69 AMC Javelin Project

[tyoneal]

Looks like you are really doing it right, OMG!

I'm glad to see another Javelin or AMX. I have always loved them. It's really a shame several hundred thousand weren't made.

Had a friend back in the late 70's who bought a "Cherry" Javelin with a 390, 4 speed. He paid a whopping $500 cash for it.

On another note,

I wonder if someone will ever take up the task of, "Dare to be Different", with a Pro-Touring, "Matador". That's a car that would be really a challenge to make a "Riddler" award winning entry out of.

Please post a bunch of pictures of your Javelin when you can.

Ty O'Neal

[mike343sharpstk]

Originally Posted by Jtomas801

Thanks guys, I can't wait to get this thing back together and finally start driving it again.

Thanks,
Jon

Jonathan, this is easily the second coolest AMC on the forum

But seriously, can't wait to see how you graft in that front suspension. Have you compared the width of the new front end (wheel mounting surface to whell mounting surface) to the stock config?

[Jtomas801]

Originally Posted by tyoneal

Looks like you are really doing it right, OMG!

I'm glad to see another Javelin or AMX. I have always loved them. It's really a shame several hundred thousand weren't made.

Had a friend back in the late 70's who bought a "Cherry" Javelin with a 390, 4 speed. He paid a whopping $500 cash for it.

On another note,

I wonder if someone will ever take up the task of, "Dare to be Different", with a Pro-Touring, "Matador". That's a car that would be really a challenge to make a "Riddler" award winning entry out of.

Please post a bunch of pictures of your Javelin when you can.

Ty O'Neal

Yeah, I hardly see them around at all in my area, except when we have the socal amc show and you see 30 AMX's together. One of the reasons why I got into amc's was because they were cheaper and you never see them.

[Jtomas801]

Didn't get to much done today, just got the seats and carpet out of the car and cut the front end off.




Here is the lay out of the frame we are doing.
The Red line is a 2x4 .120 wall cross member that will sit right in front of the rear frame rails. This will also be the attachment points for the lower links of the 3 link.

The Blue lines are the "sub frame connectors" that will be welded to the rear cross member and to the front frame section. We will cut out the bottom of the existing frame rails and slide the 3x3 steal in between. The 3x3 will be even with the bottom of the existing frame rails and will stick through the floor inside the car. Then the 3x3 will be welded to the floor.

The Yellow lines are 2x4 .120 which is the same material the front frame is made out of.

I think this is the best and strongest way to do this. The car will also have down bars in the engine bay made out of 1.75 DOM tubing.

When we start on the rear end we will do a mini tube using the existing tubs and will have to notch the frame rail to allow proper clearance for a 315/35r17 tire on a 11 wide wheel. The front will get a 275/40r17 on a 10" wide wheel.

Thanks,
Jon

[coolwelder62]

Jon, I am impressed w/the work you have done so far.I wish I was closer I would love to come help out. This is going to be a really cool project.I am still looking for a javelin my self for a project. I am proud to have been a part of this project so far.Keep up the good work and email me if you need any thing else.Scott.

[mike343sharpstk]

Nice! You are braver than I. The blue and red lines are exactly what I would have done.
I would maintain the stock portion of frame in the yellow reference area and build the new front portion of the frame straight forward from their (where the stock fram was orignially).

Another quick note while I'm thinking of it. The biggest clearance problem in the front will be the front-bottom corner of the wheel opening when the front wheel is turned.
with stock suspension and fat tires on the front you can have that problem if you dial in enough caster. I have only about 1/2" clearance at that location and I have skinny tires by comparison to what you will be using.

Scott, first gen Javelins are a bear to find, but when you do find one the price is usually pretty low. Not a huge fan of second-gen humpster javelins in stock trim, but I do think they look great as road racers/pro-touring cars. The second gen cars are easy to find.

[waynieZ]

That should definately stiffen it up. Nice work!

[Jtomas801]

Originally Posted by coolwelder62

Jon, I am impressed w/the work you have done so far.I wish I was closer I would love to come help out. This is going to be a really cool project.I am still looking for a javelin my self for a project. I am proud to have been a part of this project so far.Keep up the good work and email me if you need any thing else.Scott.

Thanks Scott, when ever you want to start that Javelin project, I got a nice 69 that i can part with for cheap, basically a rolling shell, just got to find a way to ship it.

Originally Posted by mike343sharpstk

Nice! You are braver than I. The blue and red lines are exactly what I would have done.
I would maintain the stock portion of frame in the yellow reference area and build the new front portion of the frame straight forward from their (where the stock fram was orignially).

Another quick note while I'm thinking of it. The biggest clearance problem in the front will be the front-bottom corner of the wheel opening when the front wheel is turned.
with stock suspension and fat tires on the front you can have that problem if you dial in enough caster. I have only about 1/2" clearance at that location and I have skinny tires by comparison to what you will be using.

Scott, first gen Javelins are a bear to find, but when you do find one the price is usually pretty low. Not a huge fan of second-gen humpster javelins in stock trim, but I do think they look great as road racers/pro-touring cars. The second gen cars are easy to find.

Lol, you kind of get the "Do I really want to do this" right before you make the first cut, but will get it done. The frame that I got from Scott is 32" outside to outside, he can make them any where from 32" to about 34" wide. The stock frame is 35 7/32" wide, I chose the 32" so I would have more tire clearance up front, since the frame is about 3 7/32" we couldn't find a good way to attach the new sub frame to the old frame.

Originally Posted by waynieZ

That should definately stiffen it up. Nice work!

That's what we are hoping for, should work out well. I was going to put sub frame connectors in before to stiffen it up, but with this new plan, it is all in one.

Thanks,
Jon

[mike343sharpstk]

Originally Posted by Jtomas801

Thanks Scott, when ever you want to start that Javelin project, I got a nice 69 that i can part with for cheap, basically a rolling shell, just got to find a way to ship it.

FYI, The shell of my Javelin was pretty rotted, so I got a better one from AZ. the shell only cost me $500 I used U-ship and found a guy that would ship it to Wisconsin for about $1,000. (I still have his contact info somewhere)
Best money I've ever spent.

If Scott doesn't want that shell let's talk.

[Jtomas801]

Well it is about time for some updates, we have been working on it a little bit every day. We cut off the rest of the stock frame rails that we didn't need, cut the floor open and fitted the frame rails, built a 4' x 8' table to start laying out the frame and rails on.

We cut the bottoms out of the front frame rails, the 3x3 box tubing fits nice in between the sides of the frame rails.



On the front we welded a 8.75x12x.125 plate on the front where the new frame rails will be going.



Here is a good shot of the table we built. The frame is leveled and squared, we have blocks screwed down so that the frame rails can't move.




Between all the stuff that is going on this weekend, we are going to try and get the uprights made that connect the subframe to the frame rails done, make and weld in the fish plates on the inside of the frame rails, and hopefully tack the whole frame together.

Thanks,
Jon