I sold my last Mopar. Picked up a '69 Rambler wagon. Swapped in a Jeep 4.0 and AW4. Doubled the front spring rate. Added 16x7's off a Grand Marquis. If I haven't lost you yet, let me know. Not sure if anyone on here gives a damn about Ramblers, and my feelings won't be hurt if you don't. I didn't give AMC's a second glance until I started messing with this one, now I'm bummed they aren't around.

I'm impressed.

Wagons are cool! Nice work on the Rambler. If its different that is way better than something you see everyday like an orange 69 Camaro.....

Check out this wagon. The show is a little goofy but the driving is real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNJEQ90_wFk

I had a low mileage '62 Rambler Ambassador with an AMC 327 engine. I have an appreciation for the old Ramblers. In stock form it would out muscle the mid '70's Z28 cars. Ramble on!

Sounds like a cool car and an awesome sleeper with a couple more mods on there.

i like it. not really a handling question but how hard is the 4.0 swap

Cool Ride I had a 69 Rambler 2dr with a 290v-8, it was a nice car.

I love wagons, and upgraded to a 4.0L to boot! Is that an EFI motor? I'd love to see some pictures of the install.

Thanks for the nice words.

I hope this isn't in the wrong spot, I'm not used to this AMC thing and I really like this new section of Moparts. I keep coming here to see what kind of advice on handling is showing up. I couldn't figure out how to make my 340 Scamp handle and stop for no money so I sold it and used the money to build a more family-friendly fuel injected wagon. It's been freeing to not care which OEM's parts end up on it. I still try to keep them American though!

A quick note on the 4.0/AW4 swap. The 4.0's still have the original motor mount bosses in the block, so the 232 six mounts bolted right up. I mounted the AW4 to the original Borg Warner auto trans crosmember with a Mopar 904/727 mount after I slid it back about 3". I flipped the gear selector on the trans and mounted the original column linkage right up. All wrecking yard parts and a few good deals on craigs and ebay. It's not real pretty, I did it in my backyard outside in Oregon. I'll put some pics up later.

I have some photos on the amc forum, they've got a section just for these kind of swaps. I think I'd better get back on topic.



Thanks.

Which AMC forum? There are 2 that I know of. The one that is acually named 'The AMC Forum'?

http://theamcforum.com/forum/forums.html

or this one?

http://amccars.net/cgi/yabb2/YaBB.pl



I don't see how anyone could like the AMC vehicles, I sure wouldn't own one.

Oh ya, I own two.



Your wagon looks good. Have fun with it. You gonna bring it up to Wa. State for the AMC show, I'll have to look it up as to which state it's in this year, Wa. or Or. or the Seattle Mopar show in June? or the Tacoma Mopar show in Aug?

On the subject of handling, I'm short on cash and long on ideas, so I'm hoping this might apply to all of us in that boat. I'm basing this build on the idea that almost all the technological leaps, excluding traction control, have come in shocks and tires. Basically I'm going to optimize my factory geometry, limit travel to keep it in the sweet spot, add poly bushings(delrin if there's an issue with those), effectively double the spring rate front/rear, and adjust with a tune-able front sway bar and good shocks. I've already put in some Eibach NASCAR LM coils that were only $39/ea on ebay for an approximately 150lb/in wheel rate at the front. My rear leafs are cooked and I'm looking at Mustang parts right now because of their similar dimensions, extra width, and wide-open aftermarket. I don't think I'm going to be getting any offers from Hotchkis on this one. I know I've gotten some good info here, and if this works, it should apply to any 60's/70's sedan. Especially the '67 Fastback Barracuda that I'm buying when the kids grow up. Hope you all don't mind me hanging out on here.

Yup, we link to other car web sites all the time, even the AMC sites. Lots of people here like AMC cars and jeeps and trucks.

I have lots of links to AMC web sites, parts and info.

we need some more pictures of that baby..

Assuming it's a unibody you'll want to build some subframe connectors. If it's a full frame car you can look at X braces between the rails.

Very cool ride and nice mods, you nailed the stance on that

I know a guy around here who has a wagon about that vintage as his hot rod (I seem to recall a big block Chev in it). He a buddy of an old friend of mine and been building different hot rods for years. Always nice to see soemthing different.

Your Rambler wagon is really cool! You've taken a car that was sorta something and made it into a real something.. different and respectfully cool! I applaud your efforts! My very first car (~while in HS ~1972) was a 66 Rambler American, 232-6, 2-door... I eventually learned of the S/CRambler.. had some thoughts of making that car into one of those S/CRamblers. Glad you're enjoying a unique car!