............has arrived. He is a '78 Concord Sport, 2 door sedan, with 304, auto, PS, A/C, AM/FM stereo, cruise control, posi, bucket seats, floor shift and gauge pod. Last inspection sticker is 1991. And if memory serves me, it came from Greenberg AMC in Inidana. Just opened the hood and took it all in. He needs some lovin'. Both front fenders will need to be replaced as will the front valance, and the back bumper. While the seats are OK with a tear in the driver's seat, the carpet is shot. And who screws the rear door panels in at the top? A little rust through in the driver's rear quarter. Grill is shot. The A/C hoses have rotted away. Still has the A.I.R. system. It will come out. First up, drain the funky old gas out of the tank, change the oil, pull the plugs, put a little Marvel in each cylinder and turn it over with a ratchet to see how free it is. Just the beginning! Thanks to George W. and another car guy buddy, Gary B. and my neighbor who helped push the car up the driveway into the garage.

Outside getting ready to load.

Later!

Mr. Ed

Hi form Spain,

Looks a nice project car!

For sue you will enjoy!

Pablo

Took a few photos today. Here's one for you armchair detectives. What's missing in the engine compartment?

Sorry they're sideways. They posted OK on all of the other sites and they are right in my computer. Must be a problem with the site.

No, it's not the battery.

Later!

Mr. Ed

Yep, but not what I am looking for. And the A/C lines have rotted ends which is baffling. But keep in mind that this may have sat for 29 years.

Later!

Mr. Ed

The PS pump is connected to the steering box. The A/C hoses are gone. Looks like they rotted off.

Later!

Mr. Ed

OK. Here's the answer. Look at the picture of the interior. Look at the column. What is that on the left side? It's the turn signal stalk and cruise control! But the bellows and other CC equipment is gone. The only thing left is the wire plug and some white vaccuum caps. Restoring the CC is dead last on the things to do list.

The emissions tag is there under a coat of paint.

And yes, Sean, it is more rare than the AMX. On one of the FB sites, a member posted that in '78 they built just under 7,000 V-8 Concords, not counting the AMX. No breakdown of how many Sports were built but they were mostly hatchbacks.

Later!

Mr. Ed

Thanks. Took the hood off yesterday. Now I can see how filthy the engine really is. Next up, draining the gas tank and pulling off the air injection system.

Later!

Mr. Ed

Happy for you my friend!!

Sean, I am going to remove it but since I am taking the engine out, I will have to bend the tubes to get them out. But that will happen after I see if the engine runs. After sitting for 29 years, it will be more than just dropping a battery in and turning the key. I will sell it, not trash it. Can I presume you want it?

Thanks 83GT. I am now looking for a cruiser since Mr. Black is going to be laid up for this season.

Later!

Mr. Ed

Just read my response and I am not taking the engine out, so the tubes will have to be bent to remove them. But that will happen after I get the engine running. I am not going to put a lot of effort into the car if it has a bad motor.

Later!

Mr. Ed

Those are AMC only but made by Kelsey Hayes and only available on 77 and 78 model year cars. Actually maybe only 78 for that matter. I bought a used 76 4dr. Hornet in 1992 and it had these wheels on it. Probably not original but I still kept them after selling the car because I knew they were rare wheels. Someday I'd like to get my set widened and re-hooped to a 15inch wheel. They are pretty cool and uncommon.

They are AMC wheels, called Rally if I am not mistaken, and I took a dab of Simichrome to each one and they came up real nice. When I pull the wheels to get new tires, I'll polish each one and get new decals.

Today I will put Marvel in the cylinders and suck the fuel line clean with my vacuum tool. I cleaned the tank out Saturday and got two gallons of root beer out along with some debris. I plan on putting a clear filter in the supply line to the fuel pump and change out the one before the carb as well. Tomorrow I plane on firing the motor.

Later!

Mr. Ed

Andy

George W came over today and he climbed under Mr. Black and managed to get the engine to move a bit. This after the Marvel sat in the cylinders for a few days. We cranked it with the battery and it spun nicely. So we buttoned up the motor and put the cleaned plugs back in. The firing order was way out of whack! The story I got was this car was taken off the road in '91. Hmm. Wonder if that is the reason why? We got that right and hit the key and gave it a shot of starting fluid. Fired right up. Did it again and again it fired right up. So we squirted some gas into the carb (which last week was so rusty, nothing moved) and it ran for a second or two did that a few times and decided the carb needs to be rebuilt so off it came. But I am very pleased that it ran and ran well. I have to pull the tank because we pulled a vacuum on the line from the tank so the sock is probably clogged with crud. New float assembly on order.

So it was two steps forward!

Thanks to George W.

Later!

Mr. Ed

Bought a new tank AMC-1 on Amazon Prime and figured while I was at it, bought new straps as well. Then I ordered a new float assembly from Galvins. We figured out that there had been an under the hood fire which explains the burnt wires coming through the firewall. The carb is so rusted that I bought one from a member here. Once we get that on and determine if the car runs good enough to keep, we"ll change out the tank, float, fuel lines and straps. Then it is out for a test drive. And just to keep things interesting, the really bad tire blew, literally. So George W dropped off a spare from his stash and I had that mounted this morning. Since Mr. Black has the Rallye wheels, I will put 15" on the back from Wheel Vintiques if I find that the AMC center fits them. And this morning I put another coat of paint on the hood. Next up is to  get the Eagle fender ready for the driver's side.

Later!

Mr. Ed

The hood is done and not a moment too soon. Have a '76 Hornet Sportabout X coming in from California, so I need the garage for it.Going to see if I can make the carb work that came yesterday. It's a Ford unit but I just want to determine if the engine is any good. Doesn't have to have all of the linkage connected, just enough to get the engine going. If it works, it gets a 4 barrel.

Also tried to figure out the burnt wiring coming through the firewall. If the engine is OK, I'll have to remove the dash to get that wiring taken care of.

Later!

Mr. Ed

The replacement carb worked for a few minutes then the accelerator pump died. I ordered a rebuild kit for the original carb which was black from the fire and much of the plastic parts had melted. I was thinking of how to clean it and I decided to try some sort of acid. So into a baggie went the choke housing along with 5% vinegar. It looks great so the rest of the carb went into a bucket filled with the same vinegar and it is looking good. It even cleaned rust off of the butterfly with a little brushing with a wire brush. Now that I have the '76 Sportabout, I can get a good look at what engine compartment should look like.

Later!

Mr. Ed