Another AMC Build Thread! 71 401 4 sp Javelin for HPDE/AI

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Fellas -

 

Well, the build has officially started, so figured I'd get a build thread going.

 

Story starts in October, 2008. I was perusing the local Craigslist ads and saw that there was a 401 equipped 71 Javelin about 5 miles from my house. I've never owned an AMC, but just about everything else ('66 Vettes, '67-69 Camaros, '66-'67 SS396 Chevelles, 69-70 GTO's & Judges Ram Air III and IV, 68 hemi Roadrunner, 71 440 4 sp GTX, CJ-7's, etc).

 

Anyway, the car was a stalled project - - rebuilt 401 (original Z code), fresh TH400 (originally came with a Borg Warner auto), P/S, PDB, tinted glass, AMC 20 w/3.15 open, Canary Yellow with green corduroy interior, gauges, Rim-blo wheel, tilt wheel, space-saver spare, console, A/C, luggage rack, etc. Body was partially disassembled. Interior was partially disassembled, too, with the dash completely apart and wiring was/is a total mess. Suspension was all painted yellow (including springs, control arms, sway bar, tie rods, etc). Car was not running or driving, but the drivetrain was installed. Came with LOTS of extra parts, too. Best part about the car was the body - it was an original California car and completely rust free. Just had a dent in one of the fenders. Owner was a nice guy, but seemed like he had run out of time and energy on the car and just wanted it gone.

 

So, I bought the car and ended up selling enough of the spare parts that the car actually paid for itself. Since then, I yanked the drivetrain, disassembled the 401 and brought it to my machine shop for a checkup. I also sourced a close ratio T-10 4 speed to replace the TH400.

 

Have sold a few cars since I bought the Javelin (Roadrunner, 71 GTX, 2 x '69 GTO Judges), but this one is a keeper.

 

Below picture is of the car in California, two owners before me -

 

 

More to follow.

 

Thanks,

 

Scott

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Still sorting out the details of exactly how the car will be built. The engine is already pretty much set, however. It's a 401 with ported 291C heads, factory forged 1971 401 crank, reconditioned factory rods with ARP bolts, forged TRW 2380F pistons (about 10.2:1 compression), and a McLeod aluminum flywheel #565100 from Hyatt Racing (engine revs a bit quicker with an aluminum flywheel). Additional oil line has been added to the lifter valley. Cam is TBD; plan is for a solid flat tappet with about 250 deg. duration @ .050, and around .500 lift. Will probably run a Canton 15-554 road race oil pan. Performer intake. Have a few carbs to choose from; will likely start with a Holley 700 or Demon 750. Will probably run Hooker headers and a 3" or so exhaust. Engine should make 425-450 hp at the flywheel, which is fine by me.

 

Trans will likely be a close ratio T-10, at least for now. It won't be very good at all from a dead stop with a close ratio trans, aluminum flywheel, and a 3.15 or 3.54 gear, but it's not a drag racer. Upgrade to TKO 600 or something similar at some point is likely. I need to pick up a Lakewood blowproof bellhousing.

 

Rear is currently an AMC 20 with 3.15 open. If I keep that setup, I'll go with Moser axles and a True Trac, Twin Grip, or possibly a spool. I also have a spare set of 3.54 gears. Next step up is a full floater 9" with True Trac, coil overs, etc.

 

Front suspension is stock for now. I expect to end up with a complete Freak Ride front suspension at some point, but may start off using all factory components, or perhaps an upgrade to coil overs - http://www.classicone.com/wsc/catalog/amc/amc_per1.htm. Plan to run a close ratio manual steering box. One problem with the front suspension is that the PO painted EVERYTHING yellow, including control arms, sway bar, springs, etc. Really need to pull it apart and paint everything black.

 

Rear suspension is stock for now. Will likely start off that way (maybe lowered slightly with lowering blocks), and then upgrade to a 3 link or something similar when I swap to a 9" rear.

 

Car has factory disk brakes up front. Might upgrade the pads and see if this will suffice for now. Would really like to keep the drums out back for now, using upgraded shoes. I don't want to spend $800 on rear disk brakes (http://www.classicone.com/wsc/catalog/amc/amc_per1.htm) because I expect to swap a 9" rear with new brakes.

 

More to follow.

 

Thanks,

 

Scott

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After doing quite a bit of research on fabrication/road racing shops, I decided to go with Piper Motorsports in Sterling, Virginia (www.pipermotorsports.com). Piper is a well-known outfit, no shortage of positive comments on their work, and haven't been able to find anyone who had anything negative to say about them. It's a very professional outfit with a nice shop, too, and fabrication on road racing cars is what they do for a living; not an afterthought.

 

Piper will be installing a complete custom cage (to NASA American Iron Specs) in 1.75" x .120 mild steel. They will also mount the Kirkey road race seats, fix the rear quarter windows in place. They'll be starting on the car next week. I'll post more pics when I have them.

 

Pics below. Felt kind of bad about bringing the car in there is such a motley state, but the new paint will come after the mechanical work is done. Yes, that's a factory fiberglass hood with the functional cowl induction; may swap out for an aftermarket fiberglass hood and sell that one to someone who want/needs one for a resto.

 

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

Scott

[asifnyc]

now we're talkin'! AMCs are taking over

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Ok, starting to see some progress.

 

Aluminum flywheel arrived a few days ago from Tim Hyatt at Hyatt Racing.

 

Kirkey road race seats are being mounted. Adjustability provided by Sparco.

 

Cage should be going in this week.

 

More to follow.

 

Thanks,

 

Scott

 

 

 

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Main hoop is in. Rest of the cage should be finished early next week. Plan to bring the car home on Wednesday or so.

 

 

[IGZOSTD]

OK, one of you American Motors guy's has got to do a Donohue tribute car.

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OK, one of you American Motors guy's has got to do a Donohue tribute car.

 

I like the Donohue paint scheme, but I'm also fond of the Revson/Woods Javelin, especially since mine is already yellow.

 

Scott

 

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Car will be finished today. Picking it up later this week.

 

You'll notice in the pics below that there is no dash bar; that will be added on the next phase of the build (dash bar, pedals, steering column, fabricated dash). Door bar is also quite low; we wanted to tie the cage together here without really complicating entry and exit from the car. If/when this ends up as a full time track car, I'll gut the doors and have some NASCAR style door bars welded in.

 

Thanks

 

Scott

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Not too much progress made lately; took some time off to finish up the L34 396 for my '66 Chevelle Super Sport.

 

Sold the factory cowl induction hood to a guy who wanted it for a resto project, so I'll be going with an aftermarket fiberglass hood.

 

Trying to figure out what to do next - either 9" and 3 link or dash bar, pedals, and steering column. Need to sell some parts to put some more $ in the build account.

 

Should start assembling the engine this weekend. Just got the bottom end back from the balance shop. Still need to find heads; I'm trying to find a deal on lightly used aftermarket aluminum heads (Indy SR or Edelbrock), but no luck yet, so I may have to bite the bullet and shell out some $ for new stuff. Once I decide on heads, then I'll figure out what cam I'm running. Would like to go with a solid roller but budget may dictate solid flat tappet.

 

Thanks

 

Scott

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Build continues to progress, but not at warp speed.

 

Short block has been assembled. Also received a nice package of goodies from Bulltear, including matched cam and distributor gears, new timing cover, oil pump gears, etc.

 

Still looking for a lightly used set of Edelbrock or Indy aluminum heads for a reasonable price, but nothing yet. Will bite the bullet soon and order a new set of Edelbrocks. Have everything else I need to put it together, I think.

 

Found a used Lakewood scattershield (can't buy them new anymore); should arrive in the next few days. Realizing now that it would have been smarter to pick up a used circle track T-10 (chebby input) w/shifter on eBay, use the Lakewood scattershield for the AMC V8/shivverlay transmission swap, and end up with a lighter and stronger transmission with several options for aftermarket shifters.

 

Waiting on Piper to send me an estimate on the next phase of the build - install a 3 link Ford 9" with coil overs, dash bar with aftermarket pedals, stock car steering column, etc.

 

Bought another Javelin in the meantime - 73 pro-street type with a 360, 727, 9" with ladder bars and coil overs. It's a bit of a project, so I'm considering harvesting the 9" to use for my car, but I'll probably end up selling the 73 as is.

 

Scott

[asifnyc]

coming along Scott! post up pics of the '73.

 

also, if you get a wilwood or tilton pedal setup like I did I suggest getting firewall mount masters. I got the reverse mount and the packaging is a pain. just an fyi...

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coming along Scott! post up pics of the '73.

 

also, if you get a wilwood or tilton pedal setup like I did I suggest getting firewall mount masters. I got the reverse mount and the packaging is a pain. just an fyi...

 

Thanks, Asif. Good info.

 

Scott

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Still making steady progress. Found an "NOS" Lakewood bellhousing, new in the box. These haven't been made for about 15 years (Lakewood only makes bells for AMC engine to shivverlay trans); some speed shop on the west coast had one covered in dust and sitting on the shelf for CHEAP!

 

Edelbrock heads purchased.

 

Going to pick up oil pan tonight - 8 quart road race pan by Armando's.

 

Headers are on the way.

 

Need to get the engine and trans together and drop them in the car. Moving to Georgia (Columbus/Ft Benning) in about 6 weeks.

 

Scott

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A few minor updates.

 

Engine is assembled. Had to order some custom pushrods from Smith Brothers; longer and stronger than the stock stuff. Going with Doug's headers - 1 3/4". Using Centerforce Dual Friction clutch/pp kit. Got the Torker intake on last night; had to modify the valley pan to fit with the additional oil line in the valley. Have to pull the front cover off to swap out the camshaft Woodruff keys; the ones that I installed were not hardened. Ordered some alloy hardened ones that should arrive today.

 

Decided to stick with a close ratio T-10 for now (2.23 first gear). May decide to upgrade at a later date.

 

If all goes well, it will all be bolted together and installed on Thursday. Plan to install engine and trans as one unit. I'm moving next week, so don't think I will have time to get all the wiring, hoses, etc, hooked up so I can break it in before I move to Columbus, Georgia.

 

Plan to attack the rear suspension next. Current plan is to start off with leaf springs, but maybe ditch the stockers and upgrade to fiberglass leaf springs. A good leaf spring setup can be just as good as a 3 link and a lot more affordable. Also plan to swap out the AMC 20 for a Ford 9", 3.50'ish gear, Detroit TrueTrack diff, 31 spline axles, etc. Will probably order a housing from one of the companies that sells to NASCAR (i.e., Tex Racing) and get a NASCAR take-out center section with lightened and polished gears.

 

Thanks

 

Scott

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Engine and trans are in. Installed together so I didn't have to crawl under the car and do the T-10 bench press.

 

Definitely wasn't easy; the Armando's pan is a very tight fit on the crossmember. Had to get the angle just right for it to drop down on the motor mounts. Will finish bolting it all up today (trans crossmember, driveshaft, etc) and then get it loaded up and on the trailer.

 

Once I get to Georgia, I might break the engine in while it's in the engine bay (also have an engine test stand that I can use) but will end up pulling it back out so I can do a decent job of covering all the factory holes in the firewall and painting the engine compartment.

 

Scott

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Moved to Georgia in June. Have spent all my time getting the house, yard, and pool in shape and now I'm finishing up the garages (yeah, I know, my priorities are backwards). Parts and car storage in the detached garage and shop is the attached garage, so I can take advantage of the A/C and heat from the house. New Quincy air compressor showed up yesterday (230v, 80 gallon, 5 hp, cast iron, belt driven, single phase, etc, etc); hope to get garage wired for it this week.

 

Car will be moved to the upper garage this weekend; need to make room for my Fairlane street/strip car in the lower garage. Anyway, I think the next step will be to remove the engine and trans so I can break in the engine on my test stand, do some welding and painting in the engine compartment, and will likely go thru the trans this winter.

 

Once the engine and trans are out, I'll work on the rear suspension. At this point, I'm looking for something relatively inexpensive that I can do in the garage, so I'm leaning towards leaf springs (aftermarket fiberglass) with a panhard bar. Think I'm going to ditch the AMC 20 and replace it with a 9" NASCAR type full floater, 31 splines, TrueTrack diff, 3.50 gears, etc.

 

No updated pictures of the car, but here's a shot of the new compressor. Glad the wife didn't see the receipt on this one...

 

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Engine and trans are back out. Need to figure out how to get my engine on the test stand, which is set up for GM products.

 

Rear end and leaf springs are out. Working on finalizing specs for composite leaf springs from Flex a Form or Hyperco.

 

Rear brakes will be NASCAR type with a 12" or so rotor.

 

Front suspension is making my head hurt. Not a lot of aftermarket support for the AMC, but I can get tubular control arms and coil overs. Not sure if I'm going to stay with the stock spindles or not. I can get some stock car style spindles carved out of a billet, but not sure if that's in the budget. Waiting on a price on these.

 

Pretty sure I'm going with a flat black paint scheme. Should look fairly sinister.

 

Thanks

 

Scott

[Cobra4B]

Subscribed.

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Got the car turned sideways in the garage; more room to work on it. Rear end and suspension are out. Half of the front suspension is off. Lots of YELLOW going on there - - see pics below. Appears to be paint, not powder coating, because it comes off with paint stripper. Car is a real joy to work on - super clean and rust free underneath. Beats the he11 out of working on an old nasty rustbucket.

 

This week I'm mailing a spring to Flex-Form so they can confirm dimensions and finalizing specs for 9" floater rear from Speedway Engineering.

 

Thanks,

 

Scott

 

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Ordered the composite rear leaf springs (240#, low arch) from Flex-Form this week. Should give me about a 2" drop in the back. If I need more of a drop, I can go with lowering blocks.

 

Should have the rear end soon (9" full floater with 1* negative camber) from Speedway Engineering in California. Still need to get a center section; likely going to use a nodular case (can't use aluminum in American Iron), Detroit TrueTrack diff, 3.50 gear. Will set me back about $1,600 for a new one.

 

Going with Wilwood FSL calipers w/1.38" pistons in the rear and 11.75" x .810 rotors. Lots of folks really like these calipers and they're only $300/pair from Summit. Looks like the fronts will be the same, but 1.75" pistons and 13" rotors.

 

Met Al Kamhi of Control Freak Suspension this past weekend at the Peach State AMC show in Atlanta. I have been on the fence about the front suspension; either a new CF system or work with the stock suspension. However, after talking to Al, I realized that his stuff is well-engineered and uses quality parts. It's not cheap at $3,700, but I've made room in the budget for it. Only issue I have now is that I'm not sure my Armando's oil pan will fit with the CF suspension. If I have to, I'll swap it for a Milodon, but I'll lose some capacity.

 

Need to find a local fab shop (should be something in Atlanta) to weld in a dash bar, finish the bracing in the engine compartment, and fab up a mount for the steering column.

 

Thanks

 

Scott

[sperkins]

Need to find a local fab shop (should be something in Atlanta) to weld in a dash bar, finish the bracing in the engine compartment, and fab up a mount for the steering column.

 

 

http://www.genesisoneauto.com/

 

BJ is the best in Atl.

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Still making steady progress. Rear suspension is close to being complete. Details and pics follow.

 

Speedway Engineering Full Floater Rear - 1* negative camber, 0* pinion angle, 31 spline axles, 1" narrower than stock, spring pads in stock location.

 

And a shot of it sitting on the springs. Car is very clean and rust free; beats the he11 out of working on a rustbucket.

 

Bought some leaf spring/shock mount brackets from Mancini Racing (Mopar stuff) and some from Summit Racing (Allstar brand); will use whichever ones look better to secure the rear to the Flex Form composite springs. Stock stuff won't work b/c the 9" has 3" tubes and the AMC 20 had 2.5" tubes.

 

9" center section from Randy's Ring and Pinion - TrueTrac diff, 3.50 gear, aluminum Daytona pinion support, Yukon case.

 

Assembled the hub and rotor and associated hardware this past weekend. Sorry, no safety wire, but I did use AN bolts and jet nuts (like a nylock, but all metal b/c of the heat) with a fair amount of red Loctite. Using Wilwood rotors, 11.75" x .810" and Wilwood FSL calipers, 1 3/8" pistons. Hubs are aluminum Speedway Mod Light, 5 on 4.5".

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Picked up a set of used Toyo R888's at Road Atlanta this weekend in the size that I need - 275/40/17 - thanks Ed! They have a little life left in them, but were bought mainly to use as rollers, check fit, backspace, etc.

 

Also picked up some nice boxed lower control arms from Jeff Puras - he's a retired jet mechanic and does very nice work! Picked up a clean pair of upper control arms from Jeff as well; one of mine has had some welding done to it. Plan at this point is to at least start off with stock front suspension coupled with coil-overs and aftermarket brakes. Here are the boxed lowers -

 

Got one of the hubs and calipers on. Other side is fighting me.

 

Thanks

 

Scott

[asifnyc]

lookin' good Scott! what are you thinking for rims?