Well, Molly’s got a T5 now!     Like several of her other possessions, it is now taking up more space in storage than I have room for.    

My favorite junkyard had this half price sale a couple of weeks ago, and I knew about this ‘88 Jeep Cherokee that was an unusual TWO-wheel drive, and with a FIVE-speed, and on an AMC six cylinder to boot.  What’s not to love?  Put Molly Blue on 5-Speed, and she will be able to run 75 all day, with about 25 MPG while I flog her down the road.  Great for the two-lane blacktop tours… 

Pretty busy down there, and the sale went the next day, too.  This is the very back row of about 25 acres of parking…

I was too beat after the transmission to scout AMC’s,    just tossed it in the Gremlin and went home…

I know that some will be apalled to hear this, but yes, everything fit easily.    Healthy amount of tools, 5 Gallon Bucket, with seat lid, and a milk crate, along with a dolly to cruise around.

A Lot of work, more than I expected, and it got hot out too.  All well worth it.  Final tally was around 70 bucks.  They raised the price on the transmissions, which was ok, because I remembered the price wrong and brought enough money.  They used to be, like 65 bucks regular.  I forgot that I bought a 700R4 and a Turbo 400 at the same time for 32.50 apiece, and they’re both still pulling well.

So I was thinking 65.00, and they raised them to 100.00, but after 50% discount and a 10.00 core, that’s 60 bucks. 

 When I pulled it out, it had a tag from a local rebuilder on it.  You couldn’t tell from the installation, every tiny doodad was in place, and fastened properly…  I’m going to give them a call and find out when the job was done.

They charged me 12.95 for the shifter, and a 3.95 core…  

It WAS one of those great raids, though.  Even used, this transmission can cost 350-500 bucks.
-mike  

Here are the Rambler-related pictures I promised from the 17th Annual Phoenix Orphan Car Picnic, by the Veteran Motor Car Club of America, Valley Roadrunners chapter.

All of these links will go to online photo albums in RustBucket, the home-grown image host for The AMC Heritage Forum and the Route 66 Rambler Report.

The cars were arranged there(at the show) by makes, so these pictures will be in clusters and groups.

Along the first row were Kaiser-Frazer, and some non-orphan but interesting cars.

The next row held non-AMC related orphans.

The third row was mostly Metropolitans & Hudsons(and one Hudson Metropolitan), and some Willys Jeeps and Studebakers.

The last row held a Packard or two, and the rest was Nash and AMC.

I ran my digital camera battery down, and had to go to my camera phone, about halfway up the Nash/AMC row. So all of the AMC pictures look like crap next to the others. Sorry. Some pictures from a 1946 Nash 600 are also in this category. That’s the car I ran out on. I also managed to get one shot of a 1961 Rambler Ambassador wagon before the camera gave out.

Enough. Here we go…

Kaiser-Fazer Manhattans:

1953 Kaiser Golden Dragon: ooooOOOOoooohhh!!

1948 Willys Overland Jeepster:

A couple of 1949 Willys Jeep Station Wagons:

Nash, Hudson & AMC Metropolitan: Yes, All Three!

Hudson Hornets, from both Hudson and AMC:

1953 Hudson Super Jet, then in its last full year as a competitor to the Nash Rambler; they were on the same team the next season.

Hudson Super Sixes, from two decades:

1946 Hudson Big Boy Pickup: Rare & Beautiful, with a capital R & B.

Some Nash 600’s:

1951 Nash Ambassador Custom Airflyte: 100% Sheer Eye Candy

A pair of Rambler Americans:

1961 AMC Rambler Ambassador Cross Country: The only Rambler wagon did not disappoint.

1966 AMC Rambler Rebel 2 Door Hardtop: Brittania Blue beauty. This is the color I want to paint my wife’s ‘66 American convertible…

1973 AMC Javelin 401 Go-Package AMX. The wild Pierre Cardin-designed interior was supposed to be unavailable on the AMX. It was intended only for the Javelin SST, but some AMX’s have slipped through or been retrofitted with this interior:

Here’s a 1986 AMC Eagle Wagon with a ‘79-80 AMX grille in place. If you look past the rear of the car, through the trees, in the shot from the back, you’ll see my Molly Blue sitting in the parking lot.

Guessin’ that’s about it for now… If I find any I forgot I’ll add ‘em later.

-mike

The local chapter of the Veteran Motor Car Club of America, the Valley Roadrunners, put on quite a nice little shindig today, in spite of blustery wind, with probably 80-100 cars showing, and around 60-75% of which had direct connections to The AMC Heritage.  I’ll put out a sampling of the Non AMC-related Orphan Makes, then put together a gallery for the Main Event, with Nashes, Hudsons, and Kaisers, oh my!

This was the oldest car I saw there, a 1916 Franklin.  This car has an air-cooled six-cylinder, and the hood at the front is narrow and sloping, like a Renault of the time period.  The wind got to blowing pretty good, and a lot of nice cars had dust on them, something that kind of goes with Phoenix car shows in the autumn.  The old Franklin got kind of hungry, and the wind got it conveniently started rolling, downhill across the aisle, heading straight for a fat fish dinner, a ‘71 Plymouth ‘Cuda!  A huge crowd of picnickers mobbed over, and like the man of steel on a locomotive, collectively willed the behemoth to a stop, with at least a whole 10 feet left to spare.  Nothing like a runaway Brass Age monster to spice up the day’s events…  The owner fired it right up, and pocketa pocketa, it reversed back the way it came, to the huge sigh of relief from the ‘Cuda guy.

1956 DeSoto FireFlight Indy Pacesetter convertible.  This car was equipped with the 330 CID Firedome Hemi.  One of the original cars used in the ceremonies at the track.

1956 Packard Clipper:

1962 King Midget, 12.5 horsepower:

1965 Sunbeam Tiger.  This car has the original engine in Ford’s Windsor series of V8 blocks, the 260 CID 4V.  Essentially the same thing as a Cobra.  Very rare, and very fast.

It was nice of Jed Clampett to make the scene, in his 1931 Ford Model A One-Ton Truck.  Not an orphan exactly, but unique nonetheless.  This rolling carnival was referred to as The Antique Store.

A Crosley Super Sports, not sure of the year, it would be something like 1952 or ‘53.

1942 Crosley:

1958 Edsel Pacer convertible.  Edsels had about 8 examples present, all pre-60:

This would be the newest legitimate orphan car I saw at the show. A 1982 Oldsmobile 98 Regency.  Not to be outdone by The Antique Store, this conglomeration of accessory heaven is known as The Hardware Store.  This car is in a constant upgrade process, as the owner hunts down every antique J. C. Whitney-type geegaw he can find room for.  He also liberally sprinkles in those newer items which he feels are of the same high standards.  In addition, he fabricates his own gadgets, and mounts them all over the car, to keep you on your toes.

How do you like this custom finish?  This 40’s International truck spent decades working in an open-pit copper mine, where the copper sulfate-impregnated mud eventually copper-plated the truck.  My dirt bike used to get like this when I was a kid, from riding in the sulfur pits out of the Jerome copper mines.  Danimal used to have the same problem on his bike…

Studebaker Hot Rod.  Studeys were well-represented at this gathering, but this one was probably my favorite.

Another nice Studebaker:

Here’s a cool late-model Studebaker wagon:

There was a lot of good stuff at this show, and especially a lot of nice AMC Heritage iron.  I saw one Eagle wagon, an SX/4, and a Javelin AMX with a Pierre Cardin interior.  Molly Blue was the only Gremlin there.  More pics after I get some rest.  A great day, and a lot of great cars, with some great people.
-mike