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… These links will take you to photo albums in the RustBucket.

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 600s:

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