The flower car project.

With the Mean Green 71 AMX gone it was time for another project car and it showed up today. Our very first station wagon project. This car belongs to forum member oldamcer. It has a bit of a back story too. At one time it was a flower car for a funeral home down in Texas. I am sure Eric can add to the story.

On the punch list for the flower car is a new drive train, new front suspension, new wiring, new sound system, custom gauges, get the A/C working again, and maybe even cruise control.



Looks like an easy roll off of the trailer and in to the shop. NOT! The transmission decided to lock up and nothing short of dropping the drive shaft at the rear axle would get it moving again.

This poor thing suffered an engine bay fire at one point so the engine bay is a bit empty to start with. Eric, oldamcer, said another engine was installed for a while and the engine bay was loaded with tons of do it yourself wiring. There is even a push button under the dash that was used to start the car.



The interior still looks nice. A few things to touch up but overall nothing bad. Almost a shame to have to strip out the dash board to rewire the car and fix the A/C.



Time to get started. We have to strip the engine bay completely so it can be cleaned and prepared for paint. Also the front suspension has to come off the car.

Did someone say control arm bushings? We have seen bushing in this kind of shape before but the big globs of yellow grease are a first.

 

Well we are off to a good start. By the time we wrapped up for the day we were pretty pleased with the progress.



We have a pile of old parts ready for Eric to pick up. Looks like his collection of spare parts has grown considerably.



Ok Eric, now when did you say that Control Freak IFS gets here?

72Javelin wrote: I'm glad this car got saved. If I recall (and per the fender badges) this was an original 390 car. It should have a 390 put back in it!

You are correct. The VIN shows it was a 390 car along with the fender badges. Eric is supplying the engine, transmission, and replacement axle. We will do the installation for him. I know at one point he was torn about what size engine to use.

FuzzFace2 wrote: What no rust repair? Dave ----

Funny you should mention that Dave. We have not performed a "deep dive" into the body work just yet but there are a few spots we noticed already. The two lower outer corners of the tailgate need some love and care. I suspect there are clogged drain holes in that area. There are a couple of surface rust spots along the side of the body where it may have taken a few door dings or stone hits. Also at the rear of the roof right above the tailgate there is some bubbling showing.

The real effort will be in the engine bay. The paint was burned off down to the bare metal and some surface rusting has set in. The lower area of the engine bay is coated with old grease and dirt an inch or so thick that will have to be chipped off. As soon as the rest of the drive train components, transmission, drive shaft, and rear axle, are off the car we can start some of the cleanup work.

No where near the worst car we have seen. This should be a fun project as Eric is thinking that this will make a great road cruiser so driving comfort and handling will be way up there on his list. That is why we have cruise control and a sound system on his wish list. I have installed cruise control in several cars before but this will a first for me on an AMC.

So cool having and AMC that had a purpose in life.
Like the recent Concord wagon that was a gov't. vehicle for a mortician.
Talk about Dare to be Different!!!
Love my wagons...
Richard

I remember this car! It's nice to see it's getting some attention.