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65 Rambler Classic 660 Cross Country

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seadoo View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote seadoo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Aug/19/2014 at 4:39pm

Not sure if you got your answer but sedan and wagon windshield are the same.

Now if you end up needing the tailgate or cargo area glass. 63-65 Classic/Ambassador wagons will interchange.   For the rear glass only 66 wagons will not work....been there done that once...
 
 
Tim

Manassas Park, VA

65 Ambassador 990-H
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RebelRay Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Aug/19/2014 at 9:35pm
Thanks for confirming that about the windshields!  I'll keep my eyes peeled.  

I cleaned the transmission a lot more today.  Not perfect, but 85% of the grease and muck is gone.  It was so bad in spots that you couldn't tell there were bumps and valleys until you scraped away the grease!  


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RebelRay Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Sep/11/2014 at 11:50pm
Small update, I went through the car to see what I had and found some nice goodies.  I snapped a bunch of pictures since I know you guys can't get enough of Rambler wagons!  Big smile

SEdmonds, you were right about the roof rack gaskets.  They're in pretty poor shape.  As are the all of the window gaskets. Cry  Do any of the vendors sell roof rack gaskets or do I need to find some rubber sheet and make my own?





It was fun going through all of the parts.  Kinda like Christmas and my birthday all wrapped into one. 

Newer-ish radiator.  How do you tell how many cores it has?


There was a box full of goodies that had all of this shown in the next 2 pictures.

Pic 1 Contents (left to right, top to bottom):  Universal Joint, 2 wheel cylinders (surface rust, look like new inside), rubber brake lines, starter motor brushes, piston rings, neutral safety switch (barely visible behind the trans mount), trans mount, rear tailgate window crank (damaged but fixable), headlight switch, seal of some sort.  Looks like either a rear main seal or a trans output shaft seal?.


Tie rod end (another is in a box, not pictured), I know the 2 things below the tie rod end are steering parts but I have no idea what they are called!, control arm bushing kit (I've looked the number on the box up online (Prothane 1-206) and it looks like this kit may be for Americans, not Classics.  Anyone know?), ball joint, carb kit (not full rebuild but I can't remember what part of the carb it was for...)


The valve cover, air breather, and some random rockers, springs, and other doo-dads are all that's left of the original motor.  Time to crack open those storage compartments (which are waaaay cool, by the way!)


The big compartment reveals much of the engine accessories along with the torque converter, transmission yolk, and original vacuum wiper motor which I plan to rebuild.


Wiper motor and yolk


Also in the big compartment was another wheel cylinder and 2 more rubber lines!  Woot!


Box of general odds and ends.  Mostly drum brake and valve parts.


The second, smaller compartment after I removed it's contents.  I'm glad to find both compartments are rust free!


The smaller compartment housed the cooling fan, a hinge for.... something, a blue dealie-bob, and some hoses (2 old, one new).


In the back seat was a box with lowering springs.  The previous owner tells me these were for a sedan, so he guessed they would drop a little lower on a wagon.  I don't plan to use them.  If I lower the wagon, it will be with air bags so I can still drive it on these lovely Missouri roads. Dead


This was an original A/C car and air conditioning of some sort is going back in!  I hear there's a better, less power sapping compressor, so I don't know if this one will go back in or not.


The car also came with a set of 4 full wheel hubcaps.  I'm more of a "poverty cap" kinda guy, so these will probably go to a new home at some point.


Thus ends my collection of goodies.  I want to go through the whole car and identify just how bad the rust area's are.  I know the firewall has some issues.  Probably due to crud sitting in the cowl and rusting through.  I hear that's a problem with these.  So I'll pull the cowl cover off and see what's what.

Sorry for a long post!

Ray
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RebelRay Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Sep/12/2014 at 12:12am
How cool are these add-on speakers?!  I love it!  I'll clean them up, replace the speakers, and mount them a little better, but they're staying!

The dash cleaned up pretty well.  It's still worn out, but at least it's not 49 years of ick AND worn out.LOL


Rust-through on the passenger side firewall.  At least from here you can see the tires have good tread!


Driver's side is just as bad.  Good thing I've gotten some practice time in on my welder!


I found this in the back seat and immediately ran out to stick my head under the front of the car hoping to see discs.  Nope, still drum. Cry  Somebody clean those fingernails! Shocked


I also found this in the back seat.  Someone had excellent taste in vintage cars but terrible taste in music!  But at least they saved $2.99! 


I hear I can get a new liner from one of the vendors.  Is it a drop in replacement?  Is it true it's only $20?!

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SEdmonds Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Sep/12/2014 at 12:56am
Cool stuff! On the roof rack gaskets - we ended up making our own. Check with the vendors - maybe someone is reproducing them now.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rocklandrambler Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Sep/12/2014 at 2:44am
Unless you really think roof racks are Waaaaay Kool I'd remove it and fill in the holes. No one really uses them. The glove box liners are usually held in with trim screws. Check eBay as there is usually a vendor on there selling them.
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1974 Hornet X (new)
1975 Gremlin X (new)
1964 Classic 660 Cross Country
1965 American 440-H
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pacerman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Sep/12/2014 at 5:38am
My Dad was born in Dardanelle, AR, just across the river from Russellville.  We used to vacation in the area each July when I was a kid.  We always bought our fireworks in Russellville and took extras home to our friends in Indiana.   Still have all my fingers.   With that cowl rust, you will want to pull both front fenders and the cowl grille, if it is removable like on the 63 and 64 Classics and check for hidden rust.  Joe
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SnakePlissken Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Sep/12/2014 at 9:36pm
Cool car, am I seeing this is a factory air car ?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RebelRay Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Sep/15/2014 at 10:57pm
Originally posted by SnakePlissken SnakePlissken wrote:

Cool car, am I seeing this is a factory air car ?

Thanks!  She sure is!  It came with a compressor, but I hear there's an alternative that robs less power from the motor, so I may go that route.  For now I'm working on just getting her ready to get a motor.  I want to repair the firewalls and cowl area first.

This last Sunday, my brother and sister-in-law came by the house with their Jeep and we had a wrenching party.  We hopped back and forth between my wagon and my SIL's 1977-but-actually-mostly-1980-and-part-Chevy Jeep CJ5, appropriately nicknamed Frank, short for Frankenjeep. LOL  We started by pulling the passenger side fender so we could get to the damaged firewall.

One bolt was tucked into the area between the top door hinge and the top of the fender and had NO room to get a wrench on it.  So off came the door.  I took the door off before my brother and SIL got to the house.  The first words out of her mouth when she saw the missing door was "Ray, it's not a Jeep."  Ouch



After removing the grill, headlight buckets, all of the bolts, and took the passenger bumper loose, we still couldn't get the fender to come off the back.  It felt like there was something holding it on the bottom.  There was!  A couple spot welds!  One on the bottom of the fender under the car, the other where the rocker panel becomes the door frame.  



 I thought some idiot in the cars past had lost a bolt and figured a couple tacks would hold it.  As it turns out, I read later that night, the factory did it!  And in some Kiwi versions of the Classic, the fender is brazed to the car at the door frame!  

A couple of seconds with the cut-off wheel finished removing the fender from the car:


In the picture above, you can see where I did some "exploratory surgery".  Which brings us to the cowl area.  For those of you who don't know, the heater core air opening on the Classic is poorly designed and prone to rust.   Dirt and debris clogs the area around heater core opening causing water to sit and rust out the cowl.  I had two choices, cut the cowl or remove the dash and heater/vent assembly. 

I decided to go ahead and cut the cowl for a few reasons.  One, I didn't know how far the rust went across the cowl.  Opening it up let me make sure I got it all.  Two, I was already planning on welding in new metal for the heater core area and both driver's and passenger's firewalls, so welding the cowl area doesn't add a lot of extra effort to the project.  Third, I have no motor to block access to the cowl.  At times I was standing where the motor goes.

I started small since I wasn't sure if it was just a small hole or not.


Further inspection made it clear that I would need to open up a much larger area.


So most of the cowl was removed.


It looks like all of the cowl damage is limited to the passenger side.  In this picture you can see how narrow the passage for water and debris to get past the heater core is.  It's only about half an inch or so.  I imagine it didn't take long for rust to start forming.  I'm trying to come up with a better design so this won't happen again.  Any thoughts?

On top of the cowl and firewall rust, I'll also need to address the small triangular fender troughs/fender struts.  The drain holes were just little slits that got clogged with dirt just like the cowl.  I've only seen the passenger side so far, but I suspect the drivers side is just as far gone.  I don't know why AMC thought that little slit would be adequate.  I suppose we have hindsight on our side, but still...

Fender trough after removing the fender:


After removing the dirt:


The whole of the trough will be replaced.  And judging by the rear-most bolt on the driver side, I'll be doing the same over there:


And here's a bonus picture of Frankenjeep next to my 2012 JK:


Ray
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SnakePlissken Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Sep/15/2014 at 11:40pm
In the picture above, you can see where I did some "exploratory surgery".  Which brings us to the cowl area.  For those of you who don't know, the heater core air opening on the Classic is poorly designed and prone to rust.   Dirt and debris clogs the area around heater core opening causing water to sit and rust out the cowl.  I had two choices, cut the cowl or remove the dash and heater/vent assembly. 


It sure was. Back around 1994 I had a mint 65 or 66 white Classic 4 door and after a rain or during a rain the pass floor was wet (when I bought I wondered why the carpet was all messed up) and almost sounded like a small water fountain, luckily it was garaged and not rusty, I ended up cleaning it out. 

I spotted this on craigslist wondering if the one in Mexico Missouri is my old one ? I last saw it around 1996 and the new owner was in Festus. 
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