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As If I Needed Another Project.... 68 Amx Pro Touring/track Car

Discussion in 'Quitters' Club' started by Norcal69, Apr 10, 2021.

  1. Feb 8, 2022
    Norcal69

    Norcal69 Out of the box thinker 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Northern California
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    Pictures from the engine shop today.

    Remember that nasty 401 core......

    [​IMG]


    Mag checked out good so we got it blasted and rough honed the cylinders. Looks like they will clean up at 30 over. Custom pistons on order. Now the block is off to get line bored, final cylinder bored and oil passages modified.

    [​IMG]

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    Connecting rods came in! We are using Big Block Chevy 6" rods. I can't believe how light these are......

    [​IMG]
     
    73 cj5, Stakebed, Danefraz and 7 others like this.
  2. Feb 8, 2022
    47v6

    47v6 junk wrecker! 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    USA
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    Keep the updates and pics coming!!
     
    Danefraz, Dne007 and jzeber like this.
  3. Feb 9, 2022
    Jeepenstein

    Jeepenstein Me like Jeep..

    North Central FL
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  4. Feb 10, 2022
    Norcal69

    Norcal69 Out of the box thinker 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Northern California
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    Parts are continuing to roll in !
    Romac balancer from Australia, Billet steel flywheel.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    73 cj5, Dne007 and Fireball like this.
  5. Feb 15, 2022
    Norcal69

    Norcal69 Out of the box thinker 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

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    Vintage NOS pro touring front spoiler.
    Imagine it painted red with the white stripes transferred down the front of the spoiler.

    [​IMG]


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    73 cj5, Danefraz, Rozcoking23 and 7 others like this.
  6. Feb 25, 2022
    Norcal69

    Norcal69 Out of the box thinker 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Northern California
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    Project update....... we were out cleaning out the old race shop and I stumbled across a few odd leftover 9" Ford axle parts. Specifically an aluminum 3rd member, brand new Gleason Torsen differential and some speedway engineering "Mod Lite" floating axle hubs........
    I have no use for these parts as far as circle track racing goes...... so we are left with only one illogical option...:D
    A quick call to Speedway engineering led me down a path of sheer street car/road race badassery.
    Wilwood 13" brakes with internal e brake for floating rear hubs....

    [​IMG]


    Here is what the whole outer assembly looks like. Now I need to source a 9" with floater housing ends......



    [​IMG]
     
  7. Feb 28, 2022
    Norcal69

    Norcal69 Out of the box thinker 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

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    The first portion of the parts haul out of the attic of the old race shop. I really need to do some more digging around up there I guess... :shrug:
    This aluminum 3rd member when coupled with the 10 bolt daytona pinion support and billet yoke is supposed to be good for 1200 Hp. The whimpy 500 or so HP we are building should never hurt it.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    73 cj5, Stakebed, Danefraz and 5 others like this.
  8. Feb 28, 2022
    bigjohn

    bigjohn Active Member

    Kelso Wa
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    Holy beef dude. Nice piece!
     
  9. Mar 3, 2022
    Norcal69

    Norcal69 Out of the box thinker 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Northern California
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    Wheels showed up yesterday.
    Trans Am Race Engineering "Superlite"
    17x8 with 4.5"bs
    17x9.5 with 5.5"bs
    I plan to have a custom AMX sticker made up for the center cap.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    73 cj5, Stakebed, 47v6 and 4 others like this.
  10. Mar 4, 2022
    Norcal69

    Norcal69 Out of the box thinker 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

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    Tires came in yesterday!
    I agonized over the front/rear tire sizes quite a bit.
    After lots of talk with other AMX owners I went with the largest tires that we all were positive would fit without issues. This will be the "starter tire set" as tires in this category only come with a 15k mile warranty when run in staggered sets. Once we have figured out just what we can get away with we will increase the tire size on the next set. These current tires are 9.5" wide front and 11.25" wide on the rear. I hope to get to 10"-10.5" wide on the front and a little over 12" wide tire on the rear when its all said and done.
    I will have the rear wheel width widened from 9.5" to 10.5" at that point.

    [​IMG]
     
    73 cj5, Fireball and 47v6 like this.
  11. Mar 5, 2022
    jeepdaddy2000

    jeepdaddy2000 Active Member

    Eagle Point oregon
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    Let me get this straight.....
    You just got an insanely awesome car.
    You "found" an insanely awesome engine.
    You're gonna do a bunch of insanely awesome upgrades.
    You went out to the "old shop" and pulled out a bunch of insanely awesome parts that were "just lying around".
    And you apparently have an insane amount of time and money to do all this.

    You do know

    Everybody hates you
     
    Tom_Hartz, Danefraz, Stakebed and 3 others like this.
  12. Mar 7, 2022
    Norcal69

    Norcal69 Out of the box thinker 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

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    If I were building a Chevy branded hot rod you would be amazed at the parts I would be pulling out. :p
    This aluminum 3rd member was not the one that I was looking for, but it will do, actually better and the one I was looking for.
    I was looking for the aluminum 3rd member that had been painted and sprinkled with steel powder to make it seem to be magnetic. We were racing in a division where aluminum was not allowed on the car except for the body. :shrug:
    The Gleason Torsen unit was a total surprise. I had completely forgotten that we ever had it or tested with it until I pulled it out of the box. It was actually in a box that was labeled spool....I only opened it because it felt heavier than the other box next to it that also said "spool" on it. I remember now that we installed the unit and rented the track for a day to test different tire stagger combinations. With a spool the rear tires needed between 2.5" and 3" difference in height. Even with as little as 1" of stagger the Gleason torque bias was unhappy and made the car really squirmy/ unstable. The unit was pulled and shelved for the last 10 years or so.

    Here is the box that the Gleason was in.....

    [​IMG]


    You can see that the unit has very little wear from the day of testing.


    [​IMG]
     
    Fireball likes this.
  13. Mar 7, 2022
    Norcal69

    Norcal69 Out of the box thinker 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

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    Test fitting the wheels last night ended up just being a big ole tease........
    The stock AMC lug studs are not long enough for these wheels. Oh well, they will have to wait until the new front/rear components are installed. :waiting:
    Just a little teaser of how the rear will look. I lowered the jack down to put a small load on the tire, in real life the body will be 3" lower and the tire will be tucked inside the fender lip.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. Mar 7, 2022
    jeepdaddy2000

    jeepdaddy2000 Active Member

    Eagle Point oregon
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    I love Gleason's. Been running one in the rear of my CJ since 84. Man if I had a vintage Ford I'd offer up some cash for your unit.
     
  15. Mar 11, 2022
    Norcal69

    Norcal69 Out of the box thinker 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

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    Finally the 5 speed install has started!
    The flywheel is out for surfacing and a new ring gear is on order. We ran into a little hiccup with the clutch slave cylinder and had to clearance the inner fender well a bit with a BFH.... Its not how I would like to do it but it will suffice until the engine is pulled for the 401x440 replacement. At that time I will likely cut out the bulged area and make a small removable panel with a bulge in it. This would allow access to the slave cylinder from outside the vehicle. There are a couple floorboard repairs that are welded from the inside. When the carpet is removed for the subframe connector install I will weld the patches from the underside to prevent water from entering the overlapping panel. This car shows really well and appears too perfect to do what we are going to subject it to. In actuality it is just a solid platform for a car that will see lots of miles on road as well as track day abuse. A perfect car would arrive on a trailer..... my cars get driven there.

    [​IMG]

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  16. Mar 15, 2022
    Danefraz

    Danefraz Well-Known Member 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Chico CA
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    I smell fuel.

    nice project.
     
  17. Mar 16, 2022
    Jeepenstein

    Jeepenstein Me like Jeep..

    North Central FL
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    Love those wheels..
     
  18. Mar 23, 2022
    Norcal69

    Norcal69 Out of the box thinker 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

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    I've been a little sidetracked lately... but the 5 speed install should be done by the weekend.
    The wheel center caps came without logos from the manufacture. I found a late 60's era AMC embroidered patch that would have been on the fire suits and jackets of race team members back in the day. I had the patch copied into a digital image and printed on outdoor reflective vinyl sticker material.
    I think it turned out pretty neat.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
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  19. Mar 23, 2022
    Jeepenstein

    Jeepenstein Me like Jeep..

    North Central FL
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    Daaaaang! Thats cool..

    [​IMG]
     
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  20. Mar 27, 2022
    timgr

    timgr We stand on the shoulders of giants. 2022 Sponsor

    Medford Mass USA
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    Great looking car. I like those wheels.

    A 401 30 over is a 407. Conventional wisdom says that even 30 can be trouble if there is much core shift. To get to 440, you need nearly a 4" stroke (from 3.68").

    Your picture looks like a 401 from a car. Manifolds look early, like '71-72ish.
     
    Norcal69 likes this.
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