[Verdoro 68]

Some of it's nice work, but a lot of it's just passable work

[Shiny]

Your son has developed some good spray can skills!

(...and I'm sure a lot more..............!)

Fun to follow along, thanks for updating. That vintage Javelin is part of my high school memory bank so tweaks the surviving nostalgic brain cells.

Plus I like orange.

[Verdoro 68]

I underestimated how much the fresh paint would highlight how beat the bumper is. Still, it looks better than it did! I'm wondering if I could straighten the waves on the bottom of the grill out with a heat gun. I've never been one to name cars, but I've started calling it Orange Julius due to the light green hood. Reminds me of their logo.

Got the rear seat back from upholstery today and have a headliner on the way from a guy who makes them in Canada. $220 in import fees on top of crazy shipping costs and the price of a handmade part.

The AMC convention is at the end of the month in Indiana. I'm tempted to make a last minute trip out just for the swap meet.

Before/after:

[b-man]

All looks good.

It doesn’t have to be perfect to be enjoyed immensely.

Perfection takes a lot of time, life’s too short to worry about too many little things that would stall the project.

One of the best looking body styles of the era, definitely worth bringing back on the road and driving like you stole it.

You’ve worked miracles on that car in a short time frame, congrats!

[Verdoro 68]

This has been a good exercise for me as a counter to how particular and meticulous I've been with the GTO. The Ventura was largely the inspiration for this as that car has been a ton of fun without the worry.

[Verdoro 68]

Some more updates for anyone who is interested...

Cole's off school so he's had more time to work on the car with me.

The interior is coming together quickly. Headliner arrived from Canada and installed easily. Had the woodgrain center panel restored by a guy on the East Coast and it's in the mail on the way bak. I had those super rusty seat frames blasted and powder coated and they came out great. The upholstery shop turned around the front seats in two days! I fought the carpet around the shifter area all weekend - not happy, but it's as good as it's going to get.

Drained the initial batch of distilled water mixed Evaporust Thermocool from the cooling system - that stuff works! The water I drained out was black and the radiator looks like new inside. Have a second batch in the car now.

Cole installed new wheel cylinders, hoses and shocks and we bled the brakes. Still working on some electrical issues and the dash assembly, but we're getting close to taking this thing for an inaugural drive to find out what else is broken or needs to be fixed.

There are rumors that the Duct Tape Drags isn't happening this year. If it's not, we're still taking a road trip somewhere! Although it may not look like it from the outside, I'm deep into the "bogus" Duct Tape category for what I have in this car anyway.

[will slow gto]

This Javelin is turning out NICE!

[Shiny]

You are beyond crushing it in the short time you've shared.

Headliner is awesome.

Seats are truly impressive. The blasting and powder coat result would make anyone smile.... then getting the covers looking that good in a couple days is hard to believe. Holy upholstery, batman!

Most excellent work!

[KS circutguy]

Those seats are going to be neck snappers with a 4-speed.
Sweet

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by will slow gto

This Javelin is turning out NICE!

Originally Posted by Shiny

You are beyond crushing it in the short time you've shared.

Headliner is awesome.

Seats are truly impressive. The blasting and powder coat result would make anyone smile.... then getting the covers looking that good in a couple days is hard to believe. Holy upholstery, batman!

Most excellent work!

Thanks. Most of my free time (and money) has been put against this car. I can tel my wife is annoyed at it as it's been a little bit of an obsession to get this car rolling again. Like most project cars it doesn't make any financial sense at all. The seats are a good example. I original thought I would install the covers myself, but once I started inspecting the frames I realized they needed everything so I'm way deeper into those than I ever thought.

I didn't think much about the missing interior when we got the car considering the availability of parts for GTOs, but I should have done more research. There was a reason it was missing. These parts are hard to find and expensive! Someone clearly pilfered it for another car in the past. However, I met a couple generous local folks in the AMC community who have helped me out quite a bit which I'm grateful for.

Originally Posted by KS circutguy

Those seats are going to be neck snappers with a 4-speed.
Sweet

The front seat cores were from a '68. When we bought the car the seller insisted they were from a '69, but I knew from the upholstery pattern and lack of headrests they weren't. What did he recently list on Marketplace? A '69 Javelin seat likely from this car. Oh well.

The fun thing about these cars is the're more of a choose your own adventure than GTOs. The community seems to be pretty accepting of using a cocktail of parts from various years. I haven't seen a lot of "that isn't correct" nitpicking yet. Then again, our car is clearly not about a correct restoration.

[Verdoro 68]

Duct Tape Drags tickets went on sale today. The road trip is on!

Just in time. To quote my wife "If it was canceled, I'd make you sell that car today!"

[F Body Freak]

Just read this whole thread...
Not really an AMC fan, but I enjoy following along as someone gets one of these old cars back on the road. Keep up the good work. Its impressive so far

[Verdoro 68]

On a whim, I took it out for it's first drive around the neighborhood today. I'm sure it's the first time it's been mobile since the 90's.

I had a little trouble with the shifter and clutch. They may just need some more adjustment, but it's pretty fun to drive! Definitely feels Roadkill-ish right now with 1/2 the interior, the beat exterior and the exhaust dumping in front of the rear axle.

Leaving the driveway: https://youtu.be/u0RaY9xPS28?si=ZgbB0sGV7Y4NUEZr

It's bondoed, weathered multicolor glory: https://youtu.be/kwofgt1XNKY?si=4snjm_AMxtgkzLOc

Here's the good side. If you squint your eyes, it looks pretty cool.

[kingbuzzo]

that's bada$$...love those AMC's

[KS circutguy]

I remember as a teen watching the local AMC dealer get delivery's and offload AMX - Javelins - Rebel's off the trucks.
Was way cool hearing them startup fresh builds.
My grand mother's house was 50ft from the AMC dealers lot.

[VCho455]

Since there's so much AMC love here's a photo of my wife's 70. It has an appointment at the body shop this winter. 401 727 car.

[TXSTARFIRE]

I like those wheel covers!

[Skippy597]

Looks too mint for duct tape drags! Looks great and glad you've kept us updated.