In reply to Adrian_Thompson:
Now that the regular paint looks okay, I have been thinking of doing this. A quick spray-bomb with gloss white (and actually masking/trimming where the top used to be along the quarters) would look pretty good.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson:
Now that the regular paint looks okay, I have been thinking of doing this. A quick spray-bomb with gloss white (and actually masking/trimming where the top used to be along the quarters) would look pretty good.
Nice work!
On the top, we're doing something similar for my wife's Challenger. We peeled the vinyl top off, cleaned everything up, and got the formerly vinyl covered area in epoxy primer. Plan is for a coat of black (like the top was) and the trim to go back on for now. When the whole car gets painted, a fresh vinyl top will go on.
The only drawback I can see in spray bombing the roof is tiger striping with the gloss. If you can do it in the garage to cut the wind down it might work. I had good luck with the Valspar tractor enamels laying down nice and not giving the spray bomb tattle tale stripes.
Still playing catch-up!
Foiled!
I originally brought the Javelin into the exhaust shop a few weeks ago but not only were the manifolds so bad as to need replacing, but the fuel tanks started leaking! Turns out the new gasket and old lock ring didn’t play well together, so I had to get a new lock ring this time. Pro tip: 1973 Mustang uses the same lock ring as a 1973 Javelin. No leaks now!
PHR ink!
My Javelin got picked as one of the cars featured in Popular Hot Rodding’s annual “Reader’s Projects” issue! I was the only AMC picked and they seemed to have really liked the car. It was so cool seeing this in print basically the same week I got it driving.
More power from better flow
The original exhaust manifolds on the Javelin had EGR provisions, which are these tubes that go deep into the exhaust port in the head. The PO had taken off the outside components and very poorly plugged them with a variety of screws and bolts (this was likely done in about 1974…). On top of that, the passenger manifold (shown) has a heat riser butterfly valve on it (rusted shut). Below is the replacement, a set of 1970-1971 AMC high-flow, non-emissions manifolds. These are the best flowing you can get on the dog-leg heads. They went right on with new hardware and no gaskets (which is how AMC’s were designed and built).
New exhaust installed
With the new manifolds in I was finally able to make it to the exhaust shop and have new duals welded up. They are 2.5” from the manifolds back, with no h-pipe (AMC’s run better this way). The mufflers are Hooker Aero Chambers and I had the turn-downs added on instead of finishing over-the-axle. The setup sounds amazing, it has a great, deep tone at idle, doesn’t drone, and wails nicely at WOT.
Where else would I go?
And the first stop after the new exhaust? Why the parts store, of course! Actually I was just showing it off to all my friends there, but I did buy some vacuum hose and replace it in the parking lot because I could.
Cool! Great Job! 
First car show!
All of the flurry of work was to get the Javelin ready for this car show. It’s one of the biggest ones in my area and it’s put on by the Unique Tin club. I bought my registration 6 weeks ago just to be my carrot on the stick! I brought the Javelin out to the show field bright and early Saturday morning for the day. A nice Black 71 AMX 401 was in the row behind me and about three cars up, we had a nice chat.
First cruise!
The big draw of the Unique Tin show is actually the cruise in at night. The town closes down a nice portion of the main drag downtown and all of the cars that were on the show field get to cruise down and back into the night. Law enforcement is low-key so flamethrowers, open headers, revving, and some chirping are allowed. As long as you don’t pull a John Force they are cool, which is really awesome. We made laps nearly the whole evening and I was surprised at how many rods had to give up with overheating issues. I gave some friends rides and chirped some rubber for other friends in the crowd. Then I made the mistake of letting my Mother drive (who was visiting for the weekend from California). Mom had a few Javelins back when (a Yellow 72 360 AMX and a Big Bad Orange 70 360 SST). Mom didn’t tell me that her stack of speeding tickets and exhibition of speed dwarfed Dads!!! She did a burn-out every block!
Driving to work
After the show and cruise I ended up taking the Javelin to work nearly all week. I often have to run errands so it was a good chance to get some miles on the car and see some new spots for photos. This shot is my favorite of the car so far.
Take the long way home
Do you see the busy road on the left? That’s I-5. I don’t like that road. I like the twisty 2-laners that roll through hills. I took the Javelin on my favorite driving road. It’s no 944 (or RX-7, or Miata, or Mazda5, or even P71) as the brakes and steering leave a lot to be desired (probably because of the 185 front tires…), but that torque. The gearing sucks for an autocross, but open up a straightaway and it just pulls like a freight train!
Great build thread, and nice AMC! It must be really gratifying doing all that work to the car and being able to get it to the point where it's drivable. All my projects are perpetually broken, so I don't know what that's like yet. 
In reply to SilverFleet:
I don't own most of my cars for two years, let alone work on them that long! It's definitely been a different experience for me, but in a good way I think. I can't imagine how awesome this car will be in another year, let alone two...
In reply to Javelin:
You are WAY ahead of me man. I've had my CSX since July of 2010, and it's in more pieces than ever before, still has swiss cheese floors, and still doesn't run.
You think that's bad? I've had my Trans Am since June of 2002 (over 10 YEARS) and it's on it's 2nd motor, now has holes in the floors, doors, and one quarter panel, and the newer motor doesn't feel like getting oil to the valvetrain anymore. 
The key is not to get distracted. I think you have that figured out.
I manufactured a large distraction regarding my Trans Am project by buying that CSX and thinking it was going to be an easy fix. I forgot that buying project cars from New England mean that you will be doing a full blown restoration starting the minute it rolls off the trailer.
Keep up the good work!
Slight tangent but I just watched some ex-Donahue Javelins tearing it up at the Monterrey historic races. The 72, which won the race, was sideways every single corner. The 70, which came in third, was much more conservatively driven. I'd say he was only sideways in 70% of the corners!
In other words, drift that bitch and you'll go faster anyway!
Coastal drive
Now that the Javelin is running and driving, it’s time to start putting some miles on it. I had to go about 25 miles for work one day, so I took the Javelin and enjoyed the sunshine and the Columbia River coast. It’s a great cruiser for this kind of stuff.
Electrical fault!
Suddenly the Javelin’s brake lights went out, and then the taillights and parking lights followed. The fuses all checked out fine, and I replaced all of the bulbs. Break out the multi-meter…
Adjustments Part 2
I started with the squeaky belts. They stretched as they wore in, so I had to adjust them a bit. Alternator was still charging and the battery checked out fine. The power steering developed some nasty weeps, but after cleaning the lines, I found the fittings and hose clamps all loose. I tightened everything up and topped off the fluid, not a drip since!
Cinching up
The new exhaust collector gaskets needed to be tightened as well after a few miles, and I checked all of the exhaust manifold bolts as well (no gaskets to the head). Everything is torqued to spec and there’s no more exhaust leaks!
Vancouver, ho!
And now it’s time for the big road trip! I took the Javelin ~40 miles each way down to my other office in Vancouver and back. Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s all 70MPH interstate. The drive down was very pleasant in the crisp dawn and 70 is just fine with the 2.87 rear gears. It’s amazing how quiet and non-windy old cars with rain gutters are. I’ll take the aero/MPG disadvantage to be able to roll down the windows and hear myself think.
The age of knowing how to get things done...
We’ve all seen that commercial. Old dude in a Camaro, it overheats, he stops for water and is on his way, while Mr. Narrator talks about ED and knowing how to get things done. Well, on the drive back I got a little over half way home when suddenly the engine note changed and it went down on power. I pulled off on a Timbuktu exit and popped the hood to find one of the cheap NAPA wires and popped out. Plugged it back in and I was on my way. Sunset over the grass fields and all…
DRIVE IT!!
and do the travelouge in the process. thats what i do. build, drive, tweak, drive, adjust, drive, enjoy the whole time.
and i like the MSD street fire wires and made for you looms. makes for dead reliable setup. nu burned wires, no crossfiring, no nothing.
truly awesome thread...keep putting miles on her, shes a beaut!
These are still catch-ups from late-August/early-September!! 
Sorry Javelin, I can't get over those Weld Wheels.
Needs more Panasports.
I’m glad you’re using it.
What are the current paint and bodywork plans? Long term I think the Red/White/Blue TransAm spec is a must. I know you work outside so painting it yourself is going to be hard, in the short term why not a weekend beer/pizza party with mates to strip, prep it, fill/sand dents etc. then drop it off for a Macco/Schwab $299 blow over?
Adrian_Thompson wrote: I’m glad you’re using it. What are the current paint and bodywork plans? Long term I think the Red/White/Blue TransAm spec is a must. I know you work outside so painting it yourself is going to be hard, in the short term why not a weekend beer/pizza party with mates to strip, prep it, fill/sand dents etc. then drop it off for a Macco/Schwab $299 blow over?
Trans-Am replica paint won't happen for quite a few reasons. First, my car is a 73 and has a flat roof and quad tail lights, the famous Donohue car is a 71 with the molded T roof and full-width tail lights. Second, my car is a Javelin (sunken grill, square parking lights, no front spoiler, flat hood, no rear deck spoiler) and the Donohue car is an AMX (flush grill, round lights, cowl induction hood, front and rear spoiler). My car will be staying a Javelin. The biggest obstacle by far though, is that the real T/A cars had cut wheelwells. Look really close at where the red and white demarcation line is in this pic:
The rear wheel well is so far up into the quarter that it makes it to the body line, plus it's widened and squared. Without those body mods the paint scheme doesn't line up.
All of that said, I'm about 67% certain that we're painting it this winter, and Red/White/Blue is the current leader. Traditional AMC scheme though (so the lighter blue, and solid vertical breaks). Basically what the 68/69 T/A's had:
This is also the standard scheme AMC used on the Bonneville Javelins, the Javelin and AMX funny cars, the S/S AMX, and the Trans Am Javelin street car. They went back to it a little with the later Matador, Hornet, and Gremlin racecars, albeit with the darker red and blue.
Here's the Donohue scheme on a stock AMX to show you how funny looking it is:
Come on, it's an AMC so they all look odd
Topping Off
It’s been a few hundred miles now, and the old 360 ate/dripped about a quart, which for it’s first oil change since 1986 isn’t too bad! I do like the factory fill tube, I’ll miss that when an intake change happens. Oh, and 10W30 Valvoline VR-1 Racing Oil. It’s an old motor with a regular cam (non-roller), it needs the ZDDP, zinc, etc.
Still messing with lights
My lighting problem came and went and came again, and I finally traced it down to the original headlight switch. Well, these are not available anywhere, so I took it apart and cleaned and sanded all of the contacts and re-assembled. Voila! I now have high and low beams, parking lights, and a brake switch fixed the brake lights. Reverse works, too.
Stop! Re-do everything!
On a drive home from work I started to get a growl, then a squeak, and then a clunk! It took an entire weekend on jackstands, but it was really a lot of things in one. One of the spindle retaining bolts had managed to strip and back out, the wheel bearings (new) needed to be tightened (which is normal), and the caliper sliders needed more grease and an adjustment (they are really not a very good design). I replaced the bolt and re-torqued everything, then did all of the adjustments. I also messed with the adjustable master cylinder rod to adjust the brake pressure and bled the thing again.
Size...
When you look at pictures of just the Javelin, it looks massive. In reality though, it’s actually quite small. That’s an older Accord behind it and a Cavalier in front of it. It’s very low compared to nearly everything out there. Remember, the wheels are only 14’s!!!
Project cost update:
Total: $2676.55
And if you're wondering, I can still get it under the Challenge budget. All of the brake stuff is stock and wouldn't count, I'd leave the $400 wheels at home for my free FR500's w/ no-budget Kumho's, and there's a few parts I haven't used yet (brake lines) as well as some that are back off of the car (remote start switch, etc).
The problem is A: I would be dead last in the concours, 2: I'd be dead last in the autocross, and III: even if I weld the spider gears, it'll only do a 14 in the 1/4 mile.
Oh well, screw the budget!
WOW...She actually is pretty small when you compare it to the accord.
4cylndrfury wrote: WOW...She actually is pretty small when you compare it to the accord.
I really need to get a pic of it next to my neighbor's Aveo. His car is bigger in every dimension but length, and that's close!
In reply to Javelin:
How many HOURS do you have in it so far? Just a ballpark will do...
stroker wrote: In reply to Javelin: How many HOURS do you have in it so far? Just a ballpark will do...
Oooh, erf, uh...
I'd say I probably have a realistic... 200 hours-ish total in it so far (~8 hrs/week of ownership average, minus vacations). My Dad probably has a good 50 hours in it from Florida doing stuff like assembling the front suspension, and he probably has sent me about $1000 worth of parts from his spares.
You'll need to log in to post.
