5,000 stall, what RPM street launch trans brake??

I haven't posted much on the car since I bought it in late 2017 just out of respect to Steve, having owned the car 50 years since new it might be hard to see it pop up on the site all the time, I don't know if he still reads the forum or not.

My wife has had her 69 343 SST Javelin about 37 years, if we ever had to sell it I don't think she could take seeing it in other hands on a website.

I have great respect for Steve, not just because of how well he built and cared for his car, but I genuinely think he wouldn't have sold it unless he found someone who would continue to care for it and keep it another 50 years just like he did.

Ironically, as some of you may remember, I had spent 2 years trying to find a car being sold by just such an owner, and came close on a couple here and elsewhere, but they just weren't THE right car.

Long story short I was forced to give up my search having been told by my doc I had 2 weeks or less to live due to a birth defect, so I had open heart surgery immediately and figured I wouldn't be doing cars again for years, if ever, just glad to be alive at that point. About a month later I had Steve's AMX in my garage...never give up!!

When I bought the car he seemed in great health, the car just wasn't getting used as much as he'd like, I believe one of his sons thought about taking it over as they too are into drag racing, but realized it was too rare and a survivor car, and shouldn't risk putting it into the wall, so they decided to start thinking about selling.

I certainly hope he is still in good shape and good spirits, his family was there for the sale and couldn't have been a nicer bunch of car/AMC folks, I can't stress that enough, they all were awesome. I was still in recovery from my open heart surgery when I got permission from my surgeon to fly down to buy it and drive 26 hours non-stop back (car on U-Haul trailer behind a box U-Haul truck for the parts), the family wouldn't let me do anything other than give Steve the $$$, they loaded every part in the truck and the car on the trailer, easily the greatest car buying experience I ever had. 

Even more odd, one or both were involved with heart patients for a living so they understood my situation perfectly, what are the odds of that? Great people and my wife and I often remember that day and how much fun it was with them.

The car is an amazing piece of AMC history, I found the build sheet and it is legitimately a documented 68 AMX with custom factory (not dealer) applied 1966 Porsche Bahama Yellow, plus a survivor car with around 17,000 original miles, and all the drag related changes Steve made can easily be undone and the car returned to original 390/4spd status if desired, he saved practically everything over the years that came off the car.

I don't know that I have ever seen a drag car like it, NOTHING is hacked up or butchered, he took every effort NOT to add holes etc., truly fine craftsmanship with the goal of maintaining the originality of the car as much as possible while still going 10.32 and striving for 9's!

Ok enough self bragging, but really this is a tribute to Steve's work and others who contributed. This car drives straight down the road, extremely well mannered, literally anyone could drive it normal style without an issue, ride is actually pretty good too all things considered.

And when you hammer it, the car still goes straight as an arrow, no shakes/rattles/leans, just goes, even the brakes work well for being stock style. Steady temps and oil/fuel pressures, can't ask for much more than that right?

It in fact is so well mannered you'd never guess it was 601hp with 5,000 stall on regular driving. Refilling the fuel cell is your first clue though, even with a 950cfm carb it drinks a lot! I think Steve used to run an 1100 carb? Would be fun to try that...

If I were to change the stall converter, any suggestion on what size and any brand better than another for a TH400 on a 401?

Being a documentation and car history guy, that was a bummer since AMC really doesn't have any good records other than what your car may have itself.

I found out why Steve never found it though...he had taken the driver seat out and put it in storage, and put the passenger seat in the driver spot for drag racing.

Since I was returning it to street driving and wanted a seat for the wife, I decided to reinstall the driver seat and move the passenger back over where it belongs.

While the driver seat was on the floor, I noticed a factory AMC tag on the seat spring/frame bottom...then my brain said: "Wait, AMC doesn't have tags on seats there!"

Sure enough it was the factory build sheet folded up smaller than any I have ever seen before and tucked under the frame! VERY brittle from 50 years of Texas heat but intact enough to document the car, what a great day in the garage THAT was!