Features Nash Rambler Whos Hot Rodding Them

Project car, anyone? Don't know if it's for sale or not but found this just off the beaten path not far from my house. Looks like it's been there for awhile. Staight body, good glass, interior complete and it's a 2-door!

 

Here is her nash at the nostalgia drags in az.car runs high 11's not bad for a grocery getter

 

This comment from a Guy named Brucie ! Come on !

 

Here is Metropolitan convertible I shot at Scottsdale last Saturday,

 

Heres a couple cool Ramblers!

 

This one was in Spokane last summer.

 

My uncool Rambler with some changes..............







This on one is scheduled for changes a little later..........

 

What engine/ trans are you running? What do you have planned for the 65?

 

Twin cam Olds Quad 4 w/m62 supercharger and weber sidedraft...Muncie 4 speed and 8 in ford rear...

 

Lois Lane had one. It wasn't as fast as a speeding bullet.

 

Actually, I’ve read that the original Ramblers were fairly peppy for their day, since they used the full-size Nash 600 engine in a lighter weight vehicle. No road rocket, certainly, but no doubt faster than a Nash 600.

-Dave

 

Well, I'll andd my junk to the pile.
I've had a few ideas for the old girl, '60 Stock car style, Ranchero/El Camino setup,Lowrider, Gasser.
But' it's just decoration for the pasture, Oh well, at least I saved it from the crusher.

Jeff

 

I am working on a 65 American 4 door. Swapping in a 318/727 combo with some performance parts and a Ford 8.8 rear end. A buddy of mine is working on a 65 2 door and is putting in a AMC 360 in his.

First pic is what it looks like right now and the next pic is what it will look by end of March. Just got taxes back so it is going to be done soon.

 

I'm still playing with a 62 American, one of these days I get it off the jack stands.

 

BigCheese -- the 41 Nash 600 weighed around 2600 pounds and had a 75 hp 172.6 flat-head six that weighed around 500 pounds by itself. That was the old gross power rating, today it would be rated around 54-55 hp at a few hundred less rpm. Would have had a 4.10 - 4.55 rear gear though. Not many roads you could safely travel more than 45-50 for any length of time back then, so no need to rev it way up! By 1950 when that engine got in the first Rambler it produced 82 hp, and the Rambler only weighed 2430 pounds. Not much weight difference there! The 50 Rambler had a 3.80:1 axle with standard three speed, 4.40:1 with OD. I'm guessing on the 41 Nash 600, have a 50 Rambler factory manual, so I'm close! The 600 had at least what the Rambler did.

"Peppy" is a relative thing -- didn't take much to be "peppy" back then!! Would be "lethargic" now... I've got some of the old road test and have driven some of the original Ramblers they give good remarks for. Just gotta remember to keep it in perspective! Late 50s/early 60s cars just don't compare with later ones!!

 

here's mine. 62 American. i haven't done much of anything to it yet beside remove a few parts. i'll get cracking on it as soon as it starts getting a little warmer in my garage. i had a kitchen remodel to do before i could start on this project anyway.

 

Mustang II w/ disc brakes and a 2.8 v-6

 

Here is my 64 Rambler 330 wagon, I picked this up from the original owner this past summer. He gave me everything even the loan papers. So far all I have done is drop it.

 

How did I miss this post.Been looking for pics of 59 Ramblers.

 

Yeah, everyone yanks the front suspension but it's really better as far as geometry than the MII they replace it with. The old flat-head sixes weighed in at about the same as a modern small block, no more than 50 pounds less, so there's no weight problem. The trunnion joints are funky looking but very functional, and replacements are easy to find. Not at Autozone, but any old car place has them, and of course the few Rambler vendors. www.kanter.com can get anything, as well as www.ramblerparts.com (the better bet, they know the cars good!). There's an old story about the lower joint coming apart and the wheel folding up under the front fender. It's true, but only on a badly abused car! The bottom joint is a 5/8" stud threaded into the lower trunnion. How much wear does there have to be to pull a 5/8" course thread nut off a bolt? Grease every now and then fixes that problem!! There are a couple things that can be tough to fix on a badly abused (read that as not greased regularly) original pre 64 Rambler suspension, but it can all be fixed with relative ease if you can do a little welding.

It's tough to properly fit an MII in these cars due to the narrow "frame" rails too. You can get a 56 1/2" Fatman crossmember and it just fits the 58-63 American -- distance between outside of rails is right at 31". Forget trying to make an original MII crossmember fit -- it doesn't!

 

Right, but what else are you gonna compare to? Everything else is apples to oranges.

That's interesting about the 600, though, I didn't know the weight was so close. Of course, I'm betting the aerodynamics weren't nearly so good as the bathtub Rambler. I also wonder how much the torque went up between '41 and '50.

-Dave

PS Doesn't Vern Tardel run a bathtub Rambler at Bonneville with a hot rodded Ford Flathead V8? It's got a giant chili pepper on the side IIRC.

 

Everyone's seen these pics a million times, but the plan is to hot rod the original 232, beef up the trans and rear end using the original components. Any aftermarket hot rod parts will be made to look like it was part of some wierd performance package nobody checked off the order sheet. For instance, i'll probably run a Clifford or Offenhauser intake manifold, but use an AMC 327 4V carb using, the factory 327 air cleaner with custom made air cleaner decal that says 4V instead of 1V on it... etc etc...

Oh and it'll sit a couple inches lower front and back. Just springs though... no fancy BS.

The wife's '64 Typhoon:

 

My only advice is to look for an Offy dual plane 4V intake. It will work much better for normal driving than a single plane Offy or Clifford. The 327 4V carb is a Holley, and only around 450 cfm. Should be a good one for the 232. I'm running a 390 cfm and it could probably be a little bigger on my 258, but it works well also.

 

Hey Frank - Good to hear from ya.

I agree about the dual plane intake. I'm only running a 272 cam in this car. Just enough to hear it at idle and get power up to around 5k. I had an open plenum Offy C series on a 300 straight six Ford I built up years ago. Drivability would've been better if I went with the dual plane.

Lesson learned.

I'll probably be asking you a ton of AMC questions in the future. I like these cars, but don't have much AMC specific experience with them.

-Chris

 

I like that Typhoon! But then, I've always had a soft spot for the '64 and '65 Classic, since a friend's father had a red '65 covertible when I was in high school. Back then, I wanted a 401/4-speed in one, now I'd probably build one of those 4.0/258 strokers and 5-speed.

Either way, I like the direction you're headed.

-Dave

 

Thanks for the compliment Dave. I hope it turns out as well as it's pictured in my head. I'm going to leave all the Typhoon specific stuff in place, such as the interior trim, and color combo for originality sake.

I was very tempted to buy a parts car that had a 327 with twin stick shifters in it to swap into this car... but I just couldn't bring myself to modify a special edition car that much. Besides, i'm retarded about inline sixes. I've loved beefing them up since I was in highschool. Plus it's the wife's car. She doesn't want anything wild... and if it had a twin stick 327, it'd be wild and would become my car. AND I'D NEVER HEAR THE END OF IT.

 

heres mine.....

 

That's a full-size Nash, isn't it?

-Dave

 

yes....ambassador

 

A friend of mine took this photo at our local drag strip about 1969.

MEMORIES.