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'60 Rambler American

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nukeday View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nukeday Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Sep/22/2013 at 11:59am
Not yet Frank, my new job is incredibly demanding. Gone from no money to work on the car, to no time to work on the car. It's always something, but I like this 'problem' better.

Kids are still doing some body work, and we've got the radiator out to complete some paint and prep on the front, so it can wait until we've got it back together...

Thanks for checking in on us :)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nukeday Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr/29/2014 at 9:21pm
Wow. This has been a sort of useless thread, eh? 
Alrighty then, enough of that.

Broke out the goodies today and pulled the rear drums to inspect the brakes. The drums actually just fell right off, and the shoes are fat. The car has a missing cap for the MC, so there is/was something going on with the brakes at some point. Rather than guess, I have a new MC here that will go in after I inspect the fronts. 

I've got the MC, one set of shoes (rears, I think), and wheel cylinder rebuild kits for all four wheels. I would expect that once the cylinders get some juice, they will leak. I could do them all now, but I'm not going to. First the MC, some new fluid and then just see what happens.

Have a new fuel pump here, and I'll need to inspect the vacuum wiper motor. The fuel filler pipe from the fender to the gas tank is MIA, so I will probably have to drop the tank and clean it out. I was considering coating it and all that stuff, but I may just throw a chain in it and wash it out. A buddy has a remote camera thing we can just stick in there to see how it looks.

Have a brand new radiator waiting for it, points/condenser, cap & rotor. It ran when I messed with it last summer, so I won't drop in the Pertronix until it starts getting wet out here again. 

Bodywork is where we left it when the boyfriend got the boot, so it looks a mess. He did put in a floor patch behind the driver seat, and while it looks really amateur, I think it will be just fine. 

Discovered today that it's got some kind of crazy huge shocks in back, they are probably air shocks, but I haven't found a 'pump-up nipple' for them. They may be the old school, on the shock casing type. I'll look at them closer once I get the brakes done.

Actually have all the parts we should need to get the car mechanically functional, and every time I check something out, I continue to be surprised at just how good of shape it's in. I've drug a lot of  cars out of the Oregon mud and this one was by far the best taken care of before it got parked. 

Jobless once again, but the wife and I are starting up a little wool diaper cover home business, if you're in the Eugene, OR area on a Saturday, stop by the Eugene Saturday Market and check us out. If you want to you can look on our Etsy site too. Not sure what the policy is on cross posting or 'advertising', but currently the money from this venture goes for 'nice-ities'...like Rambler parts :)

Finally got a phone manufactured after 1994 and should be able to post some iOS photos soon. 

OH! Someone told me that the '60 American had a TRIANGULAR gas tank, and that was part of the problem with finding a replacement for the fuel filler neck. This car does NOT have a triangular tank, but a rectangular one (it looks an awful lot like the one in my '63). So, if anyone has a filler neck for the rectangular tank (58/59? 61-63?), please message me. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote pit crew Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr/29/2014 at 9:32pm
Any progress is better than none at all. Just keep chipping away at it and keep us updated from time to time.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nukeday Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr/29/2014 at 9:48pm
Guessing the car might actually be a '59. The title reads '1960 JEEP'...huh? Guessing it might have been a '59 that didn't get registered (or sold) until '60. Not the first time it's happened to me with an old Oregon title.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote pacerman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr/29/2014 at 10:24pm
I didn't read your whole thread again tonight, but if you really care whether your Rambler is a 59 or 60 model, check the data plate which I think is on your driver's door post in an early American.  The first two digits of the model number denote the model year.  Good luck with your project.  I really like Eugene.  In fact I might relocate to that vicinity when I retire.  Joe
Happiness is making something out of nothing.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nukeday Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr/30/2014 at 12:40am
Thanks pit crew and pacerman. I'd forgotten about the obvious: door plate...lol...
Tomorrow supposed to be 87 here, which is uncommon for this time of year, but I'll take it. Hoping to get the front brakes looked over and the MC in. 

The driver front was dragging pretty badly when we put the car on the trailer a couple of years ago. I'm not looking forward to opening that one up. Probably a broken spring, but who knows. If the drums are toast, I'll have to hold off on the MC. 

Looking forward to playing with it some more in the next week Big smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote farna Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Apr/30/2014 at 4:48pm
That filler neck tube is going to be a PITA. The factory used a big rubber tube (2.5"?) that was flared on the filler end. So you inserted from the top then screwed the metal piece that holds the cap on over the flare. The tubes aren't available any more, so you have to get creative. Luckily it's a standard size, so you can get straight fuel resistant hose. What I did on "our" old car was pull the metal gas gap ring and weld a piece of exhaust tubing to it. I think I used a belled 90 at the top so the gas cap would fit in the belled area, but I don't recall exactly how I did it -- other than a piece of exhaust tubing was welded to that piece and a straight piece of hose was used in between. There was another 90 on the bottom -- don't recall if that was already on the tank or I used a pre-made exhaust 90 and a short piece of rubber to connect to the tank. I've done a couple of those, I might be thinking about how my 63 Classic tank is done, but the 63 American was similar.

At least you're making progress! One more thing -- I'd push in on the wheel cylinders a little to make sure they will move, and pull the rubber dust cover and see if they are rusty inside. If they are you may as well pull them apart, clean the inside with a fine sand paper, then use the rebuild kits.
Frank Swygert
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nukeday Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/01/2014 at 12:52am
Frank, as usual, this is a great recommendation on the wheel cylinders. I didn't get to it today, spent the afternoon working on our bus and fixing a leaking outdoor faucet. 

As for the fuel neck, think I'm going to check in with my muffler guy, he raced locally for a long time. He's got experience on a lot more than pipes, and I'd guess he could solve this problem for pretty cheap.

I'll peek at the guts on the wheel cylinders, sometimes lazy isn't the best approach...Wink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nukeday Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/14/2014 at 11:13pm
All four wheel cylinders are crusty/leaked. Got both rear wheel cylinders kitted today, but I'd suspect it's the last time around for the bores.

Fronts are giving me fits. Having a really difficult time breaking the line from the cyl. There is just no room back there. Pulled one front wheel cylinder through the front to see if I could get a big wrench on the body and the 5/8" flare on the line. All I did was chafe the line bad enough against the backing plate to now require a replacement. Put a little chunk of 2x4 between the wheel cylinder the spindle, just in case, when I was cranking on it. Regardless, no joy in front.  At this point, I will probably just order new front cylinders and soft line. As inexpensive as the parts are, I remembered why rebuilding them was sort of an exercise in diminishing returns. Plus, mine will probably leak.

So, I need a couple of anchor plates for the front, I'm not sure why they are missing. Here's a photo of the rear, the part is the same. It's the sort of 'bull head', top center, between the upper springs and the shoes.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote farna Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/15/2014 at 4:56pm
The good news is that just about ANY Bendix drum brake setup will have that anchor plate. As long as it fits over the stud you can use it. You could almost use a large washer, but the elongated ends are there to keep the shoes in place as the lining wears. There is no pressure on the plates, so you could make something from 3/4" wide 1/8" thick bar stock if you need to.
Frank Swygert
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