Street Freak Rambler build

[LetsFNgo]

This is pretty embarrassing, but I’m posting this for posterity in hopes that at some point I can post pictures of the same thing but better.
I need to work on my bodywork, sanding, and painting, and I want to learn line work and other stuff. So here’s my first attempt with a spare Rambler decklid I had laying around.
Today I used paint remover and removed this paint job, sanded the decklid with 80 grit because I found that the first sanding job I did wasn’t good enough, and now I’m hoping to prime and paint this decklid again after fixing a couple small pinholes in the corners.
Also today I removed the inner structure from it because I want to do a pin on hood and decklid and wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything special about removing it before I cut up the nice original lid on this car.
After sanding with 80 I hit it with 400 on the DA sander. For now I’m just using cans. Once I play with the line work enough I’ll move up to using a paint gun. Hopefully at some point I stop sucking so much at it.

I should be picking up the block, heads, and possibly the crank in the next couple weeks after the machine work is finished. I’ll post some pictures once I have those parts in my basement for assembly.

[LetsFNgo]

Here’s the decklid at the end of the day. It’s pretty pitted once sanded down but for a practice piece will be just fine. Also included is a photo of the custom Crower blower cam spec card when it arrived at my door Friday. I need to call them tomorrow for a valve spring recommendation.

[LetsFNgo]

Stopped at the machine shop today. The small local guy I use doesn’t have the ability to align hone the mains so it’s going to another shop about 10 minutes away. He’s hoping to knock it out tomorrow and finish boring and honing the block to the piston size by the end of the week. The heads should be done tomorrow as he actually had valve springs brand new in the box that he can use for my cam. Head porting and cleanup is just about done. He’s very happy with everything.

There are a few other modifications he’s doing to the block before it’s done. They include:

Running a long drill bit through all of the mains to make sure the factory actually did their job. It’s very common on AMC blocks to find the mains on 4 and 5 not actually drilled to full size. They just ran the bit until it broke through and pulled it out. This causes low oil flow to the back two mains which already have oiling issues on AMC engines due to poor oil passage design.

Drilling a port to feed the external sump oil pan through the block on the inlet side of the pump. It gets drilled and finished to 1/2”npt.

Knocking a bunch of flashing off the block where the heads return oil and drilling a bunch of small holes in the upper cam webbing so the oil returns to the sump instead of sitting in the top of the engine.

Drilling the main oil feed to the mains to feed oil direct from the front passage to mains 4 and 5. This is mostly unnecessary if you make sure the holes are drilled, but even AMC themselves recommended this line and more oil to the mains is never a bad thing.

Running a tap into the drivers side oil feed and restricting oil flow to the left side of the block. The oil galley on the left side only feeds oil to the cam lobes and valvetrain for the left side. Restricting it helps oil to the mains(see a pattern here?)

I have the oil pump and front cover for this engine mostly assembled under my bench at work. I’ll probably finish it up this week. The factory pumps flow a ton of oil when the clearances are set properly(read:tight) but are hampered by an oil system that prioritizes the cam over the main bearings.

Also spent some time today after my sons doctors appointment disassembling sheet metal off the front of the car, and test fitting the radiator. It’s a basically new 440 6 pack Challenger radiator I bought before I bought the twice as expensive “correct” radiator. It’s much larger than the factory Rambler rad so it should help. Just need to get it to fit nicely.

[MarcDant]

Nice thats going to be a wild ride.

[LetsFNgo]

Morning update on the gasser.
Front cover is assembled and clearances are set. Gears stick out of the case .006-.007” selected a gasket that I measured at .009. Meaning loose I’ll have clearances at .002-.003. I’d prefer it a touch tighter but it’ll work fine this way. I’ve had issues when I ran around .005-.006 because with heat those clearances open up.

Blower is also mostly assembled. I used the factory shims behind the drive gear and after assembly my rotor to rotor clearance is .009-.010. Some say it should be tighter but I’m not trying to make 20psi out of it. Rotor to bottom case clearance is .005-.006 which is perfect. Of course I lost my front cover gasket so I need to order a new one.

[LetsFNgo]

Small update. Should have a larger one in the next week or 2.
My dad and I decided that a proper gasser needs white fenderwell headers and a flip front end. Obviously no one makes one for a Rambler so we’re going to weld a hood and fenders together and try to build something fairly light. Otherwise we began cutting the inner fenders out of the car.

After some discussion with my dad I think I’m going to send the car out and have a 12 point cage put in to tie the car together since I’m cutting so much out of it. At this point I doubt the body and suspension weighs 1000 pounds. I can pick up the front end with no engine and trans by myself to put it on jackstands. I’m fairly certain with a blown 390, 4 speed, and 5.13’s on sticky tires it’s going to be a terrifying ride and while I’m not a fan of cages on a street car, I’d like to do some drag and drive stuff eventually and will need to follow the safety rules. I’m still shooting to make the car look like 1970 though.

Couple of front end removal pictures. More to follow in the coming weeks. Most of my spare time the last couple weeks was spent cleaning out the garage so over the winter we can do the bodywork and paint it in the spring.

[LetsFNgo]

Another small update on the street freak.
T10 is coming apart so the gears can be sent to Liberty for faceplating. For the first time liberty thinks they figured out how to faceplate 1 and 2 inside a T10. So they’re going to try it to my gears and hopefully it fits back in the case.

Also finished trimming all the old sheet metal off the frame rails and firewall. The car is going to a chassis shop after MCACN to a 10 or 12 point cage and to have custom fenderwell headers made I’m going to have coated white. Because that’s the best header color.

Otherwise I ordered all the shock mounting stuff as well as leaf spring sliders I’m going to use on the ladder bars so they don’t bind up the leaf springs.

Both 6109 Holleys are rebuilt and only need jets to be pressed into service.

Should have more soon. Thank you.

[Lynn]

"This is pretty embarrassing,..."

I would disagree. That's how we learn; by doing.

You gotta start somewhere.

Saw a signature line that read: "I have never failed. I just discovered 1,000 ways that don't work."

Mom taught me that ordinary folks can accomplish the extraordinary if they are willing to work hard enough. Sometimes that means "practicing" until we get it right.

Heck, even my Doctor is still "practicing"!!!

I appreciate the thread, and appreciate you being willing to post good bad and ugly.

[LetsFNgo]

Thanks for the kind words. I’m happy you enjoy the thread.
My dad and I had some time today to work on the car. Didn’t get as much done as I wanted but still got something accomplished and it’s a good feeling.

My dad started the day sandblasting the front frame rails while I worked on setting up the pin on decklid. I’m not exactly happy with our sandblaster but it did ok. I might end up paying to have someone come to my house and do it. But for now it’ll work and I’m grateful my dad was there to do it. I got one set of pins for the decklid done and I’m still waiting on the second set from eBay.

I couldn’t bring myself to buy new Made in China sets so I found NOS Made in USA Mr Gasket sets and I’m going to use the. It’s stupid but I hate supporting the CCP.

After that my dad and I welded the hood to the fenders and began the long process of setting up the tilt front end. I need to get some small square tube to make a frame and then figure out my mounting and hinge.

Last picture is of a Mallory Coil and Super CD box I picked up on some crazy aluminum mount with an oil pressure and water temp sending unit crudely mounted to it. Pretty interesting.

After that we cleaned up and I walked my son down to the park to play with my wife and parents. All in all a very good day. Thanks for reading.

[Too Many Projects]

Those siphon pot blasters can be frustrating to get, and keep, flowing well.
I have an Eastwood pressure pot blaster that isn't much better. Very finicky to adjust for the right amount of media.
They both require patience and a lot of time, as they aren't quick about getting a big area done.
The hood/fender marriage looks good. A temp frame to keep it from flexing and bending is good, but since the rails will need to be tied to the body with the cage, you may want to wait for the final hood frame to fit around the cage.
It could well be a 1 of a kind AMC at the shows and strip..