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1972 Ambassador faux CHP car |
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amxdreamer
AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/30/2008 Location: Vancouver, BC Status: Offline Points: 8494 |
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Posted: Jun/14/2021 at 11:04pm |
So in early 2020 I found an interesting car for sale within an hour from my house. I posted this earlier in another section but thought I would start an actual thread for the car to keep things together.
The car is a 4 door AMC Ambassador with the 360/727 combo. The car had good bones and a lot of the heavy work was done so I decided to add it to the fleet. This is when I saw it for the 1st time. The car is a 100% rust free low mile car that the previous owner turned into a faux CHP car. The 360 was rebuilt, as was the transmission, the brakes were redone and it has a brand new dual exhaust with some Magnaflows. The paint is decent but definitely not an expensive job, I'm ok with that as I plan on driving this one. The interior is original and in fabulous condition. Underhood needed a fair amount of detail work and cleaning up of the wiring done for all the additional electronics. Over the first few days/weeks I made some changes. I removed the red tint from the high beams and the 012 from the roof (that was LAPD not CHP). Polished it up a little and did a bunch of shakedown drives to see what I had. I also had to get a picture here....lol As it was a COVID year there were ZERO car shows up here (and still aren't any) yet I did get to a couple of unsanctioned cars and coffee events where the car received a lot of attention. I have NEVER been in a car that gets so many thumbs up, heck yeahs and pictures taken of it. When a guy in a MaClaren slows down and drives beside you on the highway to gives you a thumbs up it says a lot. |
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Tony
Vancouver, BC 1970 AMX 1972 Badassador AMO#10333 |
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amxdreamer
AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/30/2008 Location: Vancouver, BC Status: Offline Points: 8494 |
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Here is a quick picture I got of the car with one of the local police departments cruisers.
I store the car at my stepsons hobby shop and he has a couple of hoists which makes checking it out much easier! The rust free and all original underside is definitely a big plus! The parking lot has a few "signatures" so I had to add mine :) The trunk became a project as it was just a dirty dusty empty cave. I cleaned, prepped and repainted the trunk black and then used a texture paint to reflect what it would have looked like when new. A reproduction floor matt was also installed. I took a steel rim I had and took it to a friend spowder coating shop and had it powder coated and a similar tire installed. I tracked down an original jack setup on Ebay which I disassembled and had everything powdercoated. Once the jack and spare were installed I could measure and build the "supply box". It contains an ammo can (for cleaning supplies), a medical blanket, a vintage metal first aid kit that I had vintage looking decals made for, police tape, an era early 70's fire extinguisher and some era correct traffic cones I found on marketplace. I had some custom "HIGHWAY PATROL" decals made for the trunk lid to also finish off the back. Probably one of the toughest things to find was a replacement trim for the end of the drivers 1/4. I lucked out with an NOS one from Ebay.
Edited by amxdreamer - Jun/14/2021 at 11:30pm |
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Tony
Vancouver, BC 1970 AMX 1972 Badassador AMO#10333 |
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amxdreamer
AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/30/2008 Location: Vancouver, BC Status: Offline Points: 8494 |
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The car is an original AC car but it was missing a few pieces. I managed to get those from some members here and cleaned, detailed and painted up the parts. While I had the grill etc off the car I took the hood release mechanism apart, media blasted and painted up the parts along with the grill mounts.
Some cleaning underhood lead to a new hood insulation, a bunch of detail stickers, repainting some bolts and brackets correctly, completing the AC system, the new battery topper and numerous hours soldering and cleaning up wiring for all the relays and battery terminals. It's NOT a showcar but it's presentable. Edited by amxdreamer - Jun/15/2021 at 12:01am |
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Tony
Vancouver, BC 1970 AMX 1972 Badassador AMO#10333 |
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amxdreamer
AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/30/2008 Location: Vancouver, BC Status: Offline Points: 8494 |
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The interior is cool, all green and original! I have done some wiring cleanup and fixing some of the custom brackets etc the previous owner had made. Carpets and seats are original with plastic still on the back seat!
I added another accessory to the rear parcel shelf.... |
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Tony
Vancouver, BC 1970 AMX 1972 Badassador AMO#10333 |
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amxdreamer
AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/30/2008 Location: Vancouver, BC Status: Offline Points: 8494 |
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I've been on the search for accessories also. This vintage breathalyzer would have been fun in Colorado at the AMO Nationals!
If someone was to take our beer we could have fingerprinted for clues! I picked up this vintage fingerprint kit and detailed up the set and fixed up the case a little. I even managed to be high bidder on an actual vintage CHP gym bag! This is great for cleaning rags and paper towels! All the details are coming together in the trunk! I love all the little things like actual vintage CHP bumper stickers and license plate frame! |
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Tony
Vancouver, BC 1970 AMX 1972 Badassador AMO#10333 |
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AmeriMan
AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/30/2008 Location: Joliet, IL Status: Offline Points: 556 |
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That is such a cool car. I saw this posted on FB a few days ago too. Is that a period correct radar gun? Not sure when those came into use. Also are there any legal restrictions with the red "cherries" when driving the car?
Great job on the detailing and I love that you're having fun with the car.
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larue390@comcast.net
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amxdreamer
AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/30/2008 Location: Vancouver, BC Status: Offline Points: 8494 |
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Thanks, yes there is a period correct gun on the dash for the front and an empty shell of a gun attached to the rear drivers door for the rear. There are different rules on the red lights depending on where you go. I have covers that I had made for areas where they are not allowed.
There have been a few hurdles, trim, weatherseals etc are hard to find for these cars.
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Tony
Vancouver, BC 1970 AMX 1972 Badassador AMO#10333 |
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73jav
AMC Apprentice Joined: Sep/29/2009 Location: Owosso Michigan Status: Offline Points: 108 |
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That's some nice work Tony. Brings back some great childhood memories for me, my dad was a Michigan State Trooper for 37 years. They didn't have AMC's but he would bring home the patrol cars some times, this was late 60's early 70's Plymouth Fury's with 440's. You're missing a shot gun mount in the trunk, lol.
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amxdreamer
AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/30/2008 Location: Vancouver, BC Status: Offline Points: 8494 |
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Funny you should mention that, I've been looking for shotgun/rifle mounts and options. Even the training guns (which I would use) are expensive!
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Tony
Vancouver, BC 1970 AMX 1972 Badassador AMO#10333 |
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scott
AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/10/2007 Location: Wildwood Pa. Status: Online Points: 3498 |
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All that's missing is a CHP ticket book. Junior Brown singing about you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_wLVCLPx0M
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"Prolly" is not a word.
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