The last time around, I was forced to post a re-run of a junkyard scout, since I wasn't able to actually go out and do it in the real world...
That lasted for a few days, then I was able to at least get some work done on the computer and catch up a little on chores
around the place.
But I still wasn't in any kind of shape to go traipsing around for miles, especially in a bunch of infrared-radiating automotive iron and glass, in the 110 degree Sonoran Desert.
So I amused myself by creating a message board, now known as
The AMC Heritage Forum,
along with a lot of help from Doug Shepard, AKA IowaEagle, who runs
The AMC Eagle Nest Forums, which is a message board for fans of the AMC Eagle.
The AMC Heritage Forum is a place for the discussion, sharing, learning, and preserving of all facets of American Motors history and development. The purpose is to provide a repository of difficult to find information, for the next generation of the AMC Nation.
One of the members of both of these forums, is a friend known as bigdog56e, or just plain Eddie. bigdog feels that I am blessed with the famous "Luck O' the Irish", because of the way things work out for me with my American Motors project cars...
Well, I AM Irish, after all...
Here's some more dumb Irish luck for ye, Eddie, or maybe my friend Crosley Kevin is right, with his "AMC Mojo" theory...
It's time to do the brakes on Molly Blue, and it's the same cost either way to repair the drum system, or replace it with disk brakes. The main thing I do with Molly Blue, is treat her as a test bed of ways to keep your AMC alive.
The other thing I'm doing, is trying to learn about the cars first hand, by applying all the factory upgrades I can fit onto this car.
So I strolled into the junkyard, on the lookout for disk brakes. Here's the first AMC I came to...
Disk brakes on a platter...
Molly is also in desperate need of seatbelts, but Gremlin belts are a little hard to come by. It looked to me like the ones in this Spirit wouldn't work. >
So I continued on my way, and soon came across this little rig:
Well, well, mm,mm,mm... the seatbelts were in very nice shape. This is a 1974 Levi's Gremlin, with a 1973 body. It should be in a museum.
Instead, so that others might live, it gave up the luggage rack, back glass, rear latch, seat belts, and oh yes, Molly's A/C condenser, recently developed a crack and discharged, just in time for 110+ Arizona heat.
What a coincidence, that this Gremlin just happens to have a perfectly good A/C condenser.
Also, remembering that part of the Molly Blue mission on this planet, is upgrade city, it was nice to see the power steering system in place, which is pretty hard to find, set up on the passenger side of the engine... just like Molly Blue needs.
The grille was broken where someone mangled the hood to get it open. At least the signal lights and markers would aid my cause. Too bad some idiot broke it.
But, the extra replacement grille and headlight buckets, in the cargo area of the little nipper were a welcome score, as well as the much-needed driver's side glass, and a hard-to-find points-type distributor.
Soon, there was nothing more to rip out of the tiny skeleton to suit my needs... I moved on, wondering vaguely if there was a chance of anything else useful for my AMC pursuits...
I gave the Eagle wagon a brief examination, hoping for a plastic AMC emblem off the back, but no chance.
Moving along... the next car I noticed was a little heartbreaking.
It was so sad to see what had been a beautiful 1968 Ambassador 990 4-dr, just sitting up there all high and dry...
But I wasn't heartbroken for very long, when I discovered a 343/2V and a Shift Command automatic, still in place.
My 1969 Javelin SST has a 343 with Shift Command, only minus the Shift Command, and they are hard to find. I ran out of time and money, before I could begin the offloading process, but if it survives the weekend, I'm going back on Monday, to ruthlessly extract the internal organs of this formerly fine automobile...
mike