65 American 440H

Good morning everyone. First time at this, so here we go. Six months ago I picked up a 65 American 440H two door hardtop on Craigslist for $2,200. I bought it from an older gentleman in Central California. It looked good in the pictures and I had a good feeling talking to the owner. He was a retired mechanic who bought it years ago to restore and just never got around to it. I got it to go with my wife's 65 American 440 convertible that I put a 232 in. I had it shipped down and couldn't believe it when they drove it off the truck. It is in very good shape. the body has a couple of rust spots and some surface rust but otherwise very straight. It came with tow bar plates bolted to the front frame, so I think it was a tow vehicle for one of the owners. The engines starts right up and runs like new. The three speed manual with OD is noisy in first gear but quiet in the rest of the gears. It has a lot of small details to take care of mostly because it sat so long. I just got it back on the road for a while after installing a disc brake conversion and replacing the rotted tires. I'll try to keep you updated as I go. Due to $$$$ it's a long time project

The T-96 three speed tranny has, I think, straight cut gears for the first gear (unscynchronized) so it is noisier in first that in the other higher gears.  Joe

Shoot, that's not bad at all for being almost 50 years old. It's still odd for me to see a dash pad on a '65 American. Mine's a 220 and doesn't have a dash pad. Carpet replacement is easy. Mac McCoy in Portland sells carpet kits. I bought one of his kits a few years ago. It's the best carpet kit money can buy too. You will need nothing else. Everything you need is in the kit plus a DVD that shows you how to install it.