1966 rambler pro street build

In reply to Dusterbd13:

Steering is something I'm going back and fourth with. I've read those grand cherokee boxes work well, but I've also been debating on converting it to a rack and pinion setup.

I did the GC box on my old Javelin and it was fantastic.

Absolutely live the build btw!

In reply to Javelin:

Man I love Javelin's, beautiful cars. You're not the first person who's praised the Grand Cherokee box, and now I'm kind of convinced. Time to search eBay..

I liked where this was going on the first post. Then came the firetruck turbo and those meats.

The shell looks to be in pretty good shape with some of the show type stuff already done, as mentioned. Interested to see where you go with it.

In reply to The0retical:

Mounting that firetruck turbo will be fun when I get to that point. When I had the block mounted to check clearances, it really put it in perspective how small this car really is.

In reply to ruhltodd:

Ive done 3 jgc box swaps. With good tight steering parts, i have never noticed a difference from a rack. They are that good.

When I had the meats kind of mocked up last night I started to take some measurements, and come up with a plan of how I'm going to get them to fit. Since this is a unibody car, I have to be careful about maintaining structural support. Which I have to admit, this part of the project is making me the most nervous.

From the rear end to the red mark is 33". I'm thinking this is a good spot to weld some 2x3 1/8th box steel to build a rear subframe crossmember. Instead of going right thru the tunnel, in fear that I might run into the driveshaft, I'll notch it a couple inches and go over the top. I'll use the crossmember to brace and weld the floors and tubs up to. The brackets for the 4 link will be welded underneath.

ruhltodd wrote: In reply to 84FSP: The NAPA near me has a machine shop. They do a lot work for the guys at track. Hot tank, valve job and pressure check cost me $350. I got the heads for $300. The LS6 heads are a good upgrade for these engines.

Much appreciated.

Dusterbd13 wrote:

Crackers wrote: There are several AMC builds around here and the majority of them are, or are being swapped. My 68 wagon is getting a 2JZ.

I dont think we are swapped. Amc used plenty of ford parts..... Just never an entire ford drivetrain.

They never used a Ford V8 though, did they?

Holy E36 M3, I obsessed over a Rambler build years ago, ultimate sleeper w/ a BBC. Not gonna happen now tho. I will live vicariously through this build. You have the better engine for it now.

In reply to fasted58:

I toyed with the idea of not painting the car and leaving it as it is, for that sleeper effect. But since it'll look like one of those Polaris Slingshots with the big tires so close together, I think the sleeper plan is out the window now.

ruhltodd wrote: In reply to Dusterbd13: Steering is something I'm going back and fourth with.

that's how most people steer...

In reply to edizzle89:

Well played, sir.

edizzle89 wrote:

ruhltodd wrote: In reply to Dusterbd13: Steering is something I'm going back and fourth with.

that's how most people steer...

Only in a slalom.

So.. kind of a bittersweet day. I dropped the LS block off to the machine shop to be hot tanked, honed and resurfaced. However, I guess the block was in worse shape than originally thought. The corrosion on the cylinder walls means they'll have to bore it .30 over, and they said that might not even be enough, so I may end up having to buy a new block. They're going to call me once they get a chance to look it over.

However, if it can be salvaged, then I'll be looking at making it into a 383 stroker. So I should be able to safely hit my 400+hp mark before boost. I'll wait to hear back from the shop before I make my decision, as it may be cheaper to buy a new block and build off of that. We'll see.

In the meantime, I have a lot of cutting and fabricating to do on the rear end. I picked up some more steel tubing to start building the rear subframe and engine crossmember.

Forgive the trash on the side, I have cleaners going through one of my properties today.

Life's been busy for the past couple of weeks to say the least, but I did get a little work done on the rambler.

My original 5.3 block is still at the machine shop, and I was looking at 600+ in machining plus the cost of weird sized pistons (not many people make 5.3 .30 pistons).  So I started scouring Craigslist for another engine but the thought of getting another crappy block was putting me off.  Well I was up sick one night browsing eBay, and I found NOS 1999-2004 5.3 blocks for $380 with free shipping.  Immediately snagged one up.  Now I can start putting this thing together!  I gotta snap some more pictures of the block... the cylinder walls are still in some protective coating and all the original markings are there.  I think I got a hell of a deal.

Got my measurements on where I need to cut the rear end and dropped it out of the car last night.  It's gotta be shortened 13" on one side and 16" on the other.  I was also under the impression it had 3.73 gears, but I verified it's actually 4.10!  No posi, but that's not a big deal.  I guess Ford 8.8 rear ends with 4.10 gears is kind of rare because they only came on limited edition explorers.  I really need to take better pictures, but my phone was near dead at this point last night.

Been a while since I've updated. Life has been full of chaos these past few months, but I'm finally able to get back into the garage a couple times a week now.

So in the past few weeks I've completely ruined a nice example of a 1966 Rambler American. I've got the back of the car completely cut out and meats mocked up. This weekend I'll be cleaning up the Ford 8.8 rear end and mocking it up to install the new cross member for the back half...

By the way, I treated myself to a plasma cutter after having a few cut off discs explode in my face. I really don't know how I've lived without one. It made this job 10x easier. 

Very nice!  Now comes the hard part!

In reply to FIYAPOWA :

Yep.. lots of measuring and cursing in store for me. I was going to originally do a ladder bar setup, but after talking with a few friends who have them, they say they're a pain to use on the street. I guess the biggest issue is binding and breaking parts with low speed turning. So I decided to go with Speedway's 4 link setup instead.

The other thing I've been working on is a new engine cross member which had to be built from scratch, but I'm not finished yet. It's a little more tricky build this, because this is what the Rambler uses to mount the LCA. However, it's almost done. I don't have any better pictures though (I'll take more when it's finished and painted).