Matt's Old Cars.com

1968 American Status Report

In the middle of September 1997, I purchased a 1968 Rambler American for the whopping sum of $24. Needless to say, the car needed (and still needs) lots of work done to it. This page will list what's been going on with the car.

August 2003 I've started on a new rust repair project. I've started by repairing the driver's side rocker panel. Later on, I'll repair the driver's side quarter panel. So far, I've been updating the site almost daily but that's going to slow down a little since I have to fabricate a patch for the outer rocker panel. I plan to have the rocker panel finished in time for the 3rd annual Edmund Anderson Midwest Regional AMCRC Meet on Sept 27, 2003.

March 2003 Not much to report since I've been putting lots of time and money (well, mostly money) into my El Camino. I did replace my leaky power steering pump and install a new oil drain plug to fix a drip. I think I've taken care of all the fluid leaks now.

January 2003 I really haven't done much with the car lately besides putting on a correct grille, but I'm happy to report that the windshield does not leak at all! I also did a detailed inspection of the car to see what I'm going to fix next on the body. While I haven't decided the exact order, here's what's left to do: fix rust on outer rocker panels on both sides, driver's side quarter panel replacement, straighten out passenger side quarter and fix a few minor rust spots (this will likely be the next repair), fix a few little rust spots in the floor pans (stuff I didn't fix when I replaced the front pans in March and April of 1998), and replace the trunk floor (I know this will happen after the passenger side quarter is dealt with since part of the rust was caused by leaks around the taillights that I can't fix until everything is straight).

November 2002 I had a few problems (another broken brake line, and more problems with the carburetor) that kept me from getting the car to the glass shop to get the windshield sealed. After those were solved, the car went to the glass shop and they sealed it the way the service manual says to. How do I know they did it this way? Easy, they managed to get sealer all over the place. It ended up looking like something I would have done which is why I had someone else do it in the first place. FWIW, Safelite Autoglass in Florence, KY is who did the work. I wish I would have visited their shop before they came out. It gave off a seriously bad vibe and I would have had it done elsewhere.

September 2002 The windshield related repairs are finished and a new windshield has been installed! The windshield still leaks, however, because the idiot installer didn't use ANY sealer at all. You can see a few final pictures of it in Part 10 of the windshield repairs.

June 2002 The patch panels are welded in and ready for final metal working and filler. See Part 7 of the leaky windshield saga to see how it turned out.

March 2002 Work continues on the cowl repairs. On March 16th, the first patch panel was welded in (see Part 6 of the leaky windshield saga for details).

October 2001 The leaky windshield repair has gotten totally out of hand and it looks like I'll be doing a great deal of repair work to the front of the car this winter. I've created a new section on this site devoted to the restoration of my American.

September 2001 It's been way too long since I did anything noteworthy to the car. I did have the muffler fall off earlier in the year (this was around March) followed up by the car tossing it's power steering belt a few weeks later. I have, however, started to fix the leaky windshield. You can read all about it here.

May 2000 I've finished rebuilding the transmission (5/14). Hopefully, I'll get it in before the end of the month. I may have to have the driveshaft altered but that remains to be seen. BTW, don't be afraid of working on a manual transmission. This was way easier than rebuilding the motor was.

April 2000 I began the rebuild of the T-14 and it the condition was exactly as described by the guy I bought it from. All it needs is new seals and cleaning.

March 2000 Well, it looks like I finally have an excuse to replace the transmission in the car (T-96 3 speed). I was out driving it and one of the starter bolts came out. Turns out the bolt hole was stripped so I figured while I was at it, I'd take care of the well worn transmission by replacing it with the T-14 3 speed I purchased a while ago.

January 2000 I didn't really do anything to the car but we had a few below zero days and just for grins, I decided to drive the car to work. I'll have to say I was more than a little surprised at how easily the car started (less cranking than my `96 Ram).

December 1999 Wow! I can't believe its been this long since I did anything worth noting and even this wasn't that big of a deal. I switched the ignition over to electronic (I used a Pertronix Ignitor) and had the stuck heat riser valve cut out of the exhaust manifold. Its amazing how much better it runs with the exhaust un-corked.

September 1998 I haven't added anything to this page in a while since not much has happened to the car since May with the exception of new wheel bearings (I apparently got my hands on a bad batch of wheel bearing grease -- do yourself a favor and get synthetic grease), an oil change, new rear springs and shocks, and a minor tune-up (one of these days I'll convert it over to electronic ignition so I don't have to do this every few thousand miles). I have recently done some more body work on the car, mostly to the crunched in corner. The 2 minute warning has sounded on the transmission (you'd think it last longer than 30 years and 170,000 miles!) so that's the next project. I'll be swapping in a T-14 which is fully synchronized. I've also now had the car for a whole year now. So, after a whole year, and a good size pile of C-notes, I now have a car that looks like its about ready to fall apart instead on one that looks like it fell apart 50 years ago!

May 1998 The last engine parts finally came in and have been installed. I left for Power Tour on 5/12 and returned on 5/14 (a few days earlier than planned due to an electrical problem). I went over 1300 miles with no mechanical problems so I think the cars pretty reliable now.

April 1998 I've overhauled the engine. It runs much better now. As of 4/15, I still have a few little things to do to it, but its just about ready for Power Tour. The passenger side floor pan has also been replaced.

March, 1998 Well, the car survived my auto body class. Actually, it came through with flying colors! (red oxide, platinum gray...). I also replaced the driver's side floor pan. I got tired of the gas pedal falling off.

February, 1998 The big new is that this car is my test bed for my body working skills (I'm taking a class on this). Will I mangle it or make it look better? Only time will tell. Other things I've done: New backup light switch, cleaned out the other (driver's side) vent which was almost as plugged as the passenger side, replaced the ignition switch (its so nice not to have it dangling under the dash), and found out I need a new lock thingy for the passenger side door.

January, 1998 Just two days into the new year and I'm already doing stuff! I decided to do one of the fun jobs I had been saving. The passenger side floor vent was filled up with junk. When it rained, water would pour into the passenger floor (or what's left of it). I dug about 3 inches of crud out and poked the rest of it out with a screw driver. I'm one step closer to new floors now.

December, 1997 I thought I had the car pretty well buttoned up mechanically (at least for the winter). Man, was I wrong. I replaced the thermostat (which I had planned on so I would have heat while my truck was in for a minor problem). The Monday I took my truck in, I got halfway to the dealer and the car quit on me. I towed the thing home and started looking into the problem the next day. I replaced a section of original fuel hose and the car started up and ran good. Problem solved? Not on your life! I ended up having to drop the gas tank (always fun in 30 degree weather), replace the filter in the tank, and clean out the pickup tube. How this car ever ran is beyond me. On the positive side, cleaning the fuel pickup tube freed the float arm for the gas gauge. At least I can tell how much gas is in the tank!

November, 1997 This was a fairly busy time for me and the car. I finally got around to tuning it up so it runs decent. I replaced the fuel pump with the correct one for vacuum wiper cars and created all of the missing lines so everything works. I can now drive the car in the rain and have wipers that work. After I got all of this done, the starter died. Let me tell you, the starter is much easier to change on the `71 and newer sixes. There is almost no room on the drivers side of the engine. I also pulled the dash apart to fix the gauges that weren't working. I also replaced the heater valve and rear parking brake cables.

October, 1997 After I replaced the brake light switch and adjusted the carburetor, I headed off to the BMV to get the title transferred. Since the headlights and brake lights are the only lights the work on the car, I started repairing the electrical system. 90% of this was bad bulbs, but I still have a few gauges that don't work.

September, 1997 I trailered the car back from Richmond, VA to Cincinnati, OH. I left on a Friday, got back 11:30pm Saturday, took the trailer back Sunday, found out the BMV needed to see the car to transfer the title on Monday (DOH!). Busted my butt getting the oil pump switched (not an easy job) so I could drive it to the BMV.

Last Updated 04/01/06 03:27:38 PM