Fat Hack
09-25-2003, 12:36 AM
I've long wondered why you don't see many home-built rods sporting AMC V8s anywhere? Sure, they're kinda odd...and not the first choice that comes to mind for most of us...but they are reliable mills that can give you the added advantage of being different...WAY different in the rodding community!
These engines were put on the map after the Javelin and AMX came to be back in 1968. Mark Donahue and others had a short, but impressive run in Trans-Am competition at the wheel of these hot new pony cars from the Kenosha automaker, and they had no trouble out-running the hot shoes from Ford, GM and Mopar on several occasions! There were even a few AMCs campaigned in Pro Stock and Super Stock classes, and factory-offered goodies like cross-ram intakes are rare and highly prized artifacts today which recall those brief glory years for AMC!
But what about using these engines in a backyard hot rod project? Well, first you want to be sure of what you're looking at! Jeep used Buick 350 engines for a couple of years, so make sure that you're not trying to bolt up AMC speed parts to one of those! AMC V8 engines all share the same external dimensions, so aftermarket or factory performance parts such as distributors, cams, manifolds, headers and valve covers will fit anything from the little 290 up to the biggest of the breed...the 401! 304 and 360 cubic inch versions are perhaps the easiest to find, as they were used in thousands of passenger car and light truck applications over the years. The 401 was AMC's big gun, and is probably the most expensive and hardest to locate!
AMC engines have the distributor mounted in front at an angle, and once you start to work on one, you will recognize components from other automakers! Points type distributors will be GM units, right down to the "window" in the cap for adjusting the points with the engine running, while electronic ignitions will usually be Ford Duraspark (Doesntspark!) offerings. Most of these engines will have Ford two barrel carbs on them as well.
Looking to the aftermarket, Edelbrock still makes cam kits and intake manifolds for AMC V8s, with the Performer being the natural choice for a mild street motor. Over the years, Offy and Weiand made several different intakes for these engines as well, and they aren't that hard to find on e-bay or at swap meets even today. The old Torker intake worked really well on 390 and 401 engines with some mild head porting and a decent cam grind, but they are too much for a 304 or 290 unless you're running a really stout cam, higher compression and some steep gears! The 290 is a real winder, and will serve you best if built a little more radically than it's larger siblings...but the benefits of spending more money on a high revving little motor vs spending less on a larger mill with a broader powerband and more torque may need to be examined! Personally, I'd concentrate on a 304, 360 or 401 as they are the ones most AMC guys run. (Except for the guys using 290 and 390 selections in their 60s musclecar offerings, of course!).
I remember seeing a front engine dragster at Milan many years ago running an AMC 401, and what caught my eye right off the bat was the induction system. The guy had made his own fuel injections system out of an old low-rise dual quad manifold! It was crude as can be...using two giant throttle bodies...but it ran well enough at Wide Open Throttle to get him down the track quickly! Didn't idle worth a snot, but it did it's job! I talked to him most of that afternoon between runs, and he's an example of just how hard core the typical AMC guy is...they HAVE to be innovative and a bit...eccentric, since they're at a disadvantage against the other guys who have far more performance parts available to them!
Camshaft selection for a street/strip AMC engine should follow it's cubic inch size and intended rpm range. Milder for 304 and 360 engines which are good low to midrange performers, and more radical for 290s which need to rev, and for 390 and 401 examples that need to feed more cubes! If running an Edelbrock intake, then buying the matching cam kit for that intake is a good idea. More specific grinds are offered from Crane, and I've never been disappointed by the performance of a Crane grind, so I'd look to them if not using an Edelbrock kit.
Tranny choices get weird....AMC tended to use whatever they could get ahold of! Many used a Torqueflite variant for auto trannys, and Borg Warners were the favored 4-speed. However, most guys using an AMC in a performance vehicle tend to run a GM Turbo-Hydro, from my observations. Not a bad choice, being that they're strong and easy to build using shift kits and aftermarket stall converters. The guy with the dragster was using a highly modified Powerglide behind his injected 401. I like GM auto trannys more than Torqueflites, but that's just a personal preference based on cost and my own familiarity with the Turbos!
My sole AMC toy was a lime green Gremlin X with a 304 and a 3-speed on the floor! It was a homely little bomb, but a genuine 14 second car in bone stock form with a two barrel carb and single exhaust! Imagine that same engine and tranny with a mild cam and a four barrel and headers in a lightweight coupe or T-bucket chassis with better rear gears! (Okay, so I recurved the distributor, added an Accel coil and a chrome open element air cleaner...but the car was still impressively quick for an otherwise stock machine!)
I wish I had more in-depth technical data to pass along to y'all, but I've only owned the one AMC car...but it left a big enough impression on me that I will DEFINATELY keep one eye open for a good AMC V8 to use in a future project! I've talked to every AMC guy I ever encountered on cruise nights and at the track, and the above info is what I've gathered from them. Based on that advice, and on how well my own brief experiment with AMC power went..I have NO doubts that these engines can make great powerplants for open minded rodders, and that they'll give their rivals some stiff competition! Anyone with further information or experience to add, please feel free to chime in here!
These engines were put on the map after the Javelin and AMX came to be back in 1968. Mark Donahue and others had a short, but impressive run in Trans-Am competition at the wheel of these hot new pony cars from the Kenosha automaker, and they had no trouble out-running the hot shoes from Ford, GM and Mopar on several occasions! There were even a few AMCs campaigned in Pro Stock and Super Stock classes, and factory-offered goodies like cross-ram intakes are rare and highly prized artifacts today which recall those brief glory years for AMC!
But what about using these engines in a backyard hot rod project? Well, first you want to be sure of what you're looking at! Jeep used Buick 350 engines for a couple of years, so make sure that you're not trying to bolt up AMC speed parts to one of those! AMC V8 engines all share the same external dimensions, so aftermarket or factory performance parts such as distributors, cams, manifolds, headers and valve covers will fit anything from the little 290 up to the biggest of the breed...the 401! 304 and 360 cubic inch versions are perhaps the easiest to find, as they were used in thousands of passenger car and light truck applications over the years. The 401 was AMC's big gun, and is probably the most expensive and hardest to locate!
AMC engines have the distributor mounted in front at an angle, and once you start to work on one, you will recognize components from other automakers! Points type distributors will be GM units, right down to the "window" in the cap for adjusting the points with the engine running, while electronic ignitions will usually be Ford Duraspark (Doesntspark!) offerings. Most of these engines will have Ford two barrel carbs on them as well.
Looking to the aftermarket, Edelbrock still makes cam kits and intake manifolds for AMC V8s, with the Performer being the natural choice for a mild street motor. Over the years, Offy and Weiand made several different intakes for these engines as well, and they aren't that hard to find on e-bay or at swap meets even today. The old Torker intake worked really well on 390 and 401 engines with some mild head porting and a decent cam grind, but they are too much for a 304 or 290 unless you're running a really stout cam, higher compression and some steep gears! The 290 is a real winder, and will serve you best if built a little more radically than it's larger siblings...but the benefits of spending more money on a high revving little motor vs spending less on a larger mill with a broader powerband and more torque may need to be examined! Personally, I'd concentrate on a 304, 360 or 401 as they are the ones most AMC guys run. (Except for the guys using 290 and 390 selections in their 60s musclecar offerings, of course!).
I remember seeing a front engine dragster at Milan many years ago running an AMC 401, and what caught my eye right off the bat was the induction system. The guy had made his own fuel injections system out of an old low-rise dual quad manifold! It was crude as can be...using two giant throttle bodies...but it ran well enough at Wide Open Throttle to get him down the track quickly! Didn't idle worth a snot, but it did it's job! I talked to him most of that afternoon between runs, and he's an example of just how hard core the typical AMC guy is...they HAVE to be innovative and a bit...eccentric, since they're at a disadvantage against the other guys who have far more performance parts available to them!
Camshaft selection for a street/strip AMC engine should follow it's cubic inch size and intended rpm range. Milder for 304 and 360 engines which are good low to midrange performers, and more radical for 290s which need to rev, and for 390 and 401 examples that need to feed more cubes! If running an Edelbrock intake, then buying the matching cam kit for that intake is a good idea. More specific grinds are offered from Crane, and I've never been disappointed by the performance of a Crane grind, so I'd look to them if not using an Edelbrock kit.
Tranny choices get weird....AMC tended to use whatever they could get ahold of! Many used a Torqueflite variant for auto trannys, and Borg Warners were the favored 4-speed. However, most guys using an AMC in a performance vehicle tend to run a GM Turbo-Hydro, from my observations. Not a bad choice, being that they're strong and easy to build using shift kits and aftermarket stall converters. The guy with the dragster was using a highly modified Powerglide behind his injected 401. I like GM auto trannys more than Torqueflites, but that's just a personal preference based on cost and my own familiarity with the Turbos!
My sole AMC toy was a lime green Gremlin X with a 304 and a 3-speed on the floor! It was a homely little bomb, but a genuine 14 second car in bone stock form with a two barrel carb and single exhaust! Imagine that same engine and tranny with a mild cam and a four barrel and headers in a lightweight coupe or T-bucket chassis with better rear gears! (Okay, so I recurved the distributor, added an Accel coil and a chrome open element air cleaner...but the car was still impressively quick for an otherwise stock machine!)
I wish I had more in-depth technical data to pass along to y'all, but I've only owned the one AMC car...but it left a big enough impression on me that I will DEFINATELY keep one eye open for a good AMC V8 to use in a future project! I've talked to every AMC guy I ever encountered on cruise nights and at the track, and the above info is what I've gathered from them. Based on that advice, and on how well my own brief experiment with AMC power went..I have NO doubts that these engines can make great powerplants for open minded rodders, and that they'll give their rivals some stiff competition! Anyone with further information or experience to add, please feel free to chime in here!