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73 Javelin brake and suspension project |
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purple72Gremlin
AMC Addicted Charter Member Joined: Jul/01/2007 Location: Illinois Status: Offline Points: 16611 |
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If it hasnt been touched Id bet 2.87s.
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billd
Moderator Group Forum Administrator Joined: Jun/27/2007 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 30894 |
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I know that 2.87 was standard for the 70 series with 727 automatic and 360 - 3.15 or 3.54 were options then. 2.87 was standard in 1970 as well for the 70 series with automatics
Ambo and Matador were standard with 3.15 My 1970 Javelin has 3.15 gears............. The differential I'm putting in was from a 73 and is 3.15 factory. So it's possible since those were alternate or optional gears it came with either - it does wind up on the highway. I'll count teeth and then know for sure. Maybe it's like my 70 and has other than "standard" - could have been ordered with options - there's only one way to know for sure - count teeth.
Either way, I like the 3.15 in my 70 and am happy I'm going with a 3.15 into the 73 |
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purple72Gremlin
AMC Addicted Charter Member Joined: Jul/01/2007 Location: Illinois Status: Offline Points: 16611 |
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billd
Moderator Group Forum Administrator Joined: Jun/27/2007 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 30894 |
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I'll find out tomorrow - clean off the grease and rust and look for the letter first, then pull the cover and count teeth to be sure.
My 70 runs about 3,000 RPM on the highway. 3.15 should be really good for the 73 - maybe not ideal for how the engine is built, but still pretty good. That engine needs to wind up a bit and the stock 2.87 would just keep the RPM too low IMO. |
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purple72Gremlin
AMC Addicted Charter Member Joined: Jul/01/2007 Location: Illinois Status: Offline Points: 16611 |
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2.87s does about 2500 at 60.
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1970390amx
AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/11/2008 Location: colorado Status: Offline Points: 3314 |
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How much arch do the springs you are installing have? With them sitting on the eyes what is the distance to the bolt holding them together?
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1970 390 4speed Bittersweet shadow mask AMX
1970 Amx missing most everything, or in a box |
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billd
Moderator Group Forum Administrator Joined: Jun/27/2007 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 30894 |
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With the springs up-side-down on the shop floor, resting naturally, measure from the floor up to the spring where the tie bolt goes through, there is 6.5" between the floor and the leaf by the tie bolt head.
So 6.5" clearance floor to spring at the tie bolt. |
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billd
Moderator Group Forum Administrator Joined: Jun/27/2007 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 30894 |
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I didn't get far on the car today - they were working more on our retaining wall and pouring our driveway (about 37 yards worth of concrete)
Anyway, it took a lot more time also because I wasn't able to get the u-bolt nuts off, even with heat, they were so badly rusted, so I had to cut and break things. The plates with shock mounts are toast, too - the left one had a huge bolt stuck through it to hold the shock and the right one is messed up and pitted and rusty, etc. The shackles are not usable - when I got them pulled out of the bushing it was impossible to tell they had ever been round in there, eaten, rusty as heck, so the shackles have to be trashed and replaced and I don't think I have any decent ones here. Last replacements I bought from a vendor for my 70 were cheap looking and not straight so I'm not sure I want to order new replacements from an AMC vendor and end up with those again. The good - the front spring bolts came right out. The nuts came off like lock nuts should, and when I lifted the spring fronts I could slip the bolts right out. They were starting to rust but weren't bad, mostly the heads were rusty, not a lot of rust on the shanks. Man were those rear springs RUSTY RUSTY. When I tipped them over next to the ones I am planning on using they actually arch up higher in the middle than the ones I thought were better. They stick up about 7" or a bit more in the middle, floor to spring next to the tie bolt, the other better looking ones are 6.5" floor to middle next to the tie bolt. But the car's butt really sagged without helper springs on the back end. the PO used air shocks to make the car sit level. So I need replacement shackles, and bushings - which I thought I had but found I didn't have. Will try to find good used shackles due to the points I mentioned above- replacements bend easily, often come bent, aren't good quality but bushings I'll get from where-ever I can, I guess. At least the open diff is out of the car and sitting out under my lean-to on a dolly. The replacement twin-grip is on my transmission jack and rolled under the car waiting for me to dig up lock shock mount plates, shackles, etc. I do have decent replacement u-bolts, luckily.
A couple of the guys working on the crew doing our driveway helped me lift the differential off my stand and onto the transmission jack so I could roll it under the car. They saw me wheel the old one out the door on the dolly and volunteered to help........... |
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billd
Moderator Group Forum Administrator Joined: Jun/27/2007 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 30894 |
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Wooo-hooo!
I went out to my shop to check some mirrors I have (disappointed but that's another story) and in the process looked at the shelves and saw a tub of parts that appeared to include SHACKLES. Yes, good used shackles I apparently picked up while doing my 70 complete suspension re-do. One is excellent, not badly pitted or rusted, threads good, etc. while the other has a bit of the threads broken off but I believe a lock nut would still go on far enough to be solid, lock, and catch all threads just fine. So I may actually have decent shackles on hand - and it appears that NAPA has the bushings in stock. Now, I was asked about my spring measurements for a reason - why was that?
And I measured the old RUSTY RUSTY rough springs I removed from the car and find there's 1" more arc to them when set on the floor up-side-down and measured floor to where the tie bolt goes through. Springs I removed measure 7.5" arc, springs that are less rusty and look a lot better are 6.5" arc floor to tie bolt area. the 6.5" springs came from a 73 Javelin/AMX - I hate to put them in and then have the car drag its butt on every bit of bird doo-doo as the exhaust pipes already hit pavement cracks and dust on the road. |
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billd
Moderator Group Forum Administrator Joined: Jun/27/2007 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 30894 |
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The replacement differential is sitting under the car, resting on the springs.
The springs are hung under the car - bolts not to be tightened until it's resting on the floor again so they are tightened at curb height. Luckily I had one good plate, one NOS plate, so I can mount the bottom ends of the shocks properly and not deal with a ton of rust. Also had new u-bolts. The only shackles I had that were good each had one stud broken off short - can still get nuts on but the stud part barely protrudes through the lock nuts. whew. The original shackles were so badly rusted and pitted I will likely toss 'em in the iron pile. Still have to hook everything up and get this stupid bolt and big spacer out of the bottom of the left shock - the mount broke off so the PO stuck a big carriage bolt through the shock eye, then a big spacer, then through a hole he made in the shock mounting plate (that's another reason that part aslo got scrapped). I'm having a time getting that spacer off and bolt out without setting the shock bushing on fire - trying to NOT use a torch and it's taking forever. Once I get that junk out of the bottom of that shock, it will go a bit faster going back together - I hope. I salvaged the shackle side plates I had saved from my 70 suspension rebuild and cleaned them up and plated them so they won't rust quickly. I sure hope these springs hold the car up better - I hate to have to yank them and find others. |
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