[schovil69]

This is a sort of barn find car that was discovered while inspecting a '55 Belair hard top at a recent auction. The Belair was too far gone for what I was looking for but then this other vehicle caught my eye. No clue what it was, just that it appeared to be in nice condition. Exterior, interior, trunk, all looked pretty nice. The engine bay is dusty but contains PB, PS, AC, and a 360 2-Barrel in original condition. The entire package has 32,182 miles on it.

Olga Scott of Plainview, NE bought the car new in 1969 from an unknown dealer presumably nearby. This would be either Sioux Falls, SD or Omaha, NE if the assumption of a relatively local purchase is correct. Olga gave it to her son, Ray, when she was no longer going to be needing it. Ray recently passed away and his widow put the car on the auction block.

After a few days of stewing on it, I decided it was coming home with me to get cleaned up and made like new again. The right rear wheel is not turning and the right front tire is off the wheel so I had it flat bedded from the auction site to home for what I thought was a reasonable $165.00. I haven't touched it since getting it home. This project will have to wait just a while longer.

 

[lokin4areason]

nice looking car
i would ve done the same thing , picked it up
looks fairly complete and min. rust ( which is a plus , imo )
needs a good pressure washing ( set at low ) and it should give you an idea of at what you have
besides that , pull the plug(s) and put some marvel mystery oil down the cylinder(s) and let it do its magic

 

[rodonnell]

Nice car . Look up AMC Rebel as that was their dressed up Hot Rod looking model .

 

[angs1957]

Just looks like it needs a licking over, happy cruising

 

[schovil69]

Thanks, fellers!

I'm anxious to get going on this one because I think it will be pretty nice with little effort. Too many irons in the fire at the moment.

Interesting to note...I was just looking at a '60 Corvette and noticed the door handles appear to be similar, if not the same.

 

[wagonman100]

Are you saying the door handles on the Vette are the same as the AMC? The Vette should have U shaped handles with a push in button. Not anywhere close to the ones on the Rebel.

 

[schovil69]

Are you saying the door handles on the Vette are the same as the AMC? The Vette should have U shaped handles with a push in button. Not anywhere close to the ones on the Rebel.

Yup, that's what I said. Your comment made me look, though, and you're right. I should have given that more thought.

So, I will just post a photo of THE 1960 Corvette that does have similar door handles, must be a custom job.

 

[Fiddy5Coupe]

Hey that's a cool car! I had a '58 Rambler Cross Country wagon way back in the early 70's so I'm sort of a Nash-Rambler-AMC fan. The '71 Javelins with the funky front fenders I thought were cool in the day.

 

[schovil69]

Hey that's a cool car! I had a '58 Rambler Cross Country wagon way back in the early 70's so I'm sort of a Nash-Rambler-AMC fan. The '71 Javelins with the funky front fenders I thought were cool in the day.

I'm not seeing any Rebels in my travels to local shows. Weren't too many of 'em made in '70.

 

[joe210]

Cool cars. I am an AMC jeep guy so I have some experience with the jeep v8s. Lots ot little tricks to know when you do engine work on them. I like the car.

 

[rodonnell]

Yup, that's what I said. Your comment made me look, though, and you're right. I should have given that more thought.

So, I will just post a photo of THE 1960 Corvette that does have similar door handles, must be a custom job.

View attachment 462496

Not a fan of that antenna location

 

[wagonman100]

I don’t like the antenna location or the door handles. They don’t fit with the shape of the car at all. Reminds me of my friends cousin’s car. It’s a ‘50 Merc 4 door that is chopped. He shaved the rear door handles but didn’t trust not having door handles at all. Initially he put in early Dodge Caravan handles. They were big and rectangular and didn’t fit the shape of the car at all. I gave him ‘96 Honda Civic handles and corresponding door skin sections for it. They fit the shape of the car beautifully and look great.

 

[Carmine2]

Car looks to be in very nice condition. Great find. Best wishes with it, Carmine.

 

[schovil69]

Cool cars. I am an AMC jeep guy so I have some experience with the jeep v8s. Lots ot little tricks to know when you do engine work on them. I like the car.

I am completely green to AMC and welcome anything you have to offer.

 

[schovil69]

1970 Rebel SST trim
4 dr sedan - 13,092
2 dr coupe - 6,573
4 dr wagon - 6,846

 

[joe210]

A couple of things to remember as you get it running. If you change the distributer to a HEI, you will need to change to a matching cam gear for it. The oil pump is a gear drive and external. Easy to rebuild but the timing cover is aluminum and prone to mild steel bolts breaking off in it. Ask me how I know. Good luck tho, Dorman makes one for about 300 bucks that fits good.
So when you dig in, be careful. To get to the innards the water pump has to come off. Then the fun begins. Terrible design.

 

[schovil69]

A couple of things to remember as you get it running. If you change the distributer to a HEI, you will need to change to a matching cam gear for it. The oil pump is a gear drive and external. Easy to rebuild but the timing cover is aluminum and prone to mild steel bolts breaking off in it. Ask me how I know. Good luck tho, Dorman makes one for about 300 bucks that fits good.
So when you dig in, be careful. To get to the innards the water pump has to come off. Then the fun begins. Terrible design.

I have no plans to modify this one, want to keep it as original as possible. When I can get to it, I'll go through the brakes replacing the pads, hardware, and hoses. I intend to have the drums turned and will replace any hardlines or master cylinder as necessary. That should get it rolling. There's also a set of wheels out there that I have my eye on and they have a more stock look to them than the Keystone look-a-likes that are on there now.

The auction house stated the car runs. Hopefully, that means runs as it should without smoking. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some leaks and valve seals that need replaced, though.

Basically, fully functional without any leaks and shined up as much as it can be. I do intend to paint what should be black under the hood. It seems those parts are what have rusted. Anything with the green is still green.

 

[wagonman100]

I don’t know what was in the green paint back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, but green cars from that era seem to be less prone to rust than the otherwise hued counterparts.