Folks Of Interest Third generation hotrodder gets his first project!

Today my 19 year old son Brooks got his first project, a 63 Rambler 550 2 door post. Plans are a 68-327 that is sitting in the corner of my shop and a turbo 350, 8” ford rear end that his papa’s is going to donate.
Brook was my challenging child and lives with his mom full time, we are both hopeful this will be a good father son bonding experience to get us back to a great father son relationship. I can only hope it will.
I have told Brooks that he needs to join the Hamb so he can be exposed to all the knowledge and generosity of the people on here and to also start build thread.

 

Nice start....all the way around

 

That looks like a great start! Go, Brook, go!

 

Great plan!

 

1963 Rambler 500's were, in my opinion, a good looking car, that they ruined with a grill change the next year.

 

Great idea Dad.
Patience is your best tool in the box.

 

Excellent!
All the best on the builld.

 

I'm sure my dad thought I was a challenging child during my teenage years. He never really understood my thing with all things automotive but he tolerated it. Things got better after I got drafted. He turned 100 in May and we have had a lot of good times over the years. Hopefully this project will bring you and your son closer together. But remember its his car so you might not always agree with the direction he wants to go. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

Nice start.......

 

Good on you for making the effort to patch things up! i always get a real kick out of the father/ son-daughter projects on here .Cool project and it looks like he's pretty happy with his new acquisition! I was definitely a challenging/ problem kid and eventually smartened up, but i think the damage has been done and i dont have much of a relationship with my father. Never worked on any projects together, and aside from just not being interested in the stuff i work on, where hes an unhealthy late 60 something, i dont see it happening.

 

Hi. WOW, that is really a great looking body and with the lack of chrome it is a hot rodder/customizer's dream with a blank canvas to work with. So many ways to go with how yall finish it out with nothing in the way to work around. Get it going and start a build thread.
Jimmie

 

That should upset the Rambler 327 purists.

 

Way to go .

 

Jeeze, he grew up. I don't think I have seen him since 07?

 

Looks like a project with good potential. Has he expressed any particular vision for the car?

 

he wants to go the sleeper route, steel wheels stock dog dish caps. He already wants glass packs and I told him that sort of gives away the sleeper status. Hopefully I can talk him into a set of turbo mufflers or a set of flowmasters. His car he will make the decision

 

Great looking car!

I think that was absolutely the best looking year for the Rambler. I had a chance to buy one last year, but the owner was asking waaayy too much for it's condition. It's still for sale coincidentally. Congrats on his first project

 

Cool ride. way to go.

 

LOL - that was my knee jerk reaction when I saw the photos... sleeper it. Good luck and have fun. I like the turbo muffs idea. Just say no to Flowmasters is my motto - not a fan of their sound on anything.

How's the interior? All there? Decent shape?

 

From that pic a minor drop and a date with some buffing compound would do wonders. Looks like a real solid start, and the fact that he wants to do it too helps!

 

Head liners is good, back seat will need the Mexican blanket treatment and the front seats are gone. We will have to find something.

 

Ramblers rock

 

Those are my thought exactly! Paint is super thin so we will have to be careful.
As far as lowering I have heard ramblers are fairly easy to lower

 

So you’re saying that he’s a umm, ramblin man?


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

All the best with the two projects especially with the father /son rebuild!

 

I can't say I was ever a Rambler fan but that year was a decent looking car and a 327 Chevy should make it a screamer! There was a guy I know back in the early 70's that had a 64 Rambler wagon with a built Chevy 327 with a 4 speed and stiff rear gear that tore up a bunch of the local muscle car guys for a while. The car looked like shit and he always ran big ugly snow tires on the back. Fun times!
Good luck to the boy with his project, enjoy your time together, they are up and out on their own before you know it.

 

This should create some interest, it was a quick little car
For what it is worth....my grandmother had a 63 wagon, probably the same trim package, there are times I wish I would have purchased it after she lost her license. My oldest daughter said she made good time on the road with it

 

That’s a neat little car^^^^^^^!! This one is going to be quite a bit tamer? Haha!

 

Great start, those cars are light and can handle a V8.
There was an article YEARS ago about a guy who built one as a sleeper. SBC, turbo, ran 10s IIRC. Probably too much for a first car project, but can show the sleeper aesthetic.

Thin paint? Read the single stage rejuvenation post over at auto geeks website. They prefer Meguiar's #7 to feed the paint rather than buffing off the dead stuff. The link has been posted here many times.

Now is the time to start soaking every fastener you can expect to turn. Teaching how to recondition an old car always includes removing broken bolts, but try to keep it to a minimum!