my rambler roadster
about 4 years ago i wanted a roadster, but all i had in the yard was a 1961 rambler american. i've wrenched and modified cars for a long time, but this is my first hot rod... though hardly traditional.
for no good reason i like these early Rambler American unibodies --...
steal away!
of course you owe me big time. lol. check's in the mail, right?
hell, i assume someone else did this before me and i just didn't notice, or i stolt it and forgot myself!
i found an easy trick to get solid and precise chassis reference points, in my case for installing a custom rear suspension and Mustang axle in my rambler rat roadster. this should work on anything with a ball joint or trunnion in the lower arm of the front suspension. since this lower pivot is...
OK maybe i'm the last to know, and everyone's been using these forever, but they're new to me -- a "banjo union" -- attaches to disc brake caliper with the usual hollow bolt, but provides a 3/8-24 inverted flare female. i got 10mm, for Mustang axle, but there's other combinations available...
OK! busy week. i sent off the clutch from the car, plus two old cores i'd scrounged in the last decade (these clutches are rare and not valuable, so no one has any). they're on their way back from from Tennessee Clutch & Supply. i had two good clutches made from the three cores, so i have one...
today i got the axle back under the car, squared it to the chassis, and added the front heim to the front tip of the wishbone. couldn't do that until i got the "final" rear assembly in place, setup wheelbase correctly and got it square-ish. with the wishbone in place i was able to get the rear...
you are correct, and i welcome your comments! i totally agree with your observation, though i think my margins will be OK here. i welcome your ideas though.
actually the lower bolts are single shear, too. the lowers are 5/8" uppers 1/2". all are grade 8. the 1/2" bolts are the limiting item of...
here's the rigid wishbone's guts. the wishbone effective length is nearly 70 inches (in a 100 inch wheelbase car!) so pinion angle change with rear suspension travel is pretty minimal. body could roll 20 degrees before it binds.
geometry-wise, it's great. imagine truck arms, except super...
OK, the clutch is off to Tennessee Clutch & Supply for rebuilding. transmission installed to get everything else together.
got a new spider built and installed (unibody car, no transmission crossmember, so the spider positions the wishbone's front joint).
got the axle 99% kitted out --...
i also worked out the big chunks of the new rear suspension incorporating the Mustang axle. the design is a rigid wishbone, adjustable in all dimensions.
though not complete, this pic shows all of the important parts except the front heim joint and it's tubing, and the new spider to hold the...
with the T14 out of the way for the moment, i get to move on to important matters!
the T14 fits into the bellhousing, same input shaft and pilot and bearing retainer hole and the two upper bolt holes align; but these earliest Ramblers the lower holes of the transmission pattern are not...