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\twelvepointconcreteroman

Funny to see Pete Hill's propane Rambler in the RAMBLER READER this¨
month. I've been meaning to write you for a long time and Pete's car¨
gave me the kick in the backside I've needed.

I'm a long-time Rambler owner -- except for a '53 Studebaker Champion¨
pickup, I've owned nothing but Ramblers and AMCs. Maybe a dozen or so.¨
First car (high school, 1973) was a '62 Ambassador. I used to blow off¨
Mustang II's regularly, much to their embarrassment. Newest was a '79¨
304 V8 Spirit I used to autocross (SCCA SOLO II), oldest was a '59¨
American rustbucket (in Mass.). I had a '69 S/C Rambler I kick myself¨
for selling.

My previous car was a '70 Hornet, a wonderful car, which ended up with¨
all my accumulated goodies on it; autocross suspension¨
('79 V8 disk brakes, the fast AMX steering gear, 1 1/8" anti-sway bar,¨
custom wound springs, Delrin bushings, Enki wheels, Yokohama tires,¨
etc) and in '88 I rebuilt the 232 6-cyl to better-than-new spec, with¨
a custom propane camshaft, high compression (older 199 pistons in the¨
232 is cheap high compression). (Later on this.) I did lots of 
multi-thousand-mile cross-country road trips (one of 9,000 mi.) in it.¨
Never a failure or problem (tire went lumpy once). It was a coupe, and¨
not very good for camping. I wanted a wagon.

October '90 I got my current beast, a '63 Rambler Classic Cross¨
Country 550 Station Wagon, from Len's AMC Wrecking in San Jose, a¨
month or so before he closed shop and scrapped the yard. It was a¨
hulk, pulled from a pile with a fork truck. No engine, a dead¨
transmission, and the torque-tube axle (I hate these) was no good.¨
Body and interior OK except it had been whacked hard once in the¨
driver-side rear, causing a buckle behind rear door. (Looks OK¨
though.) 

Swapped nearly all of the stuff from the '70 to the '63. After finding¨
out that tie-rod ends were obsolete and \$50 each (!) I managed to fit¨
the stuff from the '70 (which was actually '79 V8 parts!) onto the¨
'63. Lucky for us, Rambler was too broke to retool for every model¨
change (this eventually hurt them). I still have the upper A-arm¨
trunnion system in good shape plus replacement parts, but I suspect I¨
could install a ``late model'' upper arm, lower arm and knuckle, then¨
use (readily available) ball joints. Late model steering box doesn't¨
fit as-is; steering column changed from solid to collapsible, and box¨
bolt pattern is different. (The Pitman arms ARE interchangeable --¨
just match up manual vs.~power!)

I have all this info and more crammed onto two sheets of paper, which¨
I'll gladly share -- mail me a buck plus your address and I'll send it¨
to you.

Anyways, back to the point. When building the wagon, I completed the¨
propane conversion. No one had any information, no books, no nuttin'.¨
The local Suburban Propane dealers are, sorry to say, idiots, not that¨
they didn't try (some of them). No wonder you hear horror stories of¨
propane conversions -- ``my pickup lost all it's power until I yanked¨
it all off'' and all that -- these guys sold me the wrong stuff, and¨
more than once. They could provide no technical data. I finally worked¨
it all out.

Instead of making a long story short, I've written up the project into¨
a 36 page booklet, complete with photos and how-to information. You¨
can get the book directly from me for \$5, or from REAL GOODS TRADING¨
CO. in Ukiah Calif.

I've since done a number of long road trips (5,000 mi.) and am glad to¨
report it is just about perfect. (One of these months I'll upgrade the¨
book.) Propane is available everywhere, and the wagon is great to camp¨
in. My roommate Valerie made me curtains (bungee cord, I added 
eye-bolts (take that, collectors!) to hook 'em on, and bought a Twin¨
size futon that fits perfectly. I lived in this for a month traveling¨
around the SouthWest desert in July, no problems. (It's got an '81 V8¨
Eagle 4WD radiator; I flipped the mounting brackets around, cut a¨
radiator hose to fit, cut some sheet metal so the extended radiator¨
could drop down into place (take that! collectors!).

I'm not a hack, changes were done very neatly and cleanly. My steering¨
box is shot (I'll probably install a late-model steering column with¨
the AMX box) and I need to find a speedo cable housing, but other than¨
that it's ``like new''.

Sorry this letter is so long. After this letter I'll include a brief¨
list of parts that I've interchanged, plus ones I suspect will swap¨
with little or no changes.

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\line{\hfill Tom Jennings, Box 77731, San Francisco, CA 94107}

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INTERCHANGEABLE PARTS

Front shocks: Monroe \#1069 has longer travel, shorter overall length.¨
In use for a year on my car.

Tires: 235-60R14's (LARGE!) fit under the wheelwells, front and rear.

Various engine/drivetrain: The not-available-in-63 232 engine will fit¨
if you change the front crossmember to 64 or later. (It was a '70¨
block; Rambler changed the casting in '73 to accommodate the¨
Torqueflite transmission series. The front motor mount BRACKETS are¨
different, before/after '73. Mix'n'match!) I used '70 motor mounts¨
(any year will do) BUT I had to drill holes in the cross-member¨
brackets. Funny, there are pilot holes already in the right place, as¨
if they had anticipated this\dots and yes, it's easy to install the¨
nuts though it looks impossible at first glance. I used a '71 Gremlin¨
bell housing, throwout bearing, clutch, pressure plate, throwout arm,¨
etc. Original '63 clutch linkage. Transmission is a T-96, with¨
overdrive, which I got from Ed Stack in Antioch CA (ex-dealer). (Hint:¨
the Borg-Warner auto trans is extremely reliable (put a cooler on¨
it!!!) and the T-96 is far too small for this car. Go with the auto¨
trans if you have a choice!) Axle and torque tube are from a '63 or¨
'64.

Rear transmission mounts: a nightmare to find. All of the 
aftermarket-replacement parts catalogs SHOW THE WRONG MODEL. I finally¨
found one at AMC Haven in San Jose, for \$50! (Before installation, I¨
sealed mine with silicone rubber; they seem to be destroyed my motor¨
oil, so sealing should extend their life a lot.)

Front suspension: get my sheet. Lots of details. I have '79 disk¨
brakes installed (I saw the same calipers once on an '82 or so 1-ton¨
Dodge van!).

Brakes: I used a '64 master cylinder, as the '63 was impossible to¨
find. I had to change the nuts on the brake lines, since they were a¨
different size (grrr). The front/rear balance is OK (not perfect)¨
simply using the '64 master cylinder with disk brakes. A pressure¨
equalizer would help, but I'm broke and lazy.

Rear brakes: If I remember correctly, I installed the backing plates¨
from the '70 Hornet, and used Hornet wheel cylinders. However, I used¨
the original '63 brake parts (self-adjusters, parking assembly, etc)¨
since they are better designed than ``late model''; however it's a¨
bizarre collection of truly weird looking parts that are hard to¨
assemble correctly. Either design works though. I am fairly sure I¨
used ``late model'' brake shoes.

Manual trans column shifter: mine was completely shot, the parts¨
expensive, and exceedingly difficult to change. I went to Kragen and¨
bought a Hurst ``pickup truck universal'' 3-speed shifter kit. It fit¨
with two modifications -- had to slot one of the holes to make the¨
mounting brackets fit, and I spent hours bending the miserable rods to¨
route them around the overdrive and other junk. (Hint: use coat hanger¨
to determine the basic shape; to bend, mount one end in a vice and¨
heat with propane or MAPP; while still dull red color (hot!) plunge¨
into bucket of water to maintain hardness.) I also took at least 4"¨
off the chrome shifter lever; it reached up to the radio!) Yes, it¨
makes a big ugly hole in the floor of the car, but the rubber boot¨
provided works fine.

Dashboard voltage regulator: I made a replacement from a standard¨
LM7805 5V voltage regulator IC, and a series diode to drop the voltage¨
to 4.3V. I even installed it in the original little can. Works great.


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