American Motors Xperimental full frame

[linkstar69]

Crazy fab work on the front fenders. Certainly going to have a nice coke bottle profile.

[Bob Glenn]

Can you machine a ring to go around the NASCAR spindle pin with a flange to bolt to the ZR-1 up right ( use bolts with nylock nuts from the hub side ) then drill and tap 2 or 3 3/8 bolt hole in the spindle pin from the back side and use a plate to keep the pin from coming out ? You could put a key way in the end of the pin to keep it from turning and it does not have to be a very long key ! The pin could be cooled and the ring a press fit and heated to make it tight ? Then almost every thing is replaceable with parts you can find and replace !

[Ron S]

My original thought was to machine a plug to close the hole in the upright which would incorporate the 3 bolt flange that would bolt in place. Then bore a hole in the center of it which I could press the pin into, and tig it in place on both sides. The problem is the pin is just too huge, with too much offset, throwing the scrub radius all crazy. I may get an Impala pin and see how bad it is. If its not going to be an improvement over what's currently available, there is no use in doing it.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

Savage!!

[Ron S]

Got the fenders finish welded and ground, will start smearing mud tomorrow.

On the spindle, I started really thinking outside the box. Stopped at a buddy of mine's 4 wheel drive shop, dug through and found a 4x4 front spindle that looked like it would fit. My buddy Brian turned down the locating index to the Vette upright I.D. Stupid big, but if I made a hub to fit this, with the unibearing standoff, I think it would work.

[Dan S.]

Brother, you won't be happy until their isn't a single bolt-on commercial part on this build.

[Ron S]

Torquedork, and I have been collaborating on what to do with my quarter panels, this what we have come up with. Reshape the rear window opening a bit, and install an eyebrow over the wheel opening. Love the way he was able to C14 wheels in gold on the thing, the dude is a real artist with a computer. What do you think?

Yeah Dan, you know I have brain damage.

[WILWAXU]

Looks good in Pink :D

[Torquedork]

Looks good in Pink :D

The bear of it is, every computer monitor is different. I tweak it on one computer and move it to another and it looks different. Ron is now talking about Red, Is this Better????

[andrewb70]

....

Ron,

I am no engineer, but I am worried about this spindle modification. The ZR1 hubs are very tidy and the bearings actually ride inside the spindle. What you are proposing will place the bearings much further out and stress the spindle in a way that it was never designed for. The forces acting on the spindle will now have a much longer lever. A spindle and hub are critical components and it would suck to have a catastrophic failure. At a minimum, you should consult an engineer about this. Just my 2 cents...

Andrew

[Ron S]

Andrew, I'm just playing, trying to keep my self sane while doing body work. In the end I'll probably run the ZR1 stuff. Have talked to several engineers about this, its very deceiving how this stuff is made. If you think about a unibearing, all the bearing load is on one side of the wheel mount surface, and the bearings are only about 1/4" apart. With the old school bearing arrangement the bearings are spread several inches apart, one on each side of the wheel mount surface. It doesn't take an engineer to see that is a much stronger arrangement. It would put increased load on the aluminum upright though.

On a side note, I got the one side portion of the fender roughed in.

[Torquedork]

Sane??? Sane??? But it's so fun. Sanding, sanding and more sanding, Primer, blocking, more primer, blocking, Yada Yada Yada. LOL Have Fun Ron.

[Gojeep]

Love the look of the idea for rear quarter as it ties in with the front nicely.

[Ant]

I really would love to see that body line from the humpster quarter make it onto your car!
Looks killer, been watching your build for a long while!

[FlyDoc]

I like the use of the 4x4 spindle, form the photos the area that goes into the vet upright looks like it has more surface area then the stock vet bearing, I would want to see where the wheel flange is in comparison to stock vet, before I would be able to say what the force deference would be.

[Torquedork]

Ya know you'd think with such "Minimal" modifications from stock, you would think Ron would be done by now. LOL. Get crackin'.

[RS_Customs]

Sane??
Ha, your not sane! but we still like you and your crazy projects!! Car is looking great!

Robert

[Torquedork]

Sane??
Ha, your not sane! but we still like you and your crazy projects!! Car is looking great!

Robert

Maybe that's why Ron calls it..... AMX Peri"Mental" LOL

Ron, Here' more of a side view of the change.

[Mike Holleman]

Ron, The lines you have here are starting to look modern. I noticed from a shot awhile back how much the front of the car looked like some of the current model cars. Don't get me wrong, I like it! The Red example could be a 2015 car. New Retro.

Torquedork, and I have been collaborating on what to do with my quarter panels, this what we have come up with. Reshape the rear window opening a bit, and install an eyebrow over the wheel opening. Love the way he was able to C14 wheels in gold on the thing, the dude is a real artist with a computer. What do you think?

Yeah Dan, you know I have brain damage.

[Ron S]

The driving force on the front was the 335's. It was either Mustang flares which I've already done, or something a little different. I've tried to keep the AMX flavor, and still meet the wheelbase/width requirements of the car. I purposely didn't go with a modern front bumper, but did attach the bumper to the fender which is kind of modern. Like everything I do you'll like it, or really, really HATE it. LOL