the radiator. Again my luck was short as I tried to drain it first. I misplaced the bucket and spilled half of the fluid on the shop floor. After cleaning it up, my luck was restored with the radiator bolts. All four came off nice and easy (as left over coolant would spit out every once in a while when the weight shifted).

With the radiator out, it made my engine compartment look even bigger. Such a joy working on older cars. No more blooding knuckles in cramped spaces trying to loosen things. After cleaning up the left over fluid, i tried to take off anything that would be in the way of taking the engine out. I disconnected the fuel line to the carburetor, the electrical lines to the alternator, and attempted at removing the heating line from the engine to the firewall. It's a molding piece of metal piping that has a rubber hose at each end to connect to the radiator and firewall. I decided it was best to leave it be instead of accidentally bending the metal pipe just to get it out. After wrestling with it for 20 min I gave up.

The last thing I did was remove one of the side chrome molding pieces just to see how hard it was going to be. It actually snapped (in a good way) off the clips pretty easy. The big thing I was told was to be patient. Patient I was and it paid off. The chrome didn't bend, the clips stayed intact, and I was a real happy camper. That was it for the day as I had to actually head into work to do some rush stuff and get ready for our holiday party. There are some new pics up on flickr, but I've reached my limit for month and will have to wait until January to post more.

And so it begins...

Like the project ahead of me, I'm not quite sure where to start. Disclaimers I guess: This blog is intended to keep track of my restoration of a 1965 AMC Rambler American 330. It is not going to be mechanic specific. Nor is it intended to be a provider of mechanic specifics and wisdom. I don't know too much about engines or horsepower. I've worked on cars most of my life, usually regular tune-up type stuff and occasionally heavy duty stuff like removing transmissions. So I would like anyone reading this to know that I'm not trying to be an auto part source in this blog. It's mainly for my friends and family to keep track of my progress on my project.

Answers

AMC stands for American Motors Corporation. AMC is like Ford or Chevy, it's just not around anymore. Why an AMC you ask? Price and a clean body. I really like squarish designs on cars. I had been looking for a Chevy Chevelle/Malibu or Nova. The ones I found were in really bad shape and still pricey, or they were in decent enough shape which made them really pricey. I was looking for a classic car that didn't need very much body work (pretty much none since I don't know how to do it myself and don't have the money to have extensive body work done). All of the Chevelles and Novas in my price range needed body work.

And that's when I stumbled upon the Rambler. Searching on Craig's List, I clicked on the ad because of the price and had never heard of the car before. Boom. It was square enough, like the Nova and it LOOKED TO BE IN GREAT SHAPE. I searched around some more and finally emailed the owner for more pics and the catch...was there rust hiding in there. He responded saying that there was only a little surface rust in the trunk and sent more photos. Long story short, I was sold. I drove up to Tennessee to check it out (and was 98% sure I was bringing it back with me since I brought a trailer!) and brought it back with me to Atlanta the same day. A coworker just happened to have bought a warehouse a couple of weeks before, which has now worked out perfect for me since I need a place to store and work on the car.

In the coming months (probably year(hopefully not years)) I will be posting updates to show my progress and probably rant how this bolt was too tight or how the taste of oil is not very good. I've got a lot of decisions coming up with what to do with the car and will update when I get the answers. If I've got nothing new to say, I'll keep everyone posted on when I add new pictures to my flicker account (link is on the right).

For now, the car has a 196 Overhead Six Cylinder (Straight Six) engine in it. It's going to stay that way. I don't want anyone coming on here telling me "Dude, you need to drop a V-8 in that bad boy! Yee haww!!" This is just going to be a daily driver car. I'm not suping it up to race anyone. It was originally green, that is going to go. I like blue, so I'm searching for the right color to get. The interior will stay the same, minus the change of color. I like the bench seats and will not be switching to bucket seats. The dash and instruments will stay original, but I will probably hide some goodies underneath to modernize the sound. Gotta find new wheels. I will not be lowering the car. If anything, I might raise the back end giving it more of a racked stance.

That's all I have for now. Stay tuned and wish me luck.