1967 American Motors Rambler - Build a $3,500 Street Machine

This is a 100 percent bolt-on in front. We didn't bother with the rear drums because we needed to swap out the rearend anyway.

We scored huge when Steve Magnante spotted a '72 Gremlin in a Wilmington, California, wrecking yard. It was a 304/904 car with the M20 rearend in it. The M20 is an 8.875-inch differential that came standard in AMC V-8 cars. We were hoping for a Twin Grip limited slip but it is actually a 2.73:1 open differential.

Everything on a small V-8 AMC has value, so we pulled the entire drivetrain and took home three crossmembers.

Before we pulled the six, we had the car running and driving with the disc-brake swap. We could have just scrubbed it down and added it to the collection, but what fun is that? We want some speed!

At this point we had to decide what to do with the engine compartment. Paint it body color or fog it flat black? Guess which one won.

We stripped the heater and the wiper motor and filled the holes with flashing left over from the neighbor's new roof. Another cool trick is to fill screw holes with a rivet if you don't have access to a welder. They disappear when you paint over them.

This is the Gremlin crossmember after we sanded and painted it. It is a simple design that attaches to the frame with four bolts. We also took the time to address the wasted lower-control-arm bushings while we were there.

We decided to simply pressure-wash the Gremlin running gear and plug it into the car. We found that the full-length headers will fit with the V-8, but you'll need a small starter. Powerhouse sells one for Jeeps that we will use when we start the performance upgrades.

The Rambler was overheating even with the six. We found a Pontiac Fiero and pulled the ample electric fan and scavenged a two-core radiator from a Matador. They bolt in like they were stock.

The M20 bolts directly to the leaf springs on the Rambler. The measurement to the outside of each spring perch is 44-5/8 inches, and the track width with stock wheels is 55 inches. The Gremlin spring-perch dimension is 3/8 inch wider, requiring that you move the springs slightly outboard. We needed to have a custom driveshaft made using the Gremlin yokes.

We also partially stripped the '74 Matador of its exhaust when we pulled the radiator. It fit the transmission crossmember but required that we weld on a passenger-side head pipe and a new muffler.

We found a four-door Rambler and took the stock hood for the hoodscoop installation in the Apr. '06 issue along with the American scripts and other parts. You'll never see a junkyard Nova or Mustang with parts on it like this.