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Wild Plum 1971 SC360 Ram Air 4spd

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17tamx View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 17tamx Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Wild Plum 1971 SC360 Ram Air 4spd
    Posted: Jun/22/2009 at 9:00pm
I have always wanted a SC360 since I was in high school. I had an opertunitiy to buy one back in 1991 or 1992. My brother Mark had his up for sale in the Phoenix area while I was living in Anchorage, AK. The freight was going to be more that the car itself and my wife said no. Mark sold it to someone else and I kept looking but never found one in Alaska. Fast track to May of 2008 and Mark and I heared of a 1971 SC360 for sale here in the South Phoenix area and that it was the same Mustard color that Mark had owned years ago. We were told what part of town it was located in and we started searching. I knew of a house that had a Gremlin and a hump fender Javelin parked in the front yard so we started in that area. The hunch paid off. The SC360 was parked in the back yard hidden away but no one was home. Mark left a note on the front door asking if it was his old car. A few days later the wife called Mark and said it was indead his old car and it was for sale. $8,000.00 bought it and the 1972 Javelin SST as well. The 1970 Gremlin was not for sale since the owner was saving it for his daughter. Both cars had been sitting for about 9 years and needed wheels and tires that would hold air before they could be towed home. Mark sold the Javelin to one of his Hot Wheels buddies with the agreement that I would help him get the car on the road. After 6 weekends of long hard labor in June of 2008 the Javelin drove home to East Mesa. I was hoping to do the same to the SC360 and just get it on the road as driveable with out doing a complete restoration on the car. It needed everything and one thing lead to another. I told everyone in our AMC club that I would not have two projects going at the same time. Well life made a lier out of me and I now have two full blown projects going at one time. Here are the pictures to date.
 
 
The car cover and rugs were full of bugs and flees when I started peeling the layers back to check the car out.
 
 
 
The Ram Air piece was in the trunk.
 
 
I now have a new repo VIN Sticker for the door. VIN Tag on Dash and VIN on Title all match. Pro date is 10-70 and the heads are 291C's. I lucked out.
 
 
I have a new repo Door Tag but I will not change any of the numbers including the Paint Code.
 
 
The Machine Wheels are off of my 1970 AMX and I needed to get the original Magnum 500's sand blasted and powdercoated.
 
 
Mike Hircsh bought the 1972 Javelin SST. it has a 304 V8, auto PS PDB 2.87 open and a good sounding dual exhaust.
 
 
I bought a NOS set of 1973 Vintage English Mini-lites. I liked the look from the Trans-Am days when the Javelins ran them.
 
 
Car was missing the front valance when I purchased the car. These are welded on so someone had to work to remove it. Maybe for flat towing to drag races back in the day. Lots of aftermarket parts on the engine.
 
 
Rear bumber was dented and had one of those class I trailer hitches installed.
 
 
I had an extra set of Torque Links from a 1968 AMX that Mark and I bought out of a wrecking yard to part out. I thought that they would be a nice touch to the SC360.
 
 
My plan was to start with the rear brakes, I wanted to add an extra leaf to the spring packs and I wanted to add the torque links. Once the rear end was on the ground it leaked gear oil out of the front pinion seal, the left rear axle seal was leaking and both rear wheel cylinders were bad. I repaired and refinnished everything with new parts from NAPA. Parking brake cables and original brake lines cleaned up very well.
 
 
I like POR 15. Gloss Black, Cast Grey and Clear look good together. I used black poly bushing for everything.
 
 
Once everything was back together at the rear of the car I was going to do the same for the front.
 
 
Once the rear was done I went to work on the front end. It needed everything, ball joints, bearings brakes, bushings, shocks, everything. So I pulled the front suspension and went to work glass beading and painting the parts. I removed some items from the inner fender wells to be able to get the upper control arms off. The engine compartment looked so bad that I just went and pulled the motor. I dropped the engine and trans down onto a dolley and rolled it out from under the body. Easiest way to pull a motor in an AMC.
 
 
I like how fast it is to pull them apart but hate how long it takes to put them back together.
 
 
See how bad it looks. But it is nice to find a AZ car. Only a little top rust around the Brake Warning Switch and Battery Tray area.
 
 
I wanted to get the best paint job that I could afford so I took the car down further than any other car that I have done. I love the way that Bob Green's cars look when they are done so I wanted to go all the way with this one. Stripping a car all the way down like this saves a lot of labor for the body shop which means money saved for you. I glass beaded all hinges, latches, bolts, brackets, and rebuilt the door hinges. All the things that the body shop would need to paint body color for the car was removed and glassbead blasted and all parts went to the body shop bagged and tagged.
 
 
The outter panels were sanded with a DA and everything else was media blasted. Before the car was taken to the body shop I cleaned all goo from around the windows, blew out every nook and cranney with shop air and basically got the uni-body as clean as possible. I also ground down any sharp edges on spot welds. If I could feel it with a finger than it would rip the sandpaper. If you keep the cost down for the body shop and you make the job easier for the body shop you get a much better job for the money.
 
 
This car had rust behind each wheel well so patch panels were installed. The trunck dropdowns were ok. There was a little rust in the trunk at the right rear corner. the car had been hit there and had never been fixed correctly. Water got in around the right tailight assy. There was also pin holes in the spare tire well were it touches the fuel tank. Pretty easy repairs for the shop.
 
 
Hood pins were not in the best location for looks so the old holes were welded up and new holes added in a better location. I have bought the SC/Rambler system hood pins. I bought a NOS front valance but it was for the wrong year so I had to find another one that was correct.
 
 
Car was a great one to start out with. It didn't have any rust in the other normal places like door corners and the seam between the rocker panel and the quarter panels.
 
 
I removed all the old caulking before the media blasting and re-caulked everything after the epoxy sealer.
 
 
Correct front valance now installed.
 
 
Paint looked great before the color sanding was done. This picture was taken in the late afternoon after most of the wet sanding was done but before the polishing had been started.
 
 
I know some people will question the color change from Mustard to Wild Plum but it is a correct color for 1971 and my wife and kids did not like the Mustard. Scott's 1971 Javelin AMX looks great in Mustard and I showed my wife what it was suppost to look like and she just could not picture it. Family politics at its best. They all love the Wild Plum.
 
 
I picked the car up from the body shop the evening before our April Regional AMO show and entered it into the show. I guess we need to have an under construction class.
 
 
We had six cars at this show that had been painted by Brian Heitkam of Arizona Autocraft.
 
 
Just unloaded the car off of the trailer and getting ready to put it away after putting together its new home. I bought one of the 10' x 20' tent garages from Costco to protect the car while the paint is curring. And besides, the garage already has the AMX under construction in the center of our two car garage.
 
 
This is not a new paint color just the old color mixed in the new 2 stage product.
 
 
I have the painted style mirrors for both sides of the car.
 
 
Hood Scoop is paint in semi-gloss instead of flat black.
 
 
I have a really nice grill and headlight doors and some NOS Hornets and sidemarker lights.
 
 
I already have the front and rear seats done but failed to take pictures before packing them away.
 
 
I have the magnum 500's already powder coated, new trim rings and NOS center caps and retainers but I have not bought any Repo tires yet. I am not sure what size I am going to do in the Polyglass GT tires yet. I will just wait and see what sizes are available when I am ready to purchase a set.
 
 
I plan on cleaning and painting the underside of the uni-body like I have done on my AMX. I know that it is not correct but I plan on driving the car not just looking at it. I want to go out and race it on the strip as well as the street.
 
 
Once I have it all back together I am going to add lowering blocks to the rear. Just adding one leaf spring to each pack brought the rear end up too high.
 
 
Those rear tires are 245/60 14" on 14" x 7"  Mini-lites and still look small in the wheel opening.
 
 
In its new home out of the sun and rain. Arizona, Hot Hot Hot but its a dry heat.
Hope you like the pictures, it only took 3 1/2 hours to create this post.
 


Edited by 17tamx - Jun/23/2009 at 1:18am
Kirk P. Fletcher
70 AMX BBG w/Shadow 390 4sp
71 SC360 Wild Plum Ram Air 4sp
67 Rogue Convert 343 4sp
66 Rogue Hardtop 290 Auto
66 440 Convert 232 Auto
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote whizkidder Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/22/2009 at 9:10pm
Love the post!  Great project, and superb work.
Ron Frost
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"There is no limit to what a man can do, so long as he does not care a straw who gets credit for it. Charles Montague
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote purple72Gremlin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/22/2009 at 9:19pm
Thats the color of my Gremlin. I intend to paint it purple again........Nice Hornet! 4 spd??
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 17tamx Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/22/2009 at 10:30pm
Yes, it is a 360 4bbl Go Pack 4spd with 3.54 limited slip. Was power drum brakes , manual steering. Will be correct power disk brakes, power steering and tilt column. I will be using a 2.64 1st gear T10 4 speed inplace of the 2.23 1st gear T10 4 speed. I will also be added the painted head on chrome base side mirrors and I have already added the Torque Links to the rear axle. I am building this car to look stock but run better and drive better.
 
I miss my 1979 AMX 304 4 speed with a 2.87 limited slip and full dual exhaust. Black on Black. It was one of the best auto-cross cars I ever raced.
 
Good luck on your projects.
 


Edited by 17tamx - Jun/23/2009 at 1:14am
Kirk P. Fletcher
70 AMX BBG w/Shadow 390 4sp
71 SC360 Wild Plum Ram Air 4sp
67 Rogue Convert 343 4sp
66 Rogue Hardtop 290 Auto
66 440 Convert 232 Auto
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote raysinvegas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/22/2009 at 11:40pm
Looks great Kirk! Keep those pics coming!Cool
Andy Ray
64 440H
64 440 Convertible
68 Javelin SST 343
69 Javelin SST 343
69 SC/Rambler
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TinMan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/22/2009 at 11:42pm
Wow, what a find. Keep us updated!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kirkwood Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/23/2009 at 7:56am
great post! Love the car, can't wait to see the finished product!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote billd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/23/2009 at 8:08am
WOW! Now that's what this is all about! NICE Hornet.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SANCAPJJ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/23/2009 at 10:21am
Thats a GREAT STORY Big smile- the car looks fantastic - nice work. - John J.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AMX401 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Jun/23/2009 at 1:14pm
Wow, great project!  Can't wait to see the finished product!  Love the wheelies you bolted on the front, great idea!
I was wondering where you got the VIN door sticker reproduced as i need one for my 74 amx?
 
Keep us updated!
Regards,
Jeff...
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