I got a Station Wagon!

tbm3fan

Old Man with a Hat
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Pleasant Hill, CA
Sorry, it is not a Town and Country. In fact it is a very rare station wagon as only 5624 units were made and I cannot recall ever seeing one in my entire life. However, when I saw the front profile of the car I was taken and had to find out more. Only a few pictures now as the car is still at the seller's property. Oh, and the seller!!! Somewhere around 50-60 cars on the property and he does restore them all one at a time as it is his long time business. Took me and a friend around the property and it was like Americna PIckers looking at all the 20s-50s cars there. Did see a 1970 GTX and a 1969 Charger waiting. Th GTX was rough. Caddys, Willies, Husdons, Packards, Chevrolet, Ford not to mention some rare cars of his own. Never heard of a Fisker but have heard of Trabant and he has two running ones. You could spend all day there among the cars, parts, and memorabilia on the walls.

I subscribed to his youtube channel (rodneyracer) to see them. One short video on a beautiful Packard marine engine running. I saw it in person and just went WOW what is that? He is 74, me 70, and we spoke the same car language. Consequently I got a good deal on the car and the car sold to me as two others were turned down as he wasn't sure they would leave the car alone.

Web site showing the cars. Saw that Borgward Isabella in person.
http://www.rodsofthevalley.com/

The car: 1972 AMC Ambassador station wagon with all the bells and whistles. I won't pick up the car till next weekend when that friend can drive it down for me. He is a font of car knowledge, so also got along well with the seller and impressed him, and can't wait to drive his first AMC. He bought the car out of Washington state because he had to have it and admitted he had overpaid. So when I say I got a good deal it was because he really had to get rid of it, because he has too many drivers, and so it went for a loss. I noticed the true original owners registration strapped around the underside of the steering column.
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Ambassador_001.jpg
 
Cool. Another AMC on the forum ;) Awesome Wagon !
 
Notice in my first picture, in the upper left corner, you can see the tail end of a CUV and the front of another car. I walked past that car, saw the EV, and thought Tesla but it wasn't. In fact I had never seen anything like it and if one were to it would be in the Bay Area. My friend recognized the car. Like I said this large property, which he has had in Napa before it was wine country, is a high end restoration business. He literally takes junk found across the country and turns it into a Garde 1 car. Apparently a museum in Austria tells him what car they want and he goes internet surfing. Hope to see more next Sunday less the drizzle rain.

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Can't wait to drive it. Seller, who knows cars, said it rides really well and the 360 has an surprising amount of punch to it. I'll spend some Wednesdays going through all the fluids, hoses, vacuum lines, and belts. Probably set up for electronic ignition although it looks like there are new wires, cap, and points for now. Build my relay for the lights. Some general clean up inside and power wash the engine grease/oil buildup off. Then it will take a back seat to the Parklane as it's engine will need to be assembled to put back in the car. Machinist told me yesterday that the 153,000 mile crank checked out dead center in the tolerance range and so only needs a polish. He gets the block in 2 weeks now that I have finished the oil mods.

I also get to pick up a flat head 4 cyl. head for a old aircraft tug being rebuilt aboard the USS Hornet. Project being down by a group of four high school boys and girls. Awhile back one came down to the ship and was taken with the planes. So taken he wanted to volunteer. When he did a group of others heard and they all volunteered. They show up (6-8 of them) every Saturday with some doing the engine and another group, now that the T-28 Trojan is painted, are restoring the cockpit and laying out, on the fuselage, where all the markings go.
 
Can't wait to drive it. Seller, who knows cars, said it rides really well and the 360 has an surprising amount of punch to it. I'll spend some Wednesdays going through all the fluids, hoses, vacuum lines, and belts. Probably set up for electronic ignition although it looks like there are new wires, cap, and points for now. Build my relay for the lights. Some general clean up inside and power wash the engine grease/oil buildup off. Then it will take a back seat to the Parklane as it's engine will need to be assembled to put back in the car. Machinist told me yesterday that the 153,000 mile crank checked out dead center in the tolerance range and so only needs a polish. He gets the block in 2 weeks now that I have finished the oil mods.

I also get to pick up a flat head 4 cyl. head for a old aircraft tug being rebuilt aboard the USS Hornet. Project being down by a group of four high school boys and girls. Awhile back one came down to the ship and was taken with the planes. So taken he wanted to volunteer. When he did a group of others heard and they all volunteered. They show up (6-8 of them) every Saturday with some doing the engine and another group, now that the T-28 Trojan is painted, are restoring the cockpit and laying out, on the fuselage, where all the markings go.
The 360 in my 1976 Plymouth Gran Fury Brougham was a good engine once I punched out the high mileage cat, all I can remember doing to it was tune-up and rebuild the carb, on a go to Florida run with the speed control set @90mph and tires pumped up real hard I recorded 22mpg on regular leaded.

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The 360 in my 1976 Plymouth Gran Fury Brougham was a good engine once I punched out the high mileage cat, all I can remember doing to it was tune-up and rebuild the carb, on a go to Florida run with the speed control set @90mph and tires pumped up real hard I recorded 22mpg on regular leaded.

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Oh, that reminds me. The car needs new tires. 215/75x14 WSW tires as seen in another thread so I better get moving on those.
 
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