69 AMC Javelin Project

[Jtomas801]

I am thinking about starting a new thread for this car because this one is pretty messy with all the changes and pictures missing. But for now, I will keep it going.

So about this time last year I decided I was going to try to get my motivation up and start working on the Javelin again. I put the car on back burner a couple years ago because I was just tired of working on it and dealing with all the problems that came up, mainly all the issues I had with the C6 subframe that I had. Also, I just wasn't happy with how it was coming out.

I had decided that I was going to build a full chassis, it was what I wanted to do from the beginning. The body and what was left of the original unibody frame rails was just being held up by jack stands, so I needed better way to level the body and build the new chassis. So, I needed to build a chassis table. This is chassis v2.0, I made an arch out of the first one, lol.

Untitled by Jonathan Feltis, on Flickr

It is made out of 4" I-beam 10' long, 3"x3"x3/16" box tubing for the legs and 2"x3"x1/8" for the crossmembers. The crossmembers are welded to the legs, which are bolted to the I-beams so later I can take it apart and store it. The picture shows the table with 3/4" bolts for adjusters which I later changed out to adjustable swivel feet.

Next, I moved the table to the back, got the car on it and all leveled out. I removed most of what was left of the original frame rails, floor and rockers. After that I started to work on the rockers. I had to cut about 2/3rds of them out and then rebuilt them using 2"x3"x.083" rectangular tubing.
20170725_180548 by Jonathan Feltis, on Flickr
20170730_180638 by Jonathan Feltis, on Flickr

As for the new chassis components, I decided to go with Ron Sutton. I purchased a welded front TA clip and a welded GT clip with a watts link for the rear. Once they were finished building the clips I made the 820 mile round trip from socal one Saturday to pick them up and to check out his shop. Ron has been really great to work with. Especially with me because I am only buying a few pieces at a time as funds allow it. Plus, this helps me stay busy working on the car instead of waiting to save the money to buy everything at one time.
20171202_103453 by Jonathan Feltis, on Flickr
20171203_132049 by Jonathan Feltis, on Flickr

I got the front and rear clips squared up and clamped down to the table. I think I measured this thing a million times and every which way I could imagine to make sure it was right. Then got the side rails cut to length and welded it together.
20171224_101103 by Jonathan Feltis, on Flickr

Currently, I am working on the rear crossmember to support the body, I don't have any pictures of that yet.

So that is every thing to date. My goal for this year is to get the chassis finished, mount the engine and transmission, then get the roll cage done.

Thanks,
Jon

[grendel]

awesome work.

[JoeLightning]

Jon, we are all pulling for you! A little progress every day (or weekend) will keep you motivated.

Joel.....

[Jtomas801]

Thanks guys! That's what I keep telling myself, if I do something no matter how small, it is one step closer to finishing this thing. I got a little bit of work on the rear crossmember done last weekend. I am on vacation snowboarding in Mammoth right now, need to get away from work for awhile but as soon as I get back I will take some pictures and put them up here.

Thanks,
Jon

[grendel]

The only way to eat an elephant, little bites.