1965 AMC Rambler American 330 review from North America

Points

Brakes

Gas tank

Transmission

Burned more oil than gas

Radiator was shot

Coil

Pros:

Easy to work on

Simple design

Mechanical parts easy to find

Awesome to sleep in

Decent on fuel (When it has third gear)

Cons:

Some parts are very expensive

Body parts are hard to find

Poor vacuum wipers

40s era front end technology, ie: trunnions.

I had gotten the car from a guy that wanted to restore it, but had lost the keys for it. Told me it hadn't run in 2 years. I figured for 300 bucks it was worth a shot.

Took out the ignition, went into a locksmith and had a new key made. Got it started and found out the engine was quite the bug fogger.

I drove it down the road and found that the transmission was trashed, no 3rd gear. I tinkered with the brakes and found out somewhere along the way, the rear end was replaced with an ancient 40's era rear end with a hillbilly custom drive shaft.

The wheel cylinder leaked on the passenger side in the back, but since it was a mystery rear end there was no way of getting parts. So I took the line and pounded it shut, and presto three-wheeled brakes.

I went and replaced the radiator with one I had laying around, and put a boat gas tank in the back and called it good enough. I drove it for a while, with no third gear, and burning a quart of oil every 50 miles. To be fair, the car was ancient and had close to 200,000 miles. I was surprised that I didn't get any comments on it. In fact most people just ignored it. I guess it looked too generic.

Once the coil went out, and an older man stopped, looked at me and the car, and said, "Whattaya got there, a piece of crap."

After a while the points went bad and I decided to replace them, which I did, but by then the trans was just about shot; it would hardly go into gear. So I decided to replace the whole works with a newer engine and trans. My friend was parting out his old car and I grabbed the 258 six, got an auto trans out of a Concord and put the whole works in. It was quite the job and if I were do it over again I think I would have put in a four cylinder. That 258 barely fits.

I also replaced the rear end with a AMC Eagle rear end. Got the car to run, but it doesn't run real well. I think the plugs are fouled. Now that it is cold and snowy it'll have to wait until Spring. I got a freebie car, hoping it'll last until I can get fix that car. Otherwise it'll be back to the ole bike.

After all this, I think I should have kept my old car, a '53 Plymouth. That one ran good and drove nice, but it had mystery electronics. I guess that is one good thing about the Rambler; the electrical system is good. All in all, it might be okay if I can get it fixed.