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This is a 1970 AMC Hornet. This one is a base model powered by a 199 cubic inch straight six with a Borg Warner 3 speed auto. This car has zero options, manual 4 wheel drum brakes, manual steering, no passenger side mirror. I wanted something different, and I always had a soft spot for AMC's, so here we are. The mighty 199 straight six. Would eventually become the 4.0 Jeep engine we all know and love.  Tires courtesy of JCPenney  Custom floor pan by previous owner  That red interior!    And some exterior shots  
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Sep 22, 2021 01:59
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 15:26 |
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Boaz MacPhereson posted:Ground floor for the Hornay. gently caress yeah. What's the plans? Plan? What plan? Ok I'll try. Step 1 is to replace the rotten floors. I have a new set here so thats not an issue. Step 2 is safety. Making new hard lines and upgrading the front brakes to discs. Rebuilding the front suspension and replacing the front and rear springs. Adding sway bars and possibly power steering. Step 3 is power train. This is where the fun begins and parts availability begins to bite. To do a bolt in engine/transmission combo would require a AMC 6 cylinder (258 or 4.0) and an AMC pattern A904 transmission. The engines are easy to find but the transmissions are not. Plus I really do not want to go that route. So after some thought I figured if Chrysler bought AMC, then Chrysler can power it too. Enter the mighty Magnum 5.2 (318)  I'll have to fab up some mounts for this, the Magnum engines have different motor mounting points than a regular 318 and are pretty close to where an AMC V8 would be. I have an intake and a carb to swap out for the fuel injection. And it'll be mated to this  This is an A904 from a Dodge Diplomat. It will bolt to my existing crossmember using the factory 72 Hornet mount and will allow me to use my stock driveshaft with just a yoke change. And for wheels I'm going to use steelies with dog dish hubcaps which I scored off of the same car I got the transmission from.  These are a direct bolt on. Plus I get to move up to slightly easier to find 15 inch tires instead of the factory 14 inch. Later mods will be to swap out the weak AMC15 rear axle with a shortened 8.8, unless I can locate a small car AMC20 rear.
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Sep 22, 2021 15:12
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I thought about doing a 4.0/AW4 swap in the beginning but either way I go I have to fab either a trans mount/crossmember or engine mounts. I know the AMC purists will complain but sourcing a modern AMC V8 (304,360,401) and a two wheel drive transmission around here has been an exercise in futility. And an AMC V8 won't bolt to a six cylinder crossmember without making mounts (or buying conversion mounts, $379) anyway so it was kind of a no brainer.
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Sep 22, 2021 17:09
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Seat Safety Switch posted:Love a Hornet. Get it running well and then worry about the engine swap, IMO. I'd love to but the engine is locked up. I've had various concoctions sitting in the cylinders for a month now and it's not budging.
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Sep 22, 2021 18:03
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No progress to report but I did pick up a couple nice emblems and a gas cap at a swap meet. 
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Sep 29, 2021 23:58
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Raluek posted:that's an awfully large gremlin you've got there Here is just south of Cincinnati, Ohio. If you're somewhat close and have parts I'm always looking. I'd much rather have an AMC drivetrain so I could just bolt everything in but parts are scarce around here.
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Sep 30, 2021 15:54
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I found some time to get a few things done over the weekend. I pulled the intake and the exhaust manifolds for inspection and to repair some broken bolts. But, I also have a line on an AMC 343 and a transmission so this may be a moot point, we'll see.      And bonus content! My foster kitten with my foster fail dog. 
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Oct 12, 2021 15:39
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After stripping this car down I've decided that it probably be better served as a parts car. But don't worry, I found something better!    1971 Hornet 232 straight 6 and 3 on the tree. 43k mile barn find. Last registered in 1990. Has a few rust spots but no holes anywhere.
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Dec 13, 2021 02:32
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PBCrunch posted:Are those seats the factory cloth? They look just like every pair of universal seat covers that existed in the 1980s. Those are the OEM seats as far as I can tell. It's a Canadian built car so none of the trim or paint codes match up to the information floating around out there.
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Dec 14, 2021 00:16
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I did find the owners manual when I was doing a little cleaning of the new car today.  
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Dec 14, 2021 00:22
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PBCrunch posted:WTF? Shouldn't it be a CMC Canadian Motors Corporation car then? Maybe the Canadians didn't want to put their name on perhaps the world's most perfectly engineered vehicles. 
Swiller of Beer fucked around with this message at 01:31 on Dec 15, 2021 |
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Dec 15, 2021 01:27
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In my never ending quest to acquire all the AMC parts within a three hour radius of my house, I purchased a couple things. I am also learning that only crazy hillbillies have AMC parts. 1970-1972 Hornet right fender, did I need it? No. Did I want it? Yes!  1979 304ci V8 from a Jeep. Check out the AMC branded Ford ignition module on top.  I have no plans to do a V8 swap on the Blue Hornet anytime soon. I'm going to leave it as it is until the inevitable day the weak as poo poo T96 transmission breaks or I get all the parts I need for a T5 swap. (The T96 will probably break before then, they are notorious for being a very weak transmission)
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Dec 15, 2021 02:11
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Small update, didn't get a lot done it was raining all weekend. I still need to get the brakes unstuck so I can roll it into the garage. Pulled the steering column apart and removed the ignition cylinder so I could unlock the column and shifter.  Swapped in a battery and checked out the electric system. Had to clean a few connections but everything works.  I removed the plugs and sprayed some Kroil in the cylinders, I was able to get a quarter turn of the crank so I'm just going to keep soaking and see what happens. Worst case scenario I have to pull the head and clean it out. Good thing the head gasket was on clearance at Rockauto for $8.  
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Dec 21, 2021 18:56
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As far as parts go, it's not great but not terrible either. There are several vendors that specialize in AMC parts, and the fact that AMC used a lot of parts common to other automakers helps. Also helpful is that the Hornet/Gremlin/Spirit/Concorde is the same car mechanically. That's a 17 year run on that platform. Interior/exterior/trim is where it gets difficult and expensive. It also helps that a lot of Jeep parts will just drop in which comes in handy for engines and transmissions. AMC unified the transmission bolt patterns between the I6 and V8 in 1972 so I could use any engine/trans combo and make it work. (My cars are pre 72 so I'd have to swap both) A Jeep 4.0 from any year will bolt right up to my engine mounts no problem.
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Dec 22, 2021 21:19
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MrOnBicycle posted:
Sportabouts are awesome and why have you not bought it yet?
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Dec 22, 2021 21:22
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So after soaking the cylinders for about a week I was able to get the engine to break free. I put the spark plugs back in, poured some gas in the carburetor and it didn't hit a lick. I checked the points and the tips were very corroded. I tried to clean them with a file but all I could get was a weak spark so I swapped them out.   After that I had a hot spark, I pulled the old supply line from the fuel pump, ran a new one into a gas can and Voila! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3YiaJBS9S8 It ticked for about 10 minutes and then the lifters quited down. So now I that it runs (kind of) I had to get the brakes released. Cue the air hammer, mini sledgehammer and wood splitting wedges!    All four drums were frozen, but with some persuasion I was able to get them off. I then drove the car about 20 feet back and forth and was able to verify that the transmission and clutch was fine. So now I can put the list together for the minimum work I need to do to get this thing on the road. Rebuild brake system, convert to front disc, Replace all hard lines Rebuild suspension (all the bushings are rotted) Remove gas tank and clean Rebuild cooling system Rebuild carburetor Rebuild ignition system Convert to power steering (I'm old) Change all fluids Remove interior, clean everything and reassemble. BONUS CONTENT! The sickest sounding door buzzer I've ever heard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlnOvZgcFc4 Swiller of Beer fucked around with this message at 02:01 on Jan 5, 2022 |
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Jan 5, 2022 01:57
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So it's been awhile since my last post, haven't been able to work on the car much due to life issues and poo poo winter weather, but now it's back to work     So one of many issues is the car wouldn't idle. After 30 years of sitting I was sure the carburetor was gummed up. The Carter YF is a simple carburetor so I went ahead and rebuilt it. On an off topic, on Monday some nice person in a F350 with a brush guard rear ended my wife's car. At least he had insurance but all the body shops are booked until mid April so unhappy wife = unhappy me.  
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Feb 27, 2022 03:41
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I wanted to drop the fuel tank this weekend, but that requires accessing the trunk to remove the filler neck. I didn't get any keys when I picked up the car so I had to drill the lock cylinder out. So let's see what treasures are hidden within!  The three missing factory wheels and hubcaps!  Factory gas cap!  And an ancient tire pump!  Tank looks good on the outside. But on the inside...   It's not so good. A lot of varnish and rust. I'm going to try to clean this one out and run a clear (and easily changed!) fuel filter on the suction side of the fuel pump and see how it acts. If anyone here has experience with cleaning out rusty gas tanks I'd appreciate any advice you could give.    Not much more than surface rust under the car, I'm going to hit it with a needle scaler and wire wheel, then put some rust converter on it.
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Mar 7, 2022 16:10
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Raluek posted:jesus christ why is it so rusty underneath, thats insane The rust isn't bad at all, it's all surface rust and easily dealt with. I am going to keep the hubcaps but I'm using a bigger set of wheels that I'll paint body color like the originals. And there was no way to get into the trunk from the back seat with the three tires in the trunk and the bulkhead in the way.
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Mar 8, 2022 14:23
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It's been awhile, and I've been busy and haven't gotten as much done on the car as I would like. But progress is being made, albeit slowly.     This is the rear brake setup. The hold down springs are the biggest pain in the rear end I have ever dealt with. Other than that it's just your standard Bendix drum brake. And they're tiny at 9" x 2".        I also started on the front disc brake conversion. I'm using caliper brackets from Scarebird Classic Brakes. With this setup you use the rotors from a Previa, the calipers from a Celebrity w/ HD brakes, and brake hoses from an Eldorado. You so have to machine the OD of the front hubs to fit the rotors which I did on the lathe at my job. I replaced the tiny wheel bearings while I was there. I also figured out I needed longer wheel studs to make up for the thickness of the rotor, so by doing some measuring I found the studs from an Astro van w/ AWD fit perfectly. The jobs not complete yet, I was able to get the old backing plates off and install the caliper brackets, and then I ran out of time.
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May 2, 2022 19:37
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So when I last left off I had a car with no brakes and running off of a gas can that I would sit on the hood.    I ran new brake and fuel lines, and installed a new gas tank. No one makes a gas tank for this car, and the old one was too far gone for me to use. So what I did was use a tank for a Concord, desolder the filler neck from my old tank, and weld it into my new tank. The new tank is 22 gallons while the old one was 16, so I had to tweak the tube on the fuel sender to reach the bottom. I also had to repair the fuel lever potentiometer as it has corroded off the sender. But now that's all done, and I now have brakes and don't have to use the gas can anymore, and I was able to drive it a couple miles.   I also painted the rims and mounted a set of tires. After my test drive I made the decision to convert to power steering. Six turns lock to lock on the manual steering just sucks, going to a power box drops that down to four turns, which is more manageable. All the parts are available new except the power steering pump mounting brackets, which are unobtanium for a pre 75 AMC six cylinder, so I'm going to have to fabricate my own.
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Jun 28, 2022 14:22
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      So I installed power steering on this thing, and it is glorious. I made the pump brackets out of 1/4 x 1 inch aluminum flat bar and it seems very sturdy. The pump does sit higher than the factory location but everything clears so I'm happy. I was able to drive it up town to get it inspected and registered so now I'm officially legal. However, it's an old car that has sat for a long time, and I may have ignored some of the warnings it was giving me.  This was the water pump I replaced, the impeller is very corroded and parts of it are gone. Which after driving it home and seeing drips on the ground led me to this.  Hello there rusted out expansion plug! I could just replace the bad one and pressure test the system but I'm going to pull the engine out and replace them all, it'll give me a chance to look everything over and clean the engine bay up.
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Jul 13, 2022 19:43
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 The cause of my current issues.  And the current state of things. So, after a little thought I decided to go ahead and pull the engine. I don't trust the core plug I can't see and everything in the engine bay could use a lot of cleaning and some surface rust repairs. I'll probably do this in a few weeks when I get some free time. Speaking of cleaning, the interior was very dirty and had mildew in spots from its long sleep in a barn, so I've been working on that as well.      I've been pulling the interior out and cleaning parts as I go, I just have a few more things to remove and I can get in there and scrub all the remaining surfaces.
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Aug 14, 2022 00:47
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STR posted:This is looking great. Good idea on the Concord tank. I'm assuming the red car's tank was in similar condition? The red car tank is worse, it has a bunch of pinholes in it. I'm going to run it for the moment as a quasi survivor. I'm going to fix the worst parts of the surface rust and then let the rest go for now.
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Aug 15, 2022 13:42
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Just a minor update, I haven't gotten much done lately on the car due to several projects I needed to complete around the house. But I did get a couple parts in to stuff into storage! I was able to pull some parts off of a 73 Hornet Sportabout that was heading to the crusher. A pair of small car V8 exhaust manifolds. The bottom manifold is common to AMCs and Jeeps and is easy to get, the log manifold on top is super rare to find these days.  And I was also able to get a sway bar as well, these are available new for about $235 or so, but I'm an AMC guy so I'm cheap. Swiller of Beer fucked around with this message at 02:00 on Oct 6, 2022 |
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Oct 6, 2022 01:40
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Raluek posted:you want the free-flows anyway. do you have a matching one for the passenger side? The free flow manifold doesn't fit the passenger side on the small cars. Some guys say you can cut the flange off of a free flow,, rotate it 90° and weld it back on to make it fit. I didn't want to go through all that.
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Oct 6, 2022 22:23
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MrOnBicycle posted:Were these zink bath dipped (or whatever they did for rust proofing) like the Eagles? My car has the factory undercoat (which is really tough stuff and haphazardly applied) but no zinc dip. I don't think that AMC started dipping their cars until the mid 70s or so.
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Oct 6, 2022 22:28
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Just a small update, haven't had much time to work on the car lately. Just going to dump a few pictures.     I pulled the heater box to replace the bad heater core, and to clean it out, paint and reseal it. The heater core like many AMC parts is obsolete so I used the heater core out of a 79 Bronco which was dimensionally similar.  I also acquired this, it's a reproduction but I'm a sucker for stuff like this.
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Nov 27, 2022 17:35
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Raluek posted:nice work. i was going to ask where you got the heater core because ive had a hell of a time finding one for my javelin, but it looks like the answer is that you didn't find one either Nope. But this core is close enough and you can make up the difference with some foam. Plus it cost $26. It may work for your car as well. Rockauto does have the core for the later model Javelins in stock at the moment if you need the style that has the bracket on it for $85.
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Nov 27, 2022 22:48
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Raluek posted:oh nice, last time i looked nobody had those in stock either I didn't want to pay that much to cut one up to make it work in my car either, plus I'm cheap.
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Nov 28, 2022 03:07
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In non AMC news, I purchased a slightly newer car that I can actually buy parts for! 
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Dec 6, 2022 20:49
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Fornax Disaster posted:Well, there is an AMC link, Brampton Assembly was originally built by AMC to build the Eagle Premier. (Old Brampton Assembly was in a different part of the city, that one actually built Hornets). Yup, my blue 71 Hornet was built at the old Brampton plant and the red 70 Hornet was built in Kenosha.
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Dec 6, 2022 23:52
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Back from the dead!           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upgObAq-Ubc When I last left off I had blown a freeze plug and then disassembled the interior for cleaning. I'm still working on the interior but have been focusing on getting the car running, reliable and with a little bit more power. I replaced the freeze plugs, swapped the cam to a mild grind (Isky 256 Super cam) converted to a late model aluminum AMC/Jeep two barrel intake with a Motorcraft 2150 carb swap and matching exhaust manifold. Upcoming repairs are converting to an internally regulated alternator to replace the dead Motorola externally regulated unit and a new radiator to replace the leaking one.
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Feb 26, 2023 19:28
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kastein posted:If those are like the 4.0 there is a core plug on the back of the block as well. It's right up at the top behind the flexplate, so ideally you can get at it when you put a T5 in. The power steering brackets are hack jobs, I need to make something stronger. Aluminum was easy to form and tweak. To change it to late model mounts I would need to move the alt to the other side. I'm not sure but I think I have to change the timing cover as well for mounting holes.
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Feb 26, 2023 22:32
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 Got my radiator in and installed this weekend. It's an eBay special but works great. I was finally able to drive it a few miles and everything held together so I'll consider it a success. Just for kicks I made a short walk around video if anyone's interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxQptimT3nQ
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Mar 6, 2023 01:25
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Small update. Working on reassembling the dash. Replaced all the bulbs in the cluster and used some cheap LED bulbs for the interior lights. If anything the lack of heat will keep the plastics from deteriorating.       And for some really old technology, here's the wiper switch/washer pump. When you rotate the knob it makes the wipers faster/slower by varying the vacuum port on the wiper motor. When you push the knob it squirts a little bit of washer fluid on the windshield. 
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Apr 26, 2023 19:54
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Coming soon... V8 and T5 swap! I have all the parts and will just need to get the driveshaft shortened and fab up a transmission mount. The freeze plug behind the flywheel finally let go and I really hate the unsynchronized first gear of this transmission so it's gotta go. I'll fix the engine that's coming out and put it in the red Hornet as its a direct replacement for the bad 199 in it right now.
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Jun 18, 2023 21:38
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Yay an update!      The drivetrain is out, and as I figured the freeze plug behind the flywheel was leaking. I could fix it and put this car back together but the clutch is pretty worn and I hate the transmission so no. I cleaned up some surface rust from the crossmember and the bottom of the spring towers and painted them. I still have to move the battery tray and some of the electrical over to the passenger side to accommodate the 304 but thankfully AMC was nice enough to have the holes punched there for it. I'm going to do a little more surface rust removal and then I'll be ready to begin installing everything.
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Jul 15, 2023 16:43
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Not much of an update, was finally able to get some free time to put some work in. I forgot to take pictures so there is only a couple of them. 304 AMC V8 with a T5 transmission out of a 93 Mustang. Had to use an AMC multifit bellhousing, a Jeep clutch and a Jeep input shaft bearing retainer to make it all work.  And now it's in, I was able to cheat the engine and transmission in as an assembly. There's a lot more that needs to be done but the hardest part is out of the way.
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Sep 24, 2023 16:52
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 15:26 |
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I have been able to get some more work done the last few weeks, things are still moving slow but I'm making progress.    I had to make a L bracket to relocate the pivot on the Z-bar for the clutch linkage. Since I'm using a late model AMC/Jeep bellhousing the pivot mounting location was wrong. (It would normally bolt directly to the bellhousing)The other end of the Z-bar mounts in the strut rod bracket so that end couldn't be relocated. I set the clutch pushrod adjustment and verified that the clutch would release and had proper free play.    Transmission installed with a shortened driveshaft and a slip yoke swap to match the T-5. Had to extend the mounting surface of the cross member with some 1/4 inch plate. The transmission mount is for a 69 Mercury Cougar but it fits the transmission perfectly and has the correct height I needed for the driveshaft angle. I'm fairly sure the modification work is about done, I won't weld in the transmission mount plate extension until I have been able to test drive the car and make sure the positioning is OK. I hope to have it running and be able to move under its own power by the end of November.
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Oct 29, 2023 04:03
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