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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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