*Updated* Farm find '68 Rebel SST I just bought
Printed From: TheAMCForum.com
Category: The Lounge Area
Forum Name: Member Projects
Forum Description: Are you doing a restoration or in the middle of a major AMC project? Show and tell us about it (*AMC projects* only Please. Others may be moved)
URL: https://theamcforum.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=73807
Printed Date: Apr/19/2024 at 12:28am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: *Updated* Farm find '68 Rebel SST I just bought
Posted By: skynless
Subject: *Updated* Farm find '68 Rebel SST I just bought
Date Posted: Sep/29/2015 at 11:12am
|
Returned Sunday from a trip to Teulon, Manitoba to buy this 1968 Rebel SST and wanted to share the trip. The owner was the great grandson of the original owner. The car sat outside for about 30 years. Started up and runs great, drove it onto the trailer. From what I can tell it's a completely original 2-door hardtop 343 4bbl car. Even has the original floormats. It needs work, but the price couldn't be beat. Luckily he only listed it on something called kajiji.ca (which is Canada's Craigslist), otherwise I'm sure it would've been gone. Asking price was $1200 CDN, he said he needed at least $1000 CDN, I offered him $800 CDN and we settled on $900 CDN, which ended up being $675 US!! He didn't really know what he had, which was great for me! Long trip, 18 hours there, 26 back. Only issue was a trailer blowout an hour south of the border in ND, but Uhaul roadside assistance had us back up within the hour. The makeshift gas bottle was a precaution the owner took since he didn't know what was in the gas tank.             ------------- 1968 Rebel SST 343 1968 Ambassador SST 343 |
Replies:
Posted By: Photon440
Date Posted: Sep/29/2015 at 11:20am
|
Nice find! Give us the pictures after it's vacuumed and cleaned. :) Wish I found a deal like that in the Vancouver area. By the way, there used to be Kijiji in the US, but it was renamed 'Ebay Classified' five years ago since that's who owns it. ------------- Faster is Better |
Posted By: bikerfox
Date Posted: Sep/29/2015 at 1:41pm
|
Nice find! ------------- 1969 Rebel SST (1970-1987) 1968 AMX (2005-2011) 1969 SC/Rambler (2011-2019) 1970 Javelin (2019 to ?)"Jane" |
Posted By: rockAMX
Date Posted: Sep/29/2015 at 11:36pm
|
There is Craigslist in Canada, but it is not as popular as kijiji.
------------- DWR 1968 AMX  |
Posted By: 1792 MAT.
Date Posted: Sep/30/2015 at 12:00am
|
So,what are your future plans for the barn find Rebel?Btw,did you have any trouble sleeping after you stole it??LOL Nice find!Congrats! 1792 MAT. ------------- American Motors means MORE for Americans |
Posted By: george w
Date Posted: Sep/30/2015 at 6:23am
|
It looks remarkably straight, intact and complete. Appears to be easily restorable. This car is a good candidate for a stock restoration. Good luck with it. ------------- Long time AMC fan. Ambassador 343, AMX 390, Hornet 360, Spirit 304 and Javelin 390. All but javelin bought new. |
Posted By: skynless
Date Posted: Sep/30/2015 at 10:16am
|
My back is still stiff from the long drive, but I feel very lucky to have found it before the rest of you ;-). The intent is to get a '68 Rebel and clone the prototype Rebel Machine. Unfortunately I seem to have found an all original, family-owned car that will probably be frowned upon if modified. Tell me this wouldn't look cool:  ------------- 1968 Rebel SST 343 1968 Ambassador SST 343 |
Posted By: will333
Date Posted: Sep/30/2015 at 10:38am
|
I'm with you on the Machine clone prototype. ------------- 1968 AMX 390 Automatic Turbo Silver outside, red on the inside "The Orbiter" A Scott Campbell restoration |
Posted By: 67 Marlin
Date Posted: Sep/30/2015 at 1:43pm
|
Wow, you got a good deal. I live in ND. Had I known about this, I don't know if I would have maintained enough self-discipline to not cross the border and buy a car I don't have room for. I really like those Rebels. Guess the only thing I don't prefer about the car is the vinyl top and shifter on the column. Planning to remove some vinyl? |
Posted By: skynless
Date Posted: Sep/30/2015 at 1:56pm
|
The vinyl is basically removing itself! The plan for the car is two posts above. I've had a few conversations regarding consoles, need to restart the search, so yes, I'm planning on converting to automatic floor shift (i'm guessing the original Rebel Machine prototype was a manual, but I have a 727 being given to me). ------------- 1968 Rebel SST 343 1968 Ambassador SST 343 |
Posted By: azfletch
Date Posted: Sep/30/2015 at 3:52pm
|
Great find, But the black Machine is a 69 not a 68. Look at the Rebel letters on the front fender. ------------- Mark Fletcher 72 AMX 401 with 6K original miles. 70 Mark Donohue Javelin, 390 4 speed with 47K miles. 70 AMX, 390 AT, AC Randall car. 67 Rogue Barbados Blue 290 225HP 4 speed convertible 71K miles. |
Posted By: skynless
Date Posted: Sep/30/2015 at 4:13pm
|
DISCLAIMER: the following is what I currently think, not what I know to be fact, so please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks! ------------- 1968 Rebel SST 343 1968 Ambassador SST 343 |
Posted By: 232jav3sp
Date Posted: Sep/30/2015 at 5:16pm
| I'll put this a politely as I can... I hate you!!!!!! Why can't I ever find a deal like that! On a car like that! One of my most favorite bodies! Enjoy, and get us some more pictures. |
Posted By: george w
Date Posted: Sep/30/2015 at 5:28pm
|
Either way stock or clone, you have a great canvas to work with. If you go clone then the vinyl top would have to go ( just don't throw away the trim pieces )If you go stock then keep the vinyl top. It's so period correct. ------------- Long time AMC fan. Ambassador 343, AMX 390, Hornet 360, Spirit 304 and Javelin 390. All but javelin bought new. |
Posted By: skynless
Date Posted: Sep/30/2015 at 5:38pm
|
Thanks, I plan to keep everything tagged and bagged so the car can be put back to originality (more or less). Right now I'm pricing out media blasting services in the SE Michigan area, hopefully there aren't any surprises waiting under the interior. ------------- 1968 Rebel SST 343 1968 Ambassador SST 343 |
Posted By: Ollie
Date Posted: Sep/30/2015 at 7:08pm
|
Keep having AMC fun. Awesome !! Ollie |
Posted By: amx600rr
Date Posted: Sep/30/2015 at 9:51pm
| The wrong person operating a media blaster can turn good sheet metal to warped junk....... be careful!!!!! |
Posted By: THE MENACE
Date Posted: Oct/01/2015 at 11:00am
Great find, and I would go with the original "intent", and build the car you want to build!! These things take a lot of time, work and money, so don't try and please others. That black Rebel looks great IMO!! Dennis ------------- Former Owner of: The Craig Breedlove "AERO AMX" Still Owner: SS/AMX #9 replica (THE BIG MENACE) 70 AMX 416, EFI, Nash 5 speed 70 Javelin 401, 727 (Wife's car) 72 Gremlin Autocross Project. |
skynless wrote:Posted By: raser13
Date Posted: Oct/02/2015 at 5:01pm
|
If a car sat outside for 30 years here in missouri it would be a pile of rust. Must be the cold that preseved it. ------------- 
|
Posted By: skynless
Date Posted: Oct/02/2015 at 7:40pm
|
I'll update with the true state of things once I tear into it. I promised my wife that I'd finish the basement bathroom remodel before touching the new car.......
------------- 1968 Rebel SST 343 1968 Ambassador SST 343 |
Posted By: fhpdave
Date Posted: Oct/02/2015 at 9:14pm
|
You are a wise man. Happy wife=happy life.
------------- Old enough to know better - young enough not to care |
Posted By: skynless
Date Posted: Oct/12/2015 at 1:19pm
Made some progress on both the bathroom and the Rebel. Safely removed chrome trim and most of the dilapidated vinyl top.      ------------- 1968 Rebel SST 343 1968 Ambassador SST 343 |
Posted By: TX390AMX
Date Posted: Oct/12/2015 at 3:16pm
|
Nice find, Back in about 1970 I bought a 68 Rebel SST from a dealer in Little Rock AR. Not 6 blocks from the dealership, I was at a red light when I saw a tractor trailer coming up very fast behind me. After a quick traffic check, I nailed the Rebel and held on. The 343 4 BBL lit up BOTH rear tires (I didn't know it was a twin grip til then) and left 2 black lines at least 50 feet across the intersection. Good news, the big rig got stopped, I pulled over and shook for a couple minutes and finally got the car home. Kept it for several years, always a fun, good running car. Hope yours generates some memories too. ------------- Terry 68 AMX 390 4 Sp Rally Green 68 AMX 390 4 Sp Matador Red 68 AMX 390 4 Sp Calcutta Russet 56 Chevy Sedan Delivery 2016 Can AM Spyder 55 Chev pickup |
Posted By: 232jav3sp
Date Posted: Oct/12/2015 at 7:11pm
| Looks like you lucked out with not having any rust under that vinyl! |
Posted By: 348AMX
Date Posted: Oct/13/2015 at 5:47pm
| must have been under a heavy thick cover if it "sat outside" for 30 years, nice score! |
Posted By: skynless
Date Posted: Feb/08/2017 at 3:23pm
|
Resurrecting this thread. A lot has been done, just not to the Rebel. A garage fire resulting in the loss of my '69 Ambo, and a new garage later, I'm ready to start the tear down. Went with scissor trusses and the door tracks angle up to follow to allow room for a lift (I also had the concrete guy make deeper 2'x3' pads). I did get new wheels/tires so I could move it without having to inflate them each time!
  
------------- 1968 Rebel SST 343 1968 Ambassador SST 343 |
Posted By: Scene One
Date Posted: Feb/08/2017 at 6:59pm
Nice Garage and nice project car. Now all you need to add is a little work dust 
|
Posted By: LakesideRamblin
Date Posted: Feb/08/2017 at 7:39pm
|
Nice car and car living room! That black Rebel look is a beauty. ------------- LakesideRamblin 69 Rambler 360 73 Javelin 360 "If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month." T. Roosevelt |
Posted By: 232jav3sp
Date Posted: Feb/08/2017 at 8:45pm
| I'm sorry to hear of your misfortune! I take it your Ambo was not repairable? I don't know that lift you had in mind, but, I just installed my lift the weekend before last and am extremely pleased with it. Bought if from gregsmithequipment.com. It is an Atlas lift marketed under the name ELITE. Comparing it and it's Atlas counterpart, side by side, they are 100% identical (other then color). Elite 9kbp is the lift. |
Posted By: skynless
Date Posted: Feb/10/2018 at 2:24pm
A long overdue update! After a move in the summer, the Rebel has a new home. Started on the interior before the brutal winter hit. ------------- 1968 Rebel SST 343 1968 Ambassador SST 343 |
Posted By: skynless
Date Posted: Feb/10/2018 at 2:29pm
Removed the gas tank, and revealing the interior.          ------------- 1968 Rebel SST 343 1968 Ambassador SST 343 |
Posted By: LakesideRamblin
Date Posted: Feb/10/2018 at 8:05pm
|
Glad to see the progress. Looks very clean. ------------- LakesideRamblin 69 Rambler 360 73 Javelin 360 "If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month." T. Roosevelt |
Posted By: Stormogdis
Date Posted: Feb/11/2018 at 11:41pm
That's an awsome car 
|
Posted By: Zioamc
Date Posted: Feb/13/2018 at 7:30pm
|
man that car would look great in gold with black vinyl roof with black rims nobody does gold paint anymore Jmo car is coming along nicely ------------- .....1969 Sc/Rambler.... |
Posted By: Dustintf522
Date Posted: Jun/16/2019 at 12:21pm
|
Wow! I have a 67, gold with black top, and same interior colors! Minus the 343 (I've got the 290) Is amazing how good a shape these are in. Mines been an ohio car all its life and theres barely any rust!
 |