Hot Rods '63 Rambler Classic 550

You guys are absolutely crushing this build! Love it!

 

May I make a friendly suggestion? That battery hold down plate is fractions away from a dead short on your positive battery post. ANY movement will become an instant arc welder and your pride and joy would probably burn to the ground before you could fix it.. A health notch or relieve would be beneficial there. Good Luck!

 

Just read the whole thread. So many good things going on here. A great build, the father/son give and take, the skills being passed on and memories for a lifetime. Very cool.
When I look at the car's profile I keep seeing it stock car style with radiused fenders and big, fat tires.

 

We did notch it more than the picture shows. Thanks for making the suggestion that’s what keeps folks safe. Having a second set of eyes is always beneficial.

 

I noticed that as well. An item I usually check out in engine pictures, is the Battery post on the alternator. They are live, and can be shorted to ground easily with a wrench, screwdriver etc. The factory supplies a rubber snap on boot to protect it; and there are hard plastic covers also available. There are usually on industrial engines- ie forklifts.

 

I was once young and often learned lifes lessons from the school of hard knocks. Here is a personal young and dumb, not thinking things thru moment. I just got a 65 mustang running and dropped a battery in it to go for a test run with my friend, driving around the neighborhood everything was fine then I decided to show him what it could do. Revved it up dumped the clutch and out came the battery... no battery hold down, who needs those it sits in a tray! Between smoke, fire, sparks shooting everywhere, noxious fumes from a ripped open battery, an engine that wouldnt turn off my pride and joy was beat down. Battery, cables, wiring, fan, belts, hoses, radiator, shroud, and a few other bits and pieces. If I can help just 1 other person from doing the same thing this story will serve as YES some crap can really happen. Double check and triple check before you go for a putt!

 

Took the instrument cluster out so it's easier for the wiring to be done when we get to that. did more sound deadening too. putting a few layers of flex seal rubber on the battery tie down plate. got some brand new brake drums for the rear.

 

Installed transmission cooling lines last night.
Wiring is also getting worked on.
This is the slow part of the build.
Hoping next week to finish rear brakes and need to redo the center section gasket. The one we put in is leaking unfortunately.

 

Great progress so far! Hope you get it running soon.

 

Are you able to drive this during the winter season, or do you have salt, etc on your roads?

 

That AMC blue engine paint is a bit of genius. That will keep a lot of people guessing.

I'd tell 'em it's an AMC 390!

 

Thanks! I think it should be running before the year ends. Probably not driving though, with all the snow we get up here.
I've been meaning to ask you where I can get replacement wiper blades. I tried the ones listed on rock auto but they don't fit.

 

No, it's going to have to be garaged. We usually get a good amount of snow here in the black hills. And the roads get salted and graveled.

 

Physically measure up what you have on the car, if they are there still. You can guesstimate by moving the arms to their highest arc. Make some dummies out of wire.

 

Cool car, when I was in high school back in the 80's my friend Mark Adams had a '63 4-door, really clean car but the 6 had one dead cylinder. It was our group's party cruiser, went everywhere in that thing. It ran like crap but had a killer stereo system in it, great memories.

 

You should be able to take the old ones in to your local auto parts store and get replacements

 

Wow, just fell into this thread. what a fantastic project. So happy to see the younger generation taking on an orphan car and pouring his heart and soul into it. love all the attention to detail...including camouflaging the engine.
Thanks for sharing the progress.
PM me your mailing address.
JT

 

Haha, that song is so bad it's good, LOL! Now I can't stop singing it in my head, LOL!

 

Song sort of rambled on!! Hahaha! Thank you thank you very much. I’ll be here all week!

 

Didn't take pictures but we took apart the rear end again because it was leaking. Put on a new gasket with alot of goop. Gonna let it dry up fully before putting in fluid.
Tried working on the rear drumbrakes but again there was something missing so it'll have to be another trip to napa and a week before we can work on it again. Hopefully that's the last of the brake work that needs to be done so we can bleed the brakes.
Electrics are still being worked on.

Not looking like we'll be able to get it to run by the end of the year as I hoped but as long as work is getting done, I'm content.

Still looking for a better front bumper btw, if anyone's got one or know someone who's got one, please let me know.

 

Brakes are finally all put together, hopefully the last thing we need to do with brakes is bleed them. I really did not like doing brakes. I can handle disk brakes alright but man i hate drums. Dad didn't have a very good time with the brakes either. He said a few times that these brakes in particular were being more troublesome than brakes he's done before. Probably doesn't help that we didn't have any "working on drum brakes" tools other than a screwdriver. He also got mad and cussed alot. He startled me and garage dog Riley once or twice.
we also reinstalled the shifter linkage stick. That was kinda annoying too, it kept hitting a spot on the floor, and the Alan wrench wasn't doing its job. But we got it done. No pictures for that.
Got front tires ordered. Can't wait to get those in. The rear wheels need to be trued and welded before we can even think about tires for that.

 

I use Vise Grips and a screwdriver. Oh, and a brake spoon to adjust them, but have used a screwdriver for that, too.

 

Man I got really pissed, I have never had a brake job be such a pain in the ass! Sorry Brooks for having to hear my vulgar language. I snapped and said some really bad words but I guess your 20 years old and have probably heard such language.

 

LOL! Drum brakes can be that way. And then sometimes they go together so easy. It helps for sure to have the right tools.

 

Those dang auto adjusters can be a real painintheass.

 

Loved reading about this build. You guys are doing great work...

Is this what you need?
Probably couldn't fix and re-chrome the one you have for this price...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1963-1964-...2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

 

I had to chuckle…

Son: “Dad said a lot of bad words”

Next post…

Dad: “Sorry for the bad words”

 

I've probably done thousands of drum brake jobs in the past. I have the OG brake tools I bought maybe in 1975, brake pliers, hold down tool and spoon and of course a bleeder wrench. I actually wore one out. The pliers has an odd end to it, which I've only use a few times doing brakes on bigger trucks with floating rears.

 

Back in HS I did the rear brakes on the 8 inch in my '65 Falcon. I had a scissors jack, a pair of vise grips, and a couple of screw drivers. Brakes installed no problem. Fast forward to the same brake job I did on the 8 inch under my Ranch Wagon. All new parts and I now have all the proper brake install tools. It was a real PITA. Never have had such a problem with rear drum brakes. Seemed like I had to use every tool in the tool box. And as said already many choice adult words before the job was done.