Faults:

Rebuilt motor at 100,000 miles. Replaced carburetor once.

Seats are starting to flatten. All upholstry is still good.

General Comments:

Engine was bored.060 over. Hi performace cam installed. Head was rebuilt with a three angle valve job. This car now runs a 14.2 sec. 1/4 mile at 97 mph. What a ride.

Faults:

Low fuel economy, small passenger area.

General Comments:

This low mileage (less than 35,000 original miles at this writing), factory V8 (304)car was purchased by an acquaintance to be parted out for its engine cross-member and associated parts. It needed an engine rebuild, as there was no compression at No. 5 cylinder. The body is clean with some of the usual rust in the quarter panels, and rockers. The front brake shoes were cracked, probably from overheating.

This diamond-in-the rough needed only some TLC to be a runner again. We replaced the blown 304 with a freshened-up American Motors 360 V8. The engine swap took a week of late nights. An Edelbrock Performer intake manifold and Performer 4-barrel Carburetor tops it off. The 360 was also treated to an Edelbrock timing-gear and chain set, a new fuel pump, a Melling oil pump kit, rebuilt points distributor, and full tune-up, hoses and belts.

The interior is mint. No rips or tears in the seats.

We also added a Hornet AMX gauge console and sport wheel from a Jeep Cherokee Chief, and a reproduction SC/360 dash applique.

The factory body-side woodgrain remains, as does the chrome roof rack with air deflector.

At this writing, we are just a couple of weeks away from completion, and perhaps a stab at a 1/4 mile run. It will burn up the rear tires all day long, and is fast as all heck.

Lots of people will come up to me and say, "I used to have one", or "We had one in the family".

This is my third Sportabout, and I just love it.

Faults:

The valve cover gasket leaked oil. Very easy to replace.

The oil pan gasket also leaked. A pain to replace requiring an engine lift.

Normal wear and tear for an older car.

General Comments:

This car is very reliable. Parts are easy to replace and everything is very simple to understand.

Sometimes parts are hard to find, but with a little effort they can be found.

The 258 motor needs a few performance upgrades, but after installation it has a lot of pickup.

AMC interiors are known to be unusual, and sometimes the seats become uncomfortable.

Faults:

Valve cover gasket leaked as expected, so I replaced it.

Front control arm bushings were replaced twice.

Rear springs sagged, so I put in air shocks.

Gear shifter would not go into 1st gear which was fixed after I bought it.

Still has a ticking when idling, I'll dump some Lucas oil treatment in it and see what happens.

General Comments:

It is a fun mid sized car that gets all kinds of looks when I cruise around. I have all kinds of room in the back. I was looking for an old car to fix up and have found out that AMC's are getting more and more popular. I only drive it in the summer so it won't rust out like thousands of other daily driven ones had. Unfortunately was hit by a Subaru last year. They don't build them like the used to. A great reliable summer driven daily driver.