Projects Mish-Mash Nash -'52 Rambler Wagon

While not technically a new member, I've only posted here a few times, so here's a brief introduction on my new-to-me '52 Nash Rambler wagon which I acquired in September 2022.

Originally from the Mojave Desert area, the car is mostly solid, but it has a few rusty (Midwest rusty) areas. The first thing I did after pushing it into the garage was to strip it down to a (mostly) bare shell, taking stock of what was in need of replacement and/or repair. I had no intention of restoring it to stock, so things like the flathead six, O.D. three-speed trans, Dana 31(?) rearend, and the front bench seat were ditched. The carpet was already long gone, and everything rubber was brittle and crumbly, so that will all need to be replaced, as well as all of the glass, too.

Here are a few pics I took right after stripping it down:







And after being pushed back into the garage:






There's plenty of body work to be done, especially on the rear valance. The car sat with the rear end lower than the front, so any water (and I'm guessing ice, too, based upon the damage) which got inside flowed down into the cargo area, and eventually inside the framerails and out the lowest point at the rear valance panel...not great.

Engine upgrade choices are a bit limited, due to the lack of space underhood-- only 27 inches from firewall to front brace:



The original flathead six was already a very a snug fit in the engine bay, so I knew I would be limited to other inline, narrow angle (i.e., not 90 degree) V-type, or some other far out-of-the-box type engine. However, I wanted to keep things more traditional, and carbureted, so I settled on/committed to a Pontiac OHC 6 recently, as well as the mods needed to get it to fit. While I didn't acquire the 230 h.p. 4-bbl version, I think I can work with the 170 h.p. 1-bbl version for now. I may upgrade to the 4-bbl specific parts eventually, but I'm working with what I have for now. I'm a ways away from getting the engine installed, so, I'll cross that bridge when I reach it.

I was fortunate to find two Pontiac OHC 6 engines locally, and while I should have enough parts to assemble into one good engine, both blocks had multiple cylinders with significant damage (rust, deep scoring, etc.) so which ever block I choose to use will need to be overbored or sleeved. I'll have it all checked out at the machine shop, then decide the best path forward when the time comes.

 

Great project. Now let’s see, you’ll need at least 3 deuces and four speed, split manifold, a pair of smithies, steelies with caps and rings, wide whites and a lot of patience. Oops almost forgot, as for color I hear those wagons look good in red.

 

Love it!!

 

Why the removal of the original front seat? Isn't the " make a bed" feature one of the neat things about being a Rambler?

 

Still remember an old episode of MASH where a bunch of the characters were talking about the cars they used to drive/own. Hot Lips got a little twinkle in her eye and said "Daddy had a Nash". Nuff said.

 

Pretty cool.

Mike

 

I believe that was only a feature on the Ambassador and Statesman, not the Rambler. My seat only tilted forward, and everything about it was old and worn, so not worth saving. It was really nasty in between the coil springs with all the former mouse residents' homes.

I haven't seen many in red, but the original color, Skyline Blue, seems to work well on this bulbous body. I will probably go with a lighter color, as I don't plan on having A/C and this will be a spring-through-autumn cruiser.

 

I learned to drive in the '51 Rambler wagon that my father bought new. Fun ride. I named it "snail" when I was in high school.
This should be a neat project. Keep posting progress.

 

That is going to be a very cool project!
This is just a bit of inspiration for you.
As seen and photographed, at the 2021 Goodguy's show in Puyallup Washington.
Thanks from Dennis.

 

Killer project.

 

Gotta save that "Airflyte" emblem.

 

...what would that look like with some nicely done radiussed wheelwells?

 

You have to be careful with cutting the body as this car is a unibody, it doesn't have a traditional frame.

 

OH HELL YEAH! Dig you motor choice. A bud of mine has a 5 carbed overhead in a 28 model A.

 

Um, very wrong? I understand the envelope body isn't for everyone, and the unusually narrow front track width is a bit ridiculous, but I have no plans to modify the wheel openings, huge turning radius be damned. The '55 and '58-'60s Rambler Americans had more traditional wheel openings:



Not bad, but the front appears more rectangular while the rear is more teardrop shaped, so...not sure that's better. The later grille without the protruding horizontal bars is a huge improvement, IMHO, though.

Yes, for sure. I don't plan any major hacking, and I tend to play it safe, adding thicker or extra material where modifications are made. It's been fun and interesting to get an up close look at how this specific unibody was put together, and while the thousands of spot welds were expected, the brazed areas did come as a bit of a surprise. Fortunately, they are easy to cut and grind when necessary-- much more enjoyable than drilling out spot welds.

I'm not sure I got it with the car to be honest, but I may have. The car was partially disassembled at some point long ago, so a few things were lost, unfortunately, like the front bumper.

There's a decent following for the Pontiac OHC 6, considering they were only produced from '66-'69, and a few companies still specialize in parts for them, so always good to have new part buying options when running an oddball engine.

 

gentlemen of a certain age will remember when lois lane drove a little nash convertible on "superman"!

 

..Appreciate you not sayin' I'm older than dirt...

 

Didn't think to take any pics while I was underneath, cutting out the rusted out frame rail areas, so pics of the trunk are will have to do for now. The under/outside of the trunk floor was in great shape and mostly protected by the fuel tank directly below it, but the interior side had a hole or two, and plenty of heavy surface rust from being filled with water at various times. The rear crossmember, which supports the rear edge of the trunk floor, the tailgate supports, etc. was totally rusted out and not re-useable. Knowing I was going to use a different fuel tank (the stock tank was tiny, and kind of pentagonal in shape), I decided to cut the trunk floor out, as well as the rear crossmember. Doing this would also allow me to remove the rear valence in one piece, as it and the crossmember were spot welded together along the full width of the panels.

Here's what the trunk looked like at the start:





Rusted out crossmember piece, with daylight passing through, visible on the left, rear bumper bracket bolt on the right:



Rust colored factory primer still present on the underside:



After a rough cut (early Ford Falcon leaf springs and Ford 8" rearend housing also visible):



I wanted to retain the stock fuel filler location at the left rear corner, and discovered a '55-'56 Chevy tank had the same inlet location, was a more traditional square shape, and was very common, so that works for me. I got lucky and found a good used tank semi-locally, and got to work welding in a new square rear crossmember and some trunk floor supports made from 16 gauge pre-formed sheet metal, as seen in the image below. It's strong and stiff enough for the new flat trunk floor to be welded to and to support a full fuel tank and spare tire. Here it is, pre-floor and still in the test fitting stage, before I had the '56 Chevy fuel tank straps:



I also added a smaller (1" square, I think) crossmember at the front to both support the floor and the new quarter round piece I used to mate the trunk floor and axle hump. I still have some final finishing to do on the floor, but it's mostly there. New front strap brackets were welded in place, and stainless carriage bolts were used to hold the straps at the rear. Still need to add a few recessed/depressed holes in the trunk floor for drainage/anti-oil canning, but I think something similar to a dimple die will work.

 

I think that the Pontiac motor has a lot going for it -- but it's hard (and probably expensive) to rebuild. I'd suggest you look at the 231" Buick V-6. They're reliable and cheaper and more available parts-wise. They're shorter and not very wide, either. I've got one easily under the smaller (28) Model A hood with no problems.

 

I have a friend who has built at least 4 of these. His recipe is not HAMB friendly but it is pretty cool. He puts the Nash sheet metal onto a Mini Cooper S. Inside, it's Mini, outside it's Nash. Goes like stink and handles like a slot car.

 

There is an AMC forum https://theamcforum.com/forum/forums.html

 

Damn …. Now this IS thinking out of the box ‼️. And the OHC will be great , you can get parts, and they run strong ‼️.

 

It's not much more expensive than anything else of the same vintage, honestly. The Pontiac cammers have a fairly strong following, and new and N.O.S. are available for them. There are a few long obsolete parts (fuel pump for one), but there are workarounds. I'm committed to the Pontiac OHC-6 at this point, and comfortable making changes as needed to get it to fit. I actually picked up something today which I think will help in that regard.

Any 90 degree V-style engine is too wide, with only 20" side-to-side in the engine bay-- there's simply no room for exhaust manifolds nor headers as is. A 60 degree V-style engine fits, but none of those options are in keeping with the old school feel I want to (mostly) retain. The stock flathead six was physically very small, so I knew it would be a challenge to find something else that fits the engine bay. Here's a shot of the engine bay when I first looked at it:

Thanks-- I'm a member there, too.

 

maybe a v8-60...

 

Great project! While I know you are committed to the Pontiac at this point, if you run into too many issues, the later model AMC 6 cylinder engines might be a good alternative. There are a lot of aftermarket speed goodies available for them too.

 

Chevy 4 banger from a Mercruiser and a T-5 would fit.

 

The Rambler’s flattie had more hp than a stock V8-60.

 

well,i was joking--just remembered that sports car w/ one..

 

I did some more mocking up and measuring today, after I installed the radiator and support panels. The radiator sits very far forward (I guess that shouldn't be surprising, considering its function...), so I will give myself some wiggle room if I want to move it rearward in the future by setting the engine back a bit farther than absolutely necessary. From the stock firewall to the radiator measures 33", and with a clutch style fan use for mock up, I need 36", so, a minimum 3" firewall recess is needed. I can probably use a shorter shaft water pump and thinner fan, but a 6" recess should work. Here's a shot or two of the engine bay with the radiator in the stock location:





That sharp crease running across the firewall, a few inches below the square heater core opening, is my measuring point, but you can see how funky the stock firewall is. Honestly, it's good design packaging for the small, stock flathead engine and for providing lots of front seat leg room, but the driving position is uncomfortably close to the windshield, so some additional setback will help in that regard.

Also of note is the K-shaped (well, tilted on its side, at least) bracing which spans the inner fenders, just aft of the radiator. It's fully welded in place, so either it stays or I come up with something stronger/better. It's not difficult to slide an engine in, then up, now, so the bracing isn't a huge impediment as it is. The lower K-brace (not shown) which spans the lower control arm brace points is comically small, so that will absolutely be remade and upgraded.

 

Got after the bottom few inches of the right rear frame rail/inner wheelhouse (all one giant stamped piece) last night, and was able to get the patch tacked into place. Fortunately, this area is accessible with the quarter panel still in place, but access and space decrease significantly going rearward as the quarter panel tapers off, so the very tail end of this patch will have to wait until the quarter panel is removed. Every time I crawl under the car, I'm reminded of the reality of old metal meeting new, thinking both sides will be flat and straight, but that's never the case. In the case of this inner wheelhouse, it's wavy where it was originally spot welded to the inner trunk floor and frame rail, so getting a perfectly straight and even butt joint here is likely in the cards. A few plug welds near the bottom edge at some tacks across the top butt joint should be fine for now. I feel fortunate the rust was mostly contained to the frame rail channel, and didn't extend any higher in this area...well, the heavy rust at least. There's plenty of surface rust to be addressed once the quarter panel comes off:




Below is a close up of the rear end of the right hand frame rail, with the rectangular sleeve I added and various other pieces need to match up to the original layers of sheet metal. I left some of the piece a bit long, to be trimmed later, once the rear valence panel is repaired and reinstalled. You can see the condition of the lower edge of the quarter panel isn't great, as this was the low point of the car, where all of the water drained when it was warm, and froze when cold, so, heavy rust.




Better(?) shot of the underside of the trunk floor showing the two wide c-channel braces/supports, and the front strap hanger brackets. Nothing fancy, just something to make the trunk area strong enough to support a spare tire and a full tank of fuel, without hanging down too low, which was a major issue with the stock trunk floor.