Time for a new project - '73 Javelin 360

 The "J" prefix does not necessarily mean it is a Jeep part. I have many NOS AMC parts with the J prefix. Soon after the buy out, Mopar needed to add a digit to the AMC part numbers to get them in sync with the Mopar parts numbering system.  .............. at least that is what I have been told. YMMV.

Took me a lot longer than it should have, but I finally got the upper section of the steering column off so that I can replace the broken plastic collar.  First time I've dealt with a locking steering column, and I learned a) that you don't have to remove the tumbler to remove the bowl (good thing, because I never did get that sucker out), and b) you have to remove the ignition switch at the base of the column to release the ignition interlock rod. 

The collar itself is made of unobtanium if you have a non-tilt column with floor shift.  Seems that everyone wants tilt columns, so that's all the aftermarket produces.  For me, the standard position of the AMC non-tilt column is right where it needs to be, so going to the trouble of installing a tilt column doesn't make much sense.  After hours of searching though, I did find a collar on E-Bay. I had to buy three pieces to get the one I needed, but the seller wasn't being greedy on the price and it all worked out.  It will probably be a week or so before I get the part, but putting it back together should be easier than taking it apart now that I understand how it all works.

The crusty seat belts are cleaning up nicely.  I still have to attach the new American Safety labels I made.  I duplicated the old labels exactly, including the part numbers and date code, which is why two of them are different from the other two, i.e. front (inner) lap belts and shoulder belts.  The outer belts spend most of their life inside a sheath, so they were in much better shape and didn't need much more than a good cleaning.

The bolts are the early style and not correct for a '73 (which used yellow anodized torx bolts), but I had these left over from my '69 AMX restoration and decided to use them since they were new and looked way better than the torx bolts that came on the car.

The ribbon I printed the labels on is made for ink jet printers.  I find the ink from my current Canon printer bleeds on this fabric more than my old HP Ink Jet did, so I have a different fabric enroute to see if I can get the labels to come out a little more crisp than they are here.

With that out of the way I put the seat belts and seats back in the car.  I'm just awaiting my steering column collar to finish that up and put the steering wheel back on.

The fellow I bought the car from said he'd bought it ten years ago, drove it home the 275 miles or so from Los Angeles and parked it.  He had about 20 other cars of various makes, so that didn't seem so far-fetched.  He said he'd had the interior reupholstered, which seemed logical at the time, but the more I looked the more I wondered how that could be true.  First of all, this 1973 car had 70-72 seats, and the door tag indicates that the original seats were white.  Ok, somebody obviously changed them out somewhere along the line.  The seats appeared in good shape, but the upholstery seemed to be not new, and so close to the factory style that it was hard to believe that they were recovered.  Could have been a set of Legendary covers from 20 years ago or so, perhaps, but while I had the seats apart this last week I realized that the vinyl and the turtle backs were originally green and have been repainted.  So, obviously the story that the seats have been reupholstered was bogus.  Rattle can upholstery, perhaps.

Interestingly, the black vinyl rear seats match perfectly but have not been repainted.  I don't know what to make of this.  Does anyone know how to interpret the seat date codes from the metal buck tag.  Mine ends in H-37WK, which seems like the 37th week of some unknown year perhaps?