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1968 AMX 343 4-speed Revival - 1 owner |
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68 AMX Revival
AMC Apprentice Joined: Sep/01/2022 Location: Jackson, MI Status: Offline Points: 125 |
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Posted: Sep/01/2022 at 9:46pm |
I’m embarking on a (primarily) mechanical revival of my niece’s father’s 1968 AMX. He bought it new, and at 90 years old, he gave the car to his daughter. The car was inspected in 1997, and to the best of my knowledge, has sat in his garage ever since. The car was shipped to me in Michigan last week, from his home in Pennsylvania. I’m a car guy, but not well versed in AMC stuff. I’ll be adding to this post with progress pictures (once I get enough points!), and most certainly lots of questions for this group. The car is bone-stock, with no modifications. A time capsule, if you will. Body has a bit of rust around and behind the rear wheel wells, as well as a few minor dents and dings. Floors are amazingly solid, especially for a northern car. It did have factory undercoating, which seems to have worked well. Overall, it looks pretty good as a survivor. My first step (after pushing it into my garage, by myself) was to grab the fan and see if I could move the engine. To my delight, it rotated freely! Next step was to check all the fluids. Engine oil looked clean, and full. Radiator was down, but adding a few quarts brought it back up. Radiator looked like a fairly recent replacement, or re-core. No leak stains or corrosion on the outside. A little debris inside, but not bad at all. Power steering fluid full, and pretty clean. Brake fluid full on front reservoir (rear brakes), but empty on rear reservoir. Fluid looked clean, no rust or sludge in master. Got underneath and checked transmission and rear axle, both full. All wheels rotated easily, none were dragging or locked up. Pulled the gas cap, and my nose immediately identified 25 year old gas… I siphoned out about eight gallons, but knew there was still more in there. What came out was slightly amber, with essentially no particulate debris. A good sign. To get the rest of the stale gas out, I pulled the fuel line hose off the fuel pump and put my drain pan under it. Then I used my air chuck and sealed around it with a shop rag, and lightly pressurized the tank, which pushed the rest of the gas into the pan, about 2 more gallons. Still no debris! Before trying to spin it, I decided to pull the spark plugs and have a look at them. All eight had a fair amount of soot on them, but no oil deposits. Next, I got my Bluetooth borescope and checked out each cylinder. All looked pretty good, with the exception of #8. There was some crusty stuff in there, but didn’t look terrible. I got my blow gun and blasted in the spark plug hole, which shot most of the crap back in my face…. Another inspection showed it to be pretty clear. I shot some lube down all of the cylinders, and let it soak overnight. I bought a new battery, and cautiously hooked it up, watching and smelling for electrical trouble. Everything looked good so I hooked up my remote start switch at spun it over a few revolutions. It sounded ok, no funny noises. I did a compression test on all cylinders, and found one low result, #7, at 70 psi. The others were from 125 to 195. A big range, but after sitting all those years, I figured the valve seats could be fuzzy, and the rings could be a bit stuck. So, I installed a new set of plugs (N12YC), a new cap and rotor and new plug wires. I bought new points and condenser, but figured I’d try it with the old points first. I filed them and then checked for spark at the coil wire. Success! I decided to mix up some gas and two-stroke oil, and fill the carb bowls, watching to see if it ran out the sides… All looked good, so I hooked up the coil, hit the switch, and it fired right up, and ran for a few seconds, until the bowls went dry. I didn’t hear and bad noises, just a bit of lifter ticking, which I fully expected. The next step was to put new rubber hoses on the fuel lines, at the tank, fuel pump, and fuel filter by the carb. I poured about six gallons of fresh fuel in, und used my blow gun technique to ‘prime’ the line from the tank to the pump. After a few times cranking it, the fuel made its way to the filter and carb. No debris visible, and no leaks at the carb. Turned on the key and it fired up and ran pretty well. I let it run long enough to heat up the oil a bit, then changed the oil and filter. I put Rotella 10W-40 in this time. Not sure what I’ll use going forward. This rambling post was recapping the steps I took over the last several days to get the car running. I have LOTS to do, both in the engine compartment, as well as the brake system and suspension. My goal is to get the car to a point that it can be safely driven by my niece and her family. At that point, I’ll ship it down to her in Houston, and let her decide how much cosmetic restoration she wants to have done. My personal recommendation is to keep it in survivor condition, and drive it like that for awhile, before getting all crazy with the bodywork and interior. I’ll add lots more posts soon, and when able, I’ll add pictures (I’m able now!). Glad to join this group, and looking forward to your valuable insights. Regards, John As Received: Edited by 68 AMX Revival - Sep/07/2022 at 8:10pm |
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mixed up
AMC Addicted Joined: Jun/16/2015 Location: Monroe mich Status: Offline Points: 2156 |
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great to hear you have it running
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69 amx 290 auto
65 220 290 4spd 80 ford fairmont |
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TX390AMX
AMC Addicted Joined: Dec/27/2012 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 803 |
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John, Glad to see another 68 being resurrected. The 2 seaters have always been my favorites. Good luck with the project and let us know if you need help. Lots of that available here. Terry Nashville, Indiana
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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 |
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68 AMX Revival
AMC Apprentice Joined: Sep/01/2022 Location: Jackson, MI Status: Offline Points: 125 |
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Thanks, Terry!
An update is in order. I bled the front brakes, installed new battery cables and solenoid, and was able to get some reasonable braking (I know the cables don’t have anything to do with the brakes…). Not to worry, I am still going to replace all the brake lines, hoses, etc, to ensure this thing is safe! I backed it out of the garage, and took it down my street, for its first movement under its own power in about 25 years! Tires are horrendous, but it actually drove pretty well. Clutch works good, gears shift smoothly, with no clash. Her dad removed the reverse lockout, not sure why. It’s a little tricky to find first gear, without finding reverse. Not sure if just the lockout bits are available. Anyone? Biggest concern right now is lifter rattle. It may work itself out, but it’s pretty noticeable right now. I think I’ll pull the valve covers and take a look in there, to make sure nothing serious is wrong. I don’t have much faith in the lifter quieting snake oil products, but I might give one a whirl, just for fun. I’ll keep posting, trying to get approved to add pictures. Regards, John
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TX390AMX
AMC Addicted Joined: Dec/27/2012 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 803 |
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John, Many of the reverse lockout mechanisms on the 4 speed AMX/Javelins failed because the cable, actually a thin rod much like a choke cable, rubbed against the inside bend of the shifter handle til it wore through and broke. Not easy to fix and then you still have an original, sloppy shifter. I sent you a PM about my replacement handles for the AMC T-10's. Hope I can help and congrats on the first movement under power. I have a 68 AMX I've had for more than 10 years awaiting it's first drive also! Terry
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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 |
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68 AMX Revival
AMC Apprentice Joined: Sep/01/2022 Location: Jackson, MI Status: Offline Points: 125 |
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Hi Terry, PM replied!
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68 AMX Revival
AMC Apprentice Joined: Sep/01/2022 Location: Jackson, MI Status: Offline Points: 125 |
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Well, I’ve been busy working on the car the last several days. I put together a pretty long list of parts needed to get this thing back on the road, including lots of brake and suspension stuff. While waiting for parts to arrive, I decided to fire up my orbital buffer, and take some compound to the dull paint. My goal was to show my niece that a survivor can look good enough to drive, without spending a fortune doing a full restoration. Here’s a few pictures showing in-process, and most recent. I still need to compound a bit more, then throw some polish on it. Oh, by the way, I’m ordering some Magnum 500s and 215/70/14 Radial T/As to spruce it up a little further.
Regards, John |
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johnv
AMC Apprentice Joined: May/24/2021 Location: Baton Rouge Status: Offline Points: 154 |
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Great start
Enjoy the restoration process and it looks like you are doing a great job, and quite knowledgeable. John
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sweatlock
AMC Addicted Joined: Apr/28/2014 Location: Largo, FL Status: Offline Points: 3285 |
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Great looking car, very original. They’re only that way once.
I especially like the fact that it doesn’t have the over-the-top Go Pack racing stripes that every ‘68-‘69 AMX seems to have, whether they came from the factory that way or not. Great colour too and it’s a 343 V8.
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rgsauger
AMC Nut Joined: Aug/17/2014 Location: Houston,TX Status: Offline Points: 311 |
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Consider copper nickel lines for your brake lines. Bends and flares like a dream. Keep up the great work!
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