Today's piece du jour was to screw around with the removed droopy headliner from the 1969 AMX. I never gave these headliners much thought, despite the fact that I have an inventory of three more of them neatly stacked in my warehouse for my other Javelins. They are made of a rigid fiberglass molded foam board attached to, what turns out to be, a foam backed fabric. The foam fabric backing breaks down into a weak goo over the decades.
I found out on the Internet that foam backed fabric is common stuff. Who knew? Next installment I will either order some of this fabric online, or see if a local fabric shop carries it.
While the 1969 American Motors AMX was stored, the headliner separated so that the fabric hangs down on the driver's (my) head. Today my piece du jour was to remove the headliner in anticipation of somehow gluing it back together for continued carefree miles.
I found some water discoloration on the end near the windshield and I gently applied some automotive fabric cleaner from a can on my shelf that is about 35 years old. Next installment I will attempt to glue the fabric back to the molded-foam board. Perhaps a spray contact cement (if such a thing is available) will be suitable.
'69 AMX's were equipped with reclining "Saturday Night" seats.
Note the awesome factory Hurst 4-speed shifter!
A prior owner must have set it up because it feels tremendous.
Today I flushed out the remaining old coolant with clear water and observed that everything looks and sounds ok with the new water pump and power steering pump seals. I didn't see any leaks and the belts all line up perfectly with their pulleys. I was careful to keep these old belts facing their original rotating direction.
I let it run for about 20 minutes to bring it up to temperature. There are no mechanical noises in the engine but I can hear some "chugging" sounds coming from the steering pump/A.I.R. pump area. I'll check them with a mechanic's stethoscope one of these days. It is not a destructive sounding sound and it is not very loud.
My stock of coolant (one in the same as "antifreeze") is getting low so I ran over to Pep Boys to grab some. So today's twist is - that there are a whole bunch of different types and prices of antifreeze. You can buy green, or orange, or universal. You can buy premix or pure. You can buy major brand or no-name. You can buy 2 year, or 5 year, or lifetime.
Now, you are probably thinking that if a person goes through the expense of buying, insuring, storing, and maintaining a muscle car that the price of the coolant would be the last thing to worry about. But, what about the guy with more than one car? What if you are responsible for three? Or, ten - like me? Or, what if you had a choice of 25 muscle cars? In that case, the price really becomes more significant. Plus, do you want to stock and maintain an inventory of a million different types of antifreeze in your shop, or just a couple that will properly suit all your vehicles?
I will be discussing some of the antifreeze issues that I am currently researching and record them for future reference here - in the GoldmanMotors/CHOICEof25 maintenance weblog.
Today I finished installing the replacement water pump in the 1969 AMX. I'm a little concerned about a perceptible amount of side play in the bearing noticeable when I try and wobble the fan blade from side to side with my hand. You would assume there should be none present. I checked online and there was not a consensus of opinion on acceptable bearing play - so I left it alone. After I attached and tensioned the drive belts, the play didn't seem any greater than on my reference vehicles in the shop. There is always some twist, isn't there?
AMC Power Steering Pump Seal Kit
While I was at it, I couldn't help noticing that the power steering pump was jettisoning all of its red fluid all over the shop floor and/or what ever car may be stacked underneath it. I grabbed an AMC Power Steering Pump Seal Kit that I had been keeping in-stock for just such a situation. I only changed the (2) seals that keep the reservoir from leaking. The pump functions perfectly so I left the rest alone. I purchase my American Motors power steering pump kits from our sponsor, CHOICEof25.com. They stock the exact kits for the proper year.
This section of the heater hose is shot, but it is original equipment from 1969. It still has the factory part number stamped on it. The firewall end is attached to an actual surviving factory clamp. I am a sucker for originality so I clipped the worst inch off the end and reattached it.
The original AMC P/N 3192120 can be seen on this surviving heater hose.
In today's school of hard knocks, I learned to test-bolt a rebuilt pump with the gasket before permanently installing with gasket sealer. Torque the bolts and then test spin the pump with your hand. It is a common problem with AMC rebuilt water pumps for the impeller to scrape against the timing chain cover after fully tightening the bolts. You will easily hear and feel if it does scrape. This occurs because the pump rebuilder trued the mating surface and removed metal critical to the proper clearance.
The solution is to try a thicker gasket, or more commonly just double up on the gasket. I wound up doubling-up the gasket, using 1 thin plus 1 thick gasket.
