Advice on a NOS AMC V8

A while back I inherited a barn full of old Jeep goodies, chief among which (pun intended) was a custom-built AMC 360 V8. It's been on an engine stand for ~30 years and was never installed in anything, still has the tag from Jasper. Been debating what to do with it for a while now, but I've finally landed on trying to rebuild and clean it up and either sell it or find a suitable donor car to put it in down the road.

The engine still turns by hand, but it's got some surface rust and obviously all the rubber bits have degraded sitting out in a non-climate-controlled barn. I've been looking at rebuild kits like this -- Anyone have a recommended brand or source other than eBay?

How about general tips for cleaning, derusting, and general rebuilding? Is there a non-engine-specific guide I should read?

The most mechanically intense job I've ever done was replacing a timing chain on my old Toyota 22R, if that gives you an idea of my skill level. Oh, and I screwed that up and bent a couple gaskets before I got it right.

Many thanks!

In reply to saruken:

I have zero AMC experience, but I'm working through my first SBC rebuild presently. I picked up a book on rebuilding SBCs, but if they don't offer one for AMCs it still has plenty of general/procedural tips to be worthwhile in your situation.

Also, check Rockauto.com for parts. Again, not sure what they offer for AMC, but my rebuild kit was $58.

I had a sweet Javelin in high school. The joke was All Makes Combined, and fairly accurate. Cadillac front brakes, Chevy distributor (the top of it, at least), T-10 4 speed... I'd say buy any Chilton's manual for a Grand Cherokee, or whatever you can find that had a 360, and maybe a book like Pete has for a SBC. Get torque specs from the AMC specific manual, and General from the SBC one. Honestly, I'd rate doing a Toyota timing chain in the car with the head on tougher than rebuilding an AMC on the stand. It's a lot like any American V-8 of that vintage. All engines should have the distributor and oil pump so thoughtfully located.

When I had my car, I was a dumb young kid. The two best things I ever did were a pertronix ignition (made for a non-HEI Chevy), and an out of the box Holley 600 with vacuum secondaries. Good luck.

I wouldn't buy anything till I tore it apart. If the rust is minimal then you might be able to just clean it up and put it back together with new gaskets. At the other end of the spectrum if everything is rusted then it might not even be worth the rebuild. I'm guessing that you'll be closer to the former than the latter.

Before ordering any parts I would open up the engine and see what you have inside. If the bores are rusted you're going to have to do a re-bore and new pistons. But you don't really know until you at least pull the heads. IF the engine was assembled correctly you may be surprised by what you find once the heads are off. The fact that the engine turns over tells me that the pistons & cylinders were lubed up when they were assembled. You may only need new seals & gaskets.

As for the external rust, the heads can be removed and disassembled and then blasted to bare metal. A skim cut on the heads, a quick valve job and lapping with new valve seals and they should be good. The only down side of an engine sitting that long is the valve springs. Stock type spring should be OK but if a HP set were installed then some of them may have taken a "set" from sitting open for that length of time.

Surface rust where? You probably don't need a rebuild kit, just a gasket set. Though I question the need to completely pull apart an engine if it still turns over smooth (no rust in the bores). Maybe redo the valve seals, front and rear main, and pull the cam out to apply fresh camshaft break in lube, other than that prime the oil system and start it.

Good advice all around here, thank you! Wheelsmithy -- That Javelin is fully sick. Wish I could find a solid roller to drop this in after a few months. Anyhow it sounds like the following steps are in order (mostly noting this for myself so I remember in the morning):

1. Buy a Chilton's for an SJ Cherokee or some such
2. Crack engine open and check internals
3. Post pictures of said internals and survey for further advice

I'll be back to pester everyone's collective experience often, so thanks in advance.

saruken wrote: -- That Javelin is fully sick.

I misled you. Those are both hornets, and not completely over-the -top expensive like the Javelin. This is a Javelin I saw a rambler in pretty good nick for 2 grand a couple of months age. Your 360 would bolt in.

Don't give up hope. Nobody wanted AMCs until the supply of mustangs and camaros dried up.

wheelsmithy wrote: Those are both hornets

They're all great looking as far as I'm concerned -- Hornets, Javelins, Ramblers... This particular engine was originally intended for my grandfather's J10 pickup, which he ended up selling to a rural mail carrier. I certainly wouldn't mind finding a solid J10 chassis either, or really anything Jeep made from that era.

When you say custom built, was there anything special done to the engine (hot cam, etc.) or is it just a stock Jasper rebuild?

As for checking out the cylinders, Harbor Freight sells a pretty cheap borescope (they call it a digital inspection camera) that could be used to peek down through the spark plug holes. That would be easier than pulling the heads, and then you'd have a cool tool to use on other things in the future.

GReMlin... it already has GRM in it

In reply to petegossett:

I thought Of your thread when I read the post. It's a step by step reviving of a long dormant engine. Hopefully a fresh rebuilt that wasn't stored in a mud filled Corvette will be simpler but this shows pretty much anything that can go wrong along the way.

If you take your time and find some good reference material old V8s are good to learn on. I would look for a nice Hornet to put it in when it's done. I think they are good looking without being as pricy as a good Javelin.

Pete's Corvette

stuart in mn wrote: When you say custom built, was there anything special done to the engine (hot cam, etc.) or is it just a stock Jasper rebuild?

Honestly I have no idea -- probably a standard rebuild. I only say "custom" because that's what it says on the tag hanging off the engine. My grandfather has no further info, doesn't even remember buying it. As for the borescope, that's a great idea. I'll keep that in mind, especially at ~$70 plus whatever discount HF is running.

Got out to the farm this weekend. The good news is, I popped a valve cover off the 360 and internals look minty. There are even traces of oil on the bolt heads.

Exterior of the engine is still messy though. 35 years uncovered in a barn left it canopied in various cruds. I'll need to go back with a shop vac (and a lot of extension cords -- no power in the barn) to properly get all the loose stuff off. I brought a wire brush this time, which only angered the crud.

In making room to work, I also found an absolute horde of Jeep Gladiator and 6th gen Thunderbird parts that I'll be liquidating. Will make a separate post in the Classified section about that, but if anyone wants me to check if I have something for those cars, just let me know. It's probably in that barn somewhere.

As for the 360, once it's properly cleaned I'll take off covers and manifold for paint and new rubber -- otherwise I think this thing will be ready to go. Hopefully something like this when it's done:

Yeah, the best thing you can do is to ditch the cast iron 2 bbl intake and go with something in aluminum and 4 bbl. Or EFI, if you have the budget? I hear good thing about Holley's system.

Billy_Bottle_Caps wrote: GReMlin... it already has GRM in it

This.

In 1972 I got a 70 Gremlin six banger manual, acquired a 390/T10 4 speed from a AMC Rebel Machine that met a train at a crossing. 390 slid in there just so sweet. Had to dimple a header a bit to clear steering shaft but that was it. Even the stock clutch linkage needed pretty much nothing to fit. Then posi rear end, disc brakes and suspension parts from a Javelin that met a tree. Then off to a stock car guy for sway bars for both ends, cut springs and Konis. Finally a set of wheels split and widened to 9", which was pretty wide for that day, and meaty BFG TA's.

No power steering so it was a monster to drive but it surprised a lot of muscle cars back in the day because other than the tire width and slight lowering it looked and sounded mighty stock. Full mufflers since I was working in a profession where loud muscle cars were frowned upon. The thing could turn corners quite well given what the stock car guy did to the suspension, though the ultra short wheelbase made it pretty snappish on the throttle. Fun days!

Disassembled the engine to a short block when I got it just to check it out as it had been sitting with no carb on it, it was nothing out of the ordinary for a 'murican pushrod V8 to take apart and put back together. Thing ran like a top for the 7 years I had it.

On AMC cars of that era, from the firewall forward they were almost identical, so V8 swaps were really easy to do. Hornet and Gremlin were completely identical, and there was a factory V8 Hornet so any needed parts were dealer available. Too bad they're so scarce now.

The Gremlin has my vote, that thing is too cool. Second would be a willys pickup

This car never existed. I want it none-the-less

In reply to jimbbski:

I could not disagree more. If you're staying with a carb, that 2 barrel Motorcraft (Holley design) is among the best there is. In the day Jeepers called it 'poor man's fuel injection' since it would still run at angles others wouldn't. Howell makes a nice TBI kit with an adapter that bolts right on that 2 bbl. intake.

Carro Atrezzi wrote: In reply to jimbbski: I could not disagree more. If you're staying with a carb, that 2 barrel Motorcraft (Holley design) is among the best there is. In the day Jeepers called it 'poor man's fuel injection' since it would still run at angles others wouldn't. Howell makes a nice TBI kit with an adapter that bolts right on that 2 bbl. intake.

Glad to hear this. Since the engine is something of a family historical artifact, I want to keep it as original as possible.