Sep - AMC of Houston

Newsletter of the American Motors Club of Houston
September 2013 Issue 11
From the Officers - Latest Club News You Can Use
Upcoming Events
Club Information
Member Profile – David Hughes
Is This an AMC?
Disappearing Ink
60s Funny Cars – The AMCs
Interesting AMC Tidbits
Club Store
Classifieds
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From the Officers:
Cover Photo: 1973 Steyr-Punch Pinzgauer 712M
Free National Club Membership!!
In an effort to get more folks to attend our monthly meetings, a giveaway will be
held a couple of times a year to award some lucky members with a free membership
to the American Motors Owners Association (our Club is an AMO chapter). If the
lucky winner is already an AMO member, he or she will have the option of a free
membership in one of the other national AMC clubs, such as AMCRC or NAMDRA.
Keep an eye out for email regarding the giveaway.
Coming Events
September
 10 – Club Meeting at Hickory Hollow Bar B Q
 13, 15 – NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Baytown Raceway
 28, 29th – Super Chevy Drag Racing at Baytown Raceway
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October
 4 - Pearland Cruise Night
LOWES Parking Lot at FM 518 & Pearland Parkway starting at 6pm
 8th – Club Meeting at Hickory Hollow Bar B Q
 19th - Space City Cruisers Annual Fall Show.
Open Car Show, Swap Meet, Arts and Crafts, Show and Shine
Walter Hall Park
807 Hwy 3 North
League City, TX 77573
Registration - $30.00 7:00 am till noon
T-Shirt and goodie bags to first 150 cars
Raffle drawings – 2pm
Awards – 3pm
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
November
2 - Niftee 50’s at Spring Cypress Annual Halloween Car Cruise
 12th – Club Meeting at Hickory Hollow Bar B Q
 28, 29th - Autorama. George R Brown

December
10 – Club Meeting at Hickory Hollow Bar B Q
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AMCoH Officers
President
Tom Taylor
4406 Mize Rd
Pasadena, TX 775045
713-249-2466
[email protected]
[email protected]
*******************************
*********
Vice President
Mike Knuckey
713-253-8276
[email protected]
******************************
Co-Secretaries
Ted Davis & Scott Stubler
713-721-8960 & 713-5698421
[email protected]
[email protected]
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Treasurer
Cliff Osborne
713-773-1515
[email protected]
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Activities Director
Tim Gould
281-435-4452
[email protected]
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Membership Chairman
Kevin Dalley
281-481-6363
[email protected]
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WebMaster
Peter Groenewold
708-431-0987
[email protected]
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Newsletter Editor
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I entered looking for an old muscle car several of years ago, having
spent the previous twenty years building motorcycles. I had owned a
number of Corvettes and Camaros along with a list of other
performance cars over the years and thought I would find a late fifties
model Corvette to build. After spending several months visiting some of
By David Hughes
the local car shows and seeing one or more of these early model
Corvettes at each show I decided that I wanted something really
different, something that you don’t see every day. This led me back in
my memory to the point when I was 17 and had just started Western
technical college in Denver Colorado right out of high school. One
night early that summer of 1968 a friend of mine invited me to go with
him to the Home of the AMX Racing Team. I had no idea what he was
talking about, but anything to do with racing, I was up for. When we
arrived at an old service station near a paved oval track, Lake Side
Speedway, some guys were just pulling up in a brand new lime green
1968 AMX which still had the dealer’s sticker in the window. It was the
first AMX I had ever seen and I thought it was beautiful, even in lime
green. They pulled the car into one of the bays of the garage and
immediately started stripping it. I thought “What the heck have I gotten
into?” I asked one of the guys what they were doing and he said that
they were getting the car ready to race for Bob Bundy Rambler. Almost
in the same breath he asked if I knew what a ½ inch combination was.
I said yes and he asks me to hand him one from a tool box that was near me. I did, and for about another hour I was his gopher. He finally
asked me if I had a summer job and if not would I like to work for the team that summer. Wow, what an opportunity. I wasn't much more
than a parts and burger chaser for the team, but I really enjoyed that summer. Thinking back on that, I decided that I was going to start
looking for a 68 or 69 AMX. After a quick internet search I contacted the local AMC club here in Houston and started going to the meetings
in about two months one of the guys in the club let me know that he had the car I was looking for at his home. It was not his car, but
belonged to another member who had let him put it in the Houston Autorama car show the previous November. It won Best in Class and
after seeing it I decided that I had to have it. Oddly enough even my wife was on board with this.
My 1969 AMX
After I purchased the car, I decided that I would correct a few things and continue to show it as often as I could. Unfortunately the many
responsibilities of my job have kept me from doing as much as I would have liked, but I have truly enjoyed going to the few shows that I
have been able to make time for. Some of the things that I have done to the car are, replace the steering column with an original 69 AMX
tilt wheel column, I also found that the radiator was not correct for the car, so I purchased a reproduction 4 core radiator that looks and fits
correct and does a very good job of cooling the slightly modified 390. I also removed the T-10 four speed and replaced it with a Keisler RS
500 five speed. I have retained all of the original equipment in case I ever want to put the car back to original, but it is sure nice to be able to
cruse at 70 MPH with the 390 only turning 2,100 RPM. While I have a very nice set of original wheels with a beautiful set of reproduction E
70 14 Red Stripe Polly Glass Belted tires, I have them in storage and run a set of 15 inch Weld Racing Wheels with BFG Radials up front
and BFG Drag Radials on the rear. It gives the car a very nice stance and look.
When I purchased the car it had a set of simple early Recaro seats and the original steering wheel had been replaced with a very nice wood
grain wheel similar to what came in the 60s era Corvettes. I really like the look of both and have kept them even though it takes away from
the original look of the car. My car is painted the original color, Butternut Beige Poly with black racing stripes. The 390 is equipped with a
nice sounding flat tappet solid lifter cam from Crane that actuates Harland Sharp roller rockers to open the swirl polish Manley Pro Flow
Valves. The intake manifold is Edelbrock the exhaust headers are Headman, Carburetor an HP series 750 dual feed double pumper and
spark is generated by Protronics. The engine is tied to the transmission via a Lakewood bell housing which hides a Centerforce clutch and
pressure plate. The axel ratio is a 354 to 1 Twin Grip driving Moser one piece axels. Engine noise is muffled by Flowmaster. It may not be
what it once was, but we all know that back in the day it is what we wanted.
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Is This an AMC?
1973 Steyr-Punch Pinzgauer 712M
AM General is an American heavy vehicle manufacturer
based in South Bend, Indiana. It is best known for the civilian
Hummer and the military Humvee, that is assembled in
Mishawaka, Indiana. For a relatively brief period, 1974–1979,
the company also manufactured transit buses, making more
than 5,400. AM General traces its roots to the Standard
Wheel Company of Terre Haute, Indiana, which expanded in
1903 to include the Overland Automotive Division. In 1908,
John North Willys purchased the Overland company, then
based in Indianapolis, Indiana, and renamed it Willys-Overland
Motors, Inc. In the 1940s, Willys-Overland developed a vehicle
to U.S. Army's requirements and later mass-produced
"America's first four-wheel drive one-fourth-ton tactical utility
truck" - the Jeep of World War II fame.[4] In 1953, Kaiser
Motors purchased Willys-Overland, and changed the name to
Willys Motor Company. In 1963 the company's name changed
again to Kaiser-Jeep Corporation. In 1964, Kaiser-Jeep
purchased the Studebaker facilities in South Bend, Indiana,
and formed the Defense and Government Products Division
in 1967, which after American Motors purchased Kaiser-Jeep
became what is now AM General.
AM General's roots (and its location in South Bend) also lie
with the "General Products Division" of Studebaker, which,
along with its substantial defense contracts, was acquired by
Kaiser Industries in early 1964 after Studebaker closed its U.S.
auto manufacturing operations. At the time, Kaiser had been
awarded a US$87 million Army truck contract, and under
government pressure agreed to perform the work at the South
Bend plant it had recently acquired from Studebaker.
Subsequently, American Motors Corporation (AMC) purchased
the Jeep Corporation from Kaiser in 1970 when Kaiser itself
decided to leave the auto business. In 1971, AMC made the
General Products Division of Jeep (producing military trucks,
as well as contract and non-commercial vehicles) a wholly
owned subsidiary and renamed it AM General Corporation.
AM General produced buses, large trucks, and Jeeps for
industrial, military, and government use. In the late 1970s, it
developed the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle
(HMMWV, nicknamed "Humvee") for military use as a heavyduty replacement for the jeep. The vehicle later became
available in a civilian version sold under the Hummer brand
name. Another familiar product from the AM General line was
the Jeep DJ-5 series—a purpose built "Delivery Jeep" 2-wheel
drive (RWD) version of the Jeep CJ-5—used in huge numbers
as a right-hand drive mail delivery vehicle by the United States
Postal Service. Production of buses lasted only from 1974 until
1979.
American Motors ended its history as an independent
automaker in 1982 when controlling interest in the company
was purchased by France's Renault. U.S. government
regulations at that time forbade ownership of defense
contractors by foreign governments, and Renault was partially
owned by the French government. Therefore, in 1983, AM
General was sold by AMC to the LTV Corporation and it
became a wholly owned subsidiary of the LTV Aerospace and
Defense Company. (As a result, AM General remained an
independent company after AMC was purchased by Chrysler
Corporation). Renco Group bought the company in 1992.
AM General, which remains an independent company
and government and military contractor, sold the rights
to the Hummer brand to General Motors in 1999. It
continued production of the original civilian Hummer
(dubbed by GM as the H1) until June 2006 when it
ceased production.
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TXDoT's Disappearing Ink
by George Graham
Are you one of the thousands of Texas classic car owners who opted for TXDoT's classic or
antique tag registration tab option (in lieu of the usual windshield sticker)?? Well, Houston, we
have a problem!! Seems the registration tab data is printed with a laser printer. And since the
tab material itself is not porous, the ink cannot sink in at all as it would on paper. Therefore,
after a few rain showers or car washes, the data printed on the tab gradually goes
You'll be lucky if the ink lasts twelve months; much less the five years its supposed to last!
So then you end up with no legal registration on the car, which means that you could be stopped
and ticketed for lack of a valid registration sticker (just as if you had no registration sticker on
the windshield of your daily driver).
What can you do about this?? Simple!! Before the ink on your tab goes bye-bye, give the
sticker a coat or two of clear gloss urethane. That's all it takes. Then your tab will last until
2014 when it'll be time to do it all over again with a new tab.
Resto tip; while you have the urethane rattle-can out, give your license tags a good cleaning and
a coat of clear gloss. Makes them look REAL nice (I have done this on all my same-year license
tags). I use Castrol Super-Clean and a soft scrub brush for the initial deep cleaning, then another
scrub and rinse with dish soap to get off the Super-Clean residue, then prep with your favorite
paint prep agent and hose on a coat of urethane. If you're unsure if you want to chance messing
up our valuable same-year tags, try it on an old junk tag first (or the tags on your spouse's car!!)
to see how you like it.
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60s Funny Cars: The AMCs
Preston Honea ran the Bill Kraft Marlin from 1965 into mid 1966. In ‘65, Honea ran the car on alky for sure and maybe a little
nitro, too. Preston ran 9's at 138.90 in ’65 and went 9.83 at 135.33 in 1966. The car had a 327 Rambler small block that was
replaced by a Plymouth Hemi rather quickly. Lefty Mudersbach also drove the high sitting car. NASA astronaut Gordon
Cooper was rumored to have been offered a ride in the first AMC funny car. Honea left Southern California for St Louis to
race the "Executioner" Dart. (Photo by L&M Photos courtesy of Bob Plumer/Drag Race Memories; info from Dennis
Doubleday, Bill Duke, and Draglist Files)
Hayden Proffitt debuted the SST Rebel late in 1967 at Lions. He ran 8.11 at 181.85 before the end of the year. Proffitt took
over driving this car for Banzai Bill Hayes, who had suffered some kind of injury. The car had a 438" 343 Rambler tuned by
famed Amos Saterlee on a 122" RCS (chrome moly tube) chassis. Hayden ran the car early in 1968 as well, before coming
out with the second version, the red, white, and blue car. The new car used the same powerplant but later switched to a
Hemi. (Photo by L&M Photos courtesy of Bob Plumer; info from Dennis Doubleday, Bill Duke, and Draglist Files)
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Doug Thorley's rear engine car started life with a 449" 1968 AMC 401" wedge backed by a B&M torque converter tuned by
Gary Slusser. The car sat on a 122" Woody Gilmore chassis. Thorley went as quick as 8.23 at 186.60, although a 9/68 Super
Stock magazine says the car turned 7s. In 1969, before Norm Weekly flew and totaled the thing at Irwindale, he had turned
8.00 at 205. The car was not rebuilt after the crash although Thorley, Slusser, Weekly, and Jim Dunn tried very hard to make
this car run better than it did. (Photo by Mike Ditty; info from Dennis Doubleday, Bill Duke, and Draglist Files)
Ron Rosenberry drove the King Rebel of Ted McOsker. The King Rebel used a blown fuel Chrysler Hemi and had a known
best of 9.58 at 148.02 in 1968. At the start of the ‘68 season, Rosenberry drove the heavy Von Fritch Mopar that weighed
3000 pounds plus. The little AMC weighed much less and ran better! (Photo by Mike Ditty; info from Dennis Doubleday, Bill
Duke, and Draglist Files)
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The Travelin’ Javelin was built with a Fiberglass Trends body on a Ronnie Scrima Chassis. Gary Crane chose the late model
426 Chrysler Hemi for power. Crane and Dale Armstrong both drove the machine; Dale had the best times in the little car
with a 7.93, 186.33 in 1968 and a 7.69, 187.88 in 1969. Gary Crane went 8.28 at 192.92 in a Lion's debut in 1968. Crane put
the car up for sale and it stayed that way for a couple of years until it was sold to a racer in Canada. (Photo by Mike Ditty; info
from Dennis Doubleday, Bill Duke, Vern Scholz and Draglist Files)
The Genuine Suspension AMX-1 was an AA/Fuel Altered converted into this wild AA/FC. The car's main
owners were Bob Walker and Jim Thomas from Costa Mesa, California. The short wheelbase car
featured a 354 Chrysler Hemi. The AMX-1 ran a best of 7.35 at 200.88 with Tom Ferraro at the wheel,
while Ken DuBose went a known best of 8.76 at 181.81 in the car. Car Craft Magazine reported that the
car went 210 MPH in 1969! The wicked little car was sold to Speedway Automotive in Lincoln, Nebraska,
where the likes of Bob Ellic or Louie Lundrum drove. (Photo by L&M Photos courtesy of Bob Plumer/Drag
Race Memories; info from Dennis Doubleday, Bill Duke and Draglist Files)
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Interesting AMC Tidbits!
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Voted 29 of the 50 coolest movie cars of all time. In the movie, ‘Waynes World’, Garth drove a 1976
AMC Pacer with flames on the side. That’s right! We wish companies built cars like the Pacer still.
Maybe not looks-wise; but set up wise: it was a rear-wheel drive hatchback that comfortably sat four
people. It was so cool it sold for $15,000 back in 2004. Excellent!
The villains in the film sequel to ‘Cars’ (Cars 2) are made up of what the Pixar team contends are the
world's worst cars. So there's an assortment of unloved Eastern European metal mixed in with two main
antagonists: an AMC Pacer and a Gremlin. Obviously, it would be a tough sell to go to an automaker
and say "We need villains, and your cars are perfect representations for the most loathsome creations
on wheels," but the Pixar people came to AMC's owners – Chrysler – at precisely the right time.
When Pixar approached the automaker about licensing the names and likenesses of two vehicles for the
film, Chrysler was in the throes of bankruptcy, it was divorcing itself of Cerberus, and it wasn't sure who
its next parent would be... if indeed it was to have one at all. Pixar – knowingly or otherwise – took
advantage of the situation and managed to snag usage rights to the vehicles for the film just when the
automaker was in turmoil and strapped for cash.
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Classifieds
1986 AMC eagle 4x4
V6, auto transmission
135,xxx miles ( speedometer started acting funny at 124,xxx miles, but I have kept track of miles)
I am selling it for $3000 on craigslist, but would work out a deal for an AMC person so I know it will be
kept alive. I had a guy that wanted to buy it but all he wanted to do is cut it up and make a 4x4 mud truck
out of it.
Anyone can contact me at this E-mail: [email protected] . And if they have a truck to trade I am
up for that as well. Garrett is a member of the Alamo AMC club and pictures are in the roster.
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