barn find 1968 rambler american eco project!! - Page 6 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

slownugly · 03-26-2013, 05:01 PM

Took the top cover off of the old 3 speed and the main shaft and gears are rusted, countershaft is submerged in water :/ on to the 5 speed!! Got the cases apart and the main shaft disassembled. My 300 dollar quote is upped to 600. Drag racing took its toll. 1,2,3 speed gears need replacing on the mainshaft as well as the input shaft. Still better than gambling on a used 400 dollar transmission.

slownugly · 04-12-2013, 11:40 AM

transmission rebuild kit is ordered as well as the shifter handle. im bidding on a shifter mechanism on ebay that goes off in a couple days. i got the 1/2 slider gear this week. taking the flywheel to the machine shop to get turned this afternoon. also got the clutch assembly. 10.4 inch disc. 10 spline. cant wait to get the trans done so i can start building the engine. couple guys on the amc forum are helping me out with picking an aftermarket cam that would be good for low rpm torque cruising. might do a 4.0 head swap too.

Big Dave · 04-12-2013, 04:34 PM

Have you thought of using a VW TDI engine in this. It's a light car.

Your old engine is scrap metal, so you are free to swap. VW parts might be easier to come by than Nash or AMC parts.

slownugly · 04-12-2013, 04:56 PM

I'm not really into diesel. I want to keep this amc oriented. Amc parts aren't nearly as hard to find as people think. They came out with this style engine in 64 as a 232. From there they developed the 199 and 258 which has grown into the 4.0 in newer jeeps up until 2006 I believe. Theres a huge following into the jeep community so that makes parts readily available. Nash is a totally different animal and I would agree with you about parts for those. The last real Nash was made is 54. I believe Hudson took over from 55-57 but used the Nash name, then dropped it after 57.

elhigh · 04-13-2013, 10:33 AM

Keeping it AMC, I was wondering about an AMC 2.5 like from an older Wrangler. Power will be comparable to what you had in that 199.

No idea what it would do to your mileage though. The 2.5 was better for torque than power, pushing something like your Rambler instead of the phone booth that is the Wrangler, it might do okay.

You'd have enough room in front of the engine to hide a lot of stuff. Convert to electric fan and there'd be even more.

slownugly · 04-13-2013, 02:20 PM

No faith in the ole straight 6?!?! Haha the wheels are already in motion no going back now!! My old 74 hornet got 18-20 with the same 258 with automatic and no Eco driving. I was planning on a thermostatically controlled electric fan in the rambler. With a shroud so it's kinda hidden.

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 04-18-2013, 02:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slownugly

I was planning on a thermostatically controlled electric fan in the rambler.

Electric fans can often lead to good improvements on the fuel-efficiency.

slownugly · 04-22-2013, 06:38 PM

got the flywheel back, all purty surfaced and i had the machine shop install a new ring gear for good measure. rebuild kit, shifter handle, shifter mechanism, and shift knob all arrived. ill post some pics when the trans starts going back together. i need some gears yet.

this is turning out as most classic projects do, start with the idea of just doing a quick put together and drive around and have some fun. im now contemplating purchasing a painless wiring harness (with fuse block) and rewiring the entire vehicle. i dont like that water got into spots and it would be an excellent idea to replace the old glass fuses. plus the kit wiring is ready for a gm alternator, which i wanted to do as well. would be good peace of mind. (and quite fun to boot!) id have extra fuse spots to add stuff here and there like gauges and electric fan. the more and more i think the more and more my budget goes up haha itll be fun though

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 04-25-2013, 06:11 AM

Replacing the wiring harness sounds like a smart move. After all, you wouldn't want your ride to caught a fire due to the old wiring...

Miller88 · 04-25-2013, 10:16 AM

I do like the AMC engines. The 2.5 was a pretty stout engine - a lot of low end torque for a 4 cyl. A MPI 2.5 wouldn't be a terrible idea ...

But a 6 cyl you'd be able to run taller gears.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Replacing the wiring harness sounds like a smart move. After all, you wouldn't want your ride to caught a fire due to the old wiring...

AMC wiring was awesome! I remember as a kid, our CJ-7 caught fire on the way home from Christmas. And it wasn't more than a few years old!