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Celebrity Rambler |
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pacerman
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Jul/03/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 9057 |
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Cam, my spot blaster is also a Harbor Freight purchase from several years ago. It was not up to the task today so I used my portable sand blaster and a combination of roll-lock disks and wire brushes to address the rust. I made some improvement and the car is ready to be treated with Metal Prep tomorrow and then after being rinsed and dried I will apply to coats of DP50LF epoxy primer. One drawback of working on an old car where windshield gaskets are not available is having to leave the glass in place. It takes extra care when masking and the degraded gaskets will need some help from windshield bedding compound after the primer and paint. Bummer.
Don't leave your other cars uncovered when you have a dusty operation going nearby. |
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Happiness is making something out of nothing.
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Have2SC's
AMC Addicted Joined: Nov/30/2011 Location: Norwalk, OH Status: Offline Points: 1257 |
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1971 SC360 Hornet 4 speed 1970 Javelin 390 4 speed "Base Model" 1967 Rambler 220 X code 343 4 speed
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amcfool1
AMC Addicted Joined: Jun/18/2011 Location: roanoke va Status: Offline Points: 1075 |
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hi, Eastwood sells a good spot blaster, I have one and like it. good luck, gz
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george z
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pacerman
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Jul/03/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 9057 |
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The roof is in epoxy primer. Next comes the filler primer, probably polyester, in a few days.
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Happiness is making something out of nothing.
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pacerman
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Jul/03/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 9057 |
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The weather is great here on the central coast and a car buddy and I have been working on two projects in the back yard this weekend. We are putting VDO gauges in his 74 Gremlin and I have been working on the Celebrity Rambler as time permits.
First the Rambler. The first picture shows fairly typical rust bubbling through the top of the right fender. I needed to remove the fender to repair it, revealing a lot of damage that I expected on a pre-63 big body car. I have some experience with these cars and have seen similar rust on the three such cars I have owned. Here is my advice. If you are looking to buy a big body Rambler made anywhere from 1958 when the body was first marketed through 1962, and you see rust bubbles on either fender near the windshield and you cannot fix it yourself, walk away from the car. The rust you will see below is fixable and I plan to do it myself, but it would not be cheap to hire it done. You will note that the impacted area on the surface of the fender is only about six inches in diameter. What lurks underneath is more serious. The windshield will have to be removed and I did find a replacement windshield gasket so I think we can eventually reinstall it. In short: Buyer Beware. Keep in mind the Celebrity is a California car. The major reason for the rust is that the body plant put about a pound or more of tar-like body putty at the rear underneath the fender which holds moisture. I owned three of these and the all have rust in this area. \ The second project was putting VDO guages in a custom panel in Jim's 74 Gremlin. I has a hopped-up 360 (don't know total displacement, but it has a 401 crank and rods). He recently added the 17's. And Gizmo was watching too. |
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Happiness is making something out of nothing.
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farna
Supporter of TheAMCForum Moderator Lost Dealership Project Joined: Jul/08/2007 Location: South Carolina Status: Offline Points: 19676 |
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You can get a new windshield gasket! Try Galvin's (www.ramblerparts.com) or Peter Stathes (www.amcrambler.com).
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Frank Swygert
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pacerman
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Jul/03/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 9057 |
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Well, I did get a windshield gasket from the Rambler Guy down in Orange County and he said it was the last one to fit my car. The final seam is not made so he recommended that I have a glass shop install the windshield and have them do a diagonal seam at the corner. I am not quite ready to remove the windshield yet and when I do it will be out out for a while. Last weekend I painted the engine bay in the original Corsican Gold. I will route the wire looms, replace the front to engine mounts and get ready to reinstall the engine and tranny in the next few days. I did get the transmission back from the shop a few weeks ago. This was a Rambler Club car and the transmission had been rebuilt twice in the last few years, without anyone ever checking to see that it operated properly. The repairman said all the parts were basically installed in the right place but that enough fasteners were not torqued properly so that it had internal pressure leaks, leading to the symptoms I experienced. I hope it is good to go now. I possibly have a source for factory sheet metal from another Classic to repair the damage below both A-pillars. I hope to harvest sheet metal later this week. Pics below:
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Happiness is making something out of nothing.
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farna
Supporter of TheAMCForum Moderator Lost Dealership Project Joined: Jul/08/2007 Location: South Carolina Status: Offline Points: 19676 |
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I disagree with your gasket guy. I'd put that seam in the center at the top or bottom where it's least conspicuous. Make it about 1/8" too long and glue the ends with contact cement. Over the years the gasket will shrink a little. The gap (if it develops) can be sealed with black RTV. It will be much harder to seal at a corner and will stick out more, IMHO. If you do make it in a corner make it a lower corner, contact cement the gasket together.
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Frank Swygert
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rms827
AMC Nut Joined: Apr/18/2018 Location: California Status: Offline Points: 378 |
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Definitely a nice car. That hidden rust has me scared to go looking on my own car now, LOL.
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1964 AMC Rambler Classic 660
"You can think I'm an idiot, just don't talk to me like I'm one." - Batman |
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