TheAMCForum.com Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home > The Lounge Area > Member Projects
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Rare Ragtop Rogue Refurb
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Click for TheAMCForum Rules / Click for PDF version of Forum Rules
Your donations help keep this valuable resource free and growing. Thank you.

Rare Ragtop Rogue Refurb

 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1234 10>
Author
Message
george w View Drop Down
Supporter of TheAMCForum
Supporter of TheAMCForum
Avatar

Joined: Jan/27/2013
Location: New Jersey
Status: Offline
Points: 2899
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote george w Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Aug/20/2021 at 8:54am
Terrific to be able to find one so intact and original. This will be a great project but a challenge finding some of the weatherstrips that you'll need.
Long time AMC fan. Ambassador 343, AMX 390, Hornet 360, Spirit 304 and Javelin 390. All but javelin bought new.
Back to Top
bwrpacer View Drop Down
AMC Apprentice
AMC Apprentice
Avatar

Joined: Feb/11/2018
Location: Egg Harbor Two.
Status: Offline
Points: 65
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bwrpacer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Aug/20/2021 at 6:10pm
Kevin, nice to see that you are part of the 





Kevin, welcome to the Rogue convertible family.  Just had my Rogue out for a 20 mile ride last Sunday.   First time out of the garage in 3 months.  Realized I hate the way it handles with the bias ply tires I had to put on for judging.  It road so much better with the radial tires.  Good luck...can't wait to see it in person.
















r
Back to Top
kcsamc View Drop Down
AMC Addicted
AMC Addicted
Avatar

Joined: Sep/03/2011
Location: Denver, PA
Status: Offline
Points: 1974
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kcsamc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Aug/20/2021 at 10:11pm
Since the trip out and back to pick up the car was such a quick one, I really didn't get much of an opportunity to see what I had or had gotten myself into until the week after we got back.  So what did I actually get?


Well from what I have been able to observe so far, the option list goes like this:

-  290 4V high compression engine (D code)
-  factory T10 4 spd (still retains original shifter)  (M code)
-  3.15 open rearend (AMC 20)
-  Thin bucket seats with center armrest console; no headrests
-  All Black interior; carpet has been changed out, dashpad has some warp but no cracks
-  Sport, woodgrain steering wheel with the Black "Rambler" horn ring
-  Electric wipers
-  Electric Washers!  (I've never seen an American with electric washers before)
-  Optional front and rear bumper guards

Mileage is near 119k miles.  The factory Apollo Yellow paint still exists under the hood and in the trunk, but a REALLY poor Earl Scheib repaint of the outside was done, most probably in the mid 90's.  

Car history - I have been able to trace ownership back to 1996.  The car entered the hands of a series of AMCers starting sometime in the early/mid 90s where it was brought into the Denver, CO area.  From all indications to me, this car spent the vast majority of its heavy use years somewhere southwest of CO.  While the quarters have rust, the rest of the car has little corrosion on items that you would expect.  Chrome and potmetal are exceptionally clean and is clear it never saw salt.  In 2000, the previous owner to me picked up the car out of Colorado and took back with him to Minneapolis area where it was driven for a couple hundred miles and then parked in the barn until now.  I believe Mark Fletcher told me that he had seen the car advertised for sale once out of Colorado in the late 90s, only to disappear for another two decades.

A few pictures around the car after getting it home:




(Wait until you see what $15 and a little effort did for this seat - stay tuned)


(SUPER YUCK!!, but under the yuck, the vinyl is good - just have to scrub all the nasties off....)


Steering wheel has typical cracks for a car in this condition but not bad actually - I think I will put the "Javelin-AMX" style horn ring on it - I like that one better.


Original electric washers!!


Gas Tank is shot...


Top must have been replaced at some point, maybe 90s.  Top is in good shape.


Trunk just needs a through cleanup and spit shine, add a spare tire and the reproduction floor mat I never used for the Scrambler.


The small area around the taillights between the chrome trim was smartly painted black by a previous owner when the yellow exterior was "redone"Confused.  I think I like it enough to keep it - looks integrated into the design.





Kevin Shope
1964 Classic 660
67 Rogue 290-4V 4spd Conv
A-Scheme SC/Rambler (69 SC JOURNEY)
Back to Top
maynardk View Drop Down
Supporter of TheAMCForum
Supporter of TheAMCForum
Avatar

Joined: Aug/16/2012
Location: Roanoke, VA
Status: Offline
Points: 159
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote maynardk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Aug/22/2021 at 5:53pm
Kevin,

Rambler American convertibles are amazing! My '66 American convertible had been sitting for many years--inside thankfully. Our goal was to make it safe and reliable, which it is. Wishing you many "smiles per mile."

Maynard
Back to Top
kcsamc View Drop Down
AMC Addicted
AMC Addicted
Avatar

Joined: Sep/03/2011
Location: Denver, PA
Status: Offline
Points: 1974
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kcsamc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Aug/23/2021 at 10:00pm
While dad has retired from painting cars (the SC/R was the last one for him), he still loves polishing cars to keep him active, so I implored him to come down for a weekend and start doing some cleanup on the car.  He came down Father's Day weekend and we got started.  I had the option to consider redoing the brakes, and getting it running and take it to MCACN as a barn find entry but I couldn't wait that long to start removing the crud and getting it roadworthy.  Plus, turning around and taking it back out to the midwest this year before it was done just wasn't appealing, so sorry Rambler fans, it would have been a cool entry this year in its barn dust, but I wasn't up for it.

Because the front drums were locked up tighter than Ft. Knox, and the car wasn't moving anywhere without the wheel dollies, first priority was to get it up on jack stands and start tearing into the brakes.

One last look at the way it was purchased.  Even with the cruddy wheels and chrome the car doesn't look bad here.  But the paint job is pretty hideous.  Polished chrome and wheels will make it look good when it hits the streets and will distract the eye from the paint.  The car will retain chrome mag 500s as I love the look of them on these cars  Possibly upgrading to 15x7 and maybe redline radials down the road.  Shame of it - those Hoosier tires only have 1500 miles on them but they are 25 years old - but didn't need a lick of air after even 20 years!

Up in the air - it was time to take a peak underneath:



The car had dual exhaust installed in the 90s and looks pretty solid to get us rolling.  One will also notice something else here.  The American V8 convertibles had a different frame setup than even the 6 cylinder convertibles of 66 - 67.  The same subframe connectors found on the January 1968 - 1969 Americans / SCRs was first used on the V8 convertibles.  In addition to the extra thick rockers, they got these installed.



It was quickly noted that the gas tank was leaking from several spots along the leading edge - indicating that the tank is done.  Thankfully, the original SC/R tank is sitting on the shelf in the barn and will get pressed into service on this car after a full refurbishment of the tank.



The front end is pretty clean on the car - especially when you know it has 119k miles.  This car at over double the miles on it, is twice as clean and rust free as my SC/R was at 49k miles.  Note the bottom of the radiator - that's an original tower Wittek hose clamp and factory lower radiator hose.



I figured it was important to check the block for engine verification.  Someone had put on a set of factory chrome valve covers at some point, so I wanted to make sure the motor was still legit.  I was pretty sure it was as you could see faint traces of the gold paint in places on the intake, front cover and alternator bracket.  The above confirms the original motor.

Dad started some cleaning that first weekend.  I caught him doing what he loves to do - polish cars!


Good bye barn dirt!


Here is an idea of how bad the paint job that was done on the car was executed.  They didn't even bother to take off the V8 emblems from the rear quarters (and there is sand scratches on a lot of rare chrome AngryAngryAngryAngry)



It took me 3 minutes to get the key and open the trunk and another 3 minutes to hand unscrew (4) acorn nuts inside the trunk to take off those emblems, and some paint idiot decided it was easier to tape them off and do a crappy repaint...

We ended that first work weekend by pulling the front bumper and grille parts for for cleaning and refurb.



Inside of the bumper is very free of rust and brackets just had a very light coat of patina.  I actually disassembled everything for cleaning shortly after this photo and blasted the bumper brackets, and then powder coated.  They turned out every bit as nice as the NOS ones for the SC/R - no pits and nice powder finish.


Now, I'm sure that some of you are thinking - here he goes again.  But if you look above, I promised myself if I took it off I was redoing it, and actually powder coat is much cheaper to do than paint and far easier and quicker than painting parts, with a more durable result.  By the time you've put down an expensive 2 part epoxy primer and at the very least a decent Seymour or VHT rattle can top coat, you are $10 deep in materials and you need dry time - letting it hang until thoroughly dry.  I can powder coat in-house for about 25 - 50 cents per part at $11/lb of Eastwood semi-gloss black which is a nice OEM look finish.  I can have a part ready to install after taking from the blast cabinet in 1 hour - fully cured in powder coat.  So, you will see me do a lot of stuff in powder on this driver, same as what we are doing on the 78 GT.




Kevin Shope
1964 Classic 660
67 Rogue 290-4V 4spd Conv
A-Scheme SC/Rambler (69 SC JOURNEY)
Back to Top
kcsamc View Drop Down
AMC Addicted
AMC Addicted
Avatar

Joined: Sep/03/2011
Location: Denver, PA
Status: Offline
Points: 1974
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kcsamc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Aug/28/2021 at 9:39pm
As June progressed towards July, it was apparent to me that there was no way I'd get the long list of things done in time to drive this car for the 2021 topdown driving season, so I settled in for what time would be needed to source parts, and to do a thorough job of making the car reliable and making it as presentable as possible within reasonable limits.

The front bumper assembly was torn down and everything cleaned and polished.  The front bumper was definitely hit at one time - primarily on the right bumper guard, as could be seen by minor distortion on the bumper guard, but also the bumper metal extrusion directly behind the guard.  I will be making up a custom spacer to help the bumper bracket sit properly over the extrusion.  It was great to see the chrome clean up very nicely for the miles it has seen:


Barn grime above - polished out below.  Not perfect, but will look much better now back on the car!



I took the parking light assemblies apart for a thorough cleaning and decided to install some extra NOS orange lenses I had stashed away.  The housings didn't have any potmetal pits and after cleaning looked nearly NOS.



I decided the brakes were going to get a 100% redo.  So, scouring RockAuto, and other sites as well as tapping my friend Bruce, we came up with all new brake hardware, NOS brake shoes all around (original material better on manual drum cars than the new formulations that are made for power disc cars primarily), new flex hoses, and new wheel cylinders.  I found that the late 60s Jeep CJs master cylinder is the same as the 67 American (Wagner) V8 drum unit with the square top and grabbed one of those as well.  Metal brake lines will be a mix of near perfect originals in the engine bay, Fine Line replacement  rear axle lines, and a homemade long run brake line from distribution block to rear flex line.  All new factory style e-brake cables sourced through APD will mate to some Scrambler left over brake handle assembly parts.  APD did a great job having these made up:



The front drums were an absolute bear, and ultimately so far I have wasted the right front drum getting it removed.  The shoes were totally frozen to the drum.  Thankfully local AMC friends, Dwayne Greenplate had some good take-offs that I was able to buy for a great price.  Tear down of the right side drums, and slow build back including powder coat of front backing plate and Por 15 of rear backing plate and a degreasing of the local suspension and treating with some Rustmort rust converter to tunr the suspension black.  I thought that was a good refurb activity without going the whole way on restoration.  Outer tierods are being replaced as well due to totally dryrotted boots.









While cleaning the grease off the rear axle tube - I found a yellow paint stripe from the factory.  This is a 3.15 open Model 20 rear.



The brakes will continue to be an ongoing refurb job as I set some of that work aside when it got so dreadfully hot, and I started working on a few other things in my cooler closed up workshop.  Waiting for some cooler September days to finish the entire brake job now.

I think I will end the post with the sub-thread on fixing up the passenger seat.  For whatever reason the right seat is the worst part of the interior.  Multiple splits and overall rough shape.  I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on seat upholstery right now with the Gremlin needing cash to complete, and actually 75% of the convertible's interior doesn't need it right now, so we opted for an inhouse cheapy job.  Denise helped me get the seat out and did the initial cleaning on Sunday afternoon:



Tape had covered the tears, and red paint was baked on in a few places for some reason...  didn't look good even after first pass clean:


I was able to scrub off the red paint - preserving the nice factory center rib for now.  We purchased some black vinyl at a local fabric supplier and started cutting and fitting panels for the center sections.  On every tear, we placed a small piece behind the tear and sandwiched the tear with a full top piece and strong 3M trim and upholstery glue:









Seat all patched up for $15 and some time on our part, and doesn't look half bad.  The waffle pattern is no longer there, but the vinyls are a little different and gives a transition appearance... not bad for what it is, and it should be quite durable for a couple years.  Chrome trim and handle were all re-polished and assembled back on.  Moving on to the rest of the interior...


Kevin Shope
1964 Classic 660
67 Rogue 290-4V 4spd Conv
A-Scheme SC/Rambler (69 SC JOURNEY)
Back to Top
ramblinrev View Drop Down
Moderator Group
Moderator Group
Avatar

Joined: Dec/28/2008
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Online
Points: 11472
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ramblinrev Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Aug/29/2021 at 1:44pm
Excellent progress, Kevin!
74 Hornet Hatchback X twins (since 1977)
62 American Convertible (still worth the $50 I spent in 1973!) AMCRC #513, AMO #384
70 AMX 360 4-speed (since 1981)
Back to Top
kcsamc View Drop Down
AMC Addicted
AMC Addicted
Avatar

Joined: Sep/03/2011
Location: Denver, PA
Status: Offline
Points: 1974
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kcsamc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Sep/01/2021 at 9:34pm
Tonight I think I will share a photo set from under the hood on this very original engine bay.  Before dropping the pictures, I will list the things that I found that are not 100% original so that you can throw out those datapoints, but make issue of the rest for other projects in the future.  Original engine bays are a valuable asset to the hobby today.

ITEMS TOUCHED OR CHANGED UNDER THE HOOD AT PURCHASE:

1)  Water pump swapped out
2)  Bypass hose/clamps changed
3)  Heater core to Water pump heater hose
4)  Positive and negative battery cables
5)  Electronic ignition installed / dist cap / wires swapped
6)  Fan belt swapped
7)  390 valve covers installed at one point

Photos under the hood, starting with the black out paint behind the grille:







Walk around the engine bay from front left to front right & engine top:












We'll get back to some progress on the next post.
Kevin Shope
1964 Classic 660
67 Rogue 290-4V 4spd Conv
A-Scheme SC/Rambler (69 SC JOURNEY)
Back to Top
hassyfoto View Drop Down
AMC Addicted
AMC Addicted
Avatar

Joined: Nov/16/2009
Location: Maryland
Status: Offline
Points: 3378
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hassyfoto Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Sep/08/2021 at 8:21pm
 I like it Kevin, but I think between the two of us, we are going to save and restore every AMC located in mid-atlantic.!!!!!!!
Wink
Murphy's Law:
Any given mechanical job you decide to solve alone will imminently require a third hand, at its most critical moment

Back to Top
kcsamc View Drop Down
AMC Addicted
AMC Addicted
Avatar

Joined: Sep/03/2011
Location: Denver, PA
Status: Offline
Points: 1974
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kcsamc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Sep/08/2021 at 10:14pm
Originally posted by hassyfoto hassyfoto wrote:

 I like it Kevin, but I think between the two of us, we are going to save and restore every AMC located in mid-atlantic.!!!!!!!
Wink

Kirby - this is car #2 for me in the past year out of the southwest.  I am fully sold on them.  I will never do another mid-atlantic (or further north) originating car again...  I will be more than happy to hop in the truck with an empty trailer and go to Arizona for another project.  The GT and this car are so much better on body and every other part on the car than what the Scrambler was and both of these cars are over double the mileage.  I just had the 100% original radiator checked out at the shop the other week and he said that thing is in great shape.  He mentioned that salt in the northeast affects radiator integrity, etc. as well and a southwest one may be in better shape for that reason.  You can do all the mid-atlantic cars!!!!
Kevin Shope
1964 Classic 660
67 Rogue 290-4V 4spd Conv
A-Scheme SC/Rambler (69 SC JOURNEY)
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1234 10>
  Share Topic   

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.03
Copyright ©2001-2019 Web Wiz Ltd.

This page was generated in 0.203 seconds.
All content of this site Copyright © 2018 TheAMCForum unless otherwise noted, all rights reserved.
PROBLEMS LOGGING IN or REGISTERING:
If you have problems logging in or registering, then please contact a Moderator or