UPDATE PAGE #3
Post-engine-install progress reports, NEWEST LAST
6/28/03 UPDATE: This was an eventfull day, folks.  Todd and I started early trying to get the engine and transmission mated.  Everything was fighting us.  Tools, bolts, the metal cover that goes between the engine and torque convertor, then the alignment was off and we just couldn't get the things attatched properly.  Thankfully, Todd's friend Bob (who is locally restoring a '71 AMX to better-than-new condition) dropped by after picking up a used 401 block.  We borrowed him and his brain to get things put right.  We got stuff lined up, bolted it all together, and then hoisted the assembly up off the floor.  We had to mix and match the 4 used engine mounts I had to get 2 good ones, then it was time to jockey Todd's crappy hoist into position by Maxi's engine bay.  After taking off the hood, the task of lowering the engine and tranny into the car began. 
It took some serious pushing and shoving, not to mention floor jacks, to get the assembly lowered into the bay properly.  It got hung up by the tranny dipstick at one point, but before long, we were all set.  We took a break to help get Bob's new block into the garage where he works.  There I got to see his '71 AMX being restored.  It was neat to see, but made me a bit upset as it is better than new.  Mine will never be that nice.  Bothers me a bit... His engine bay is so clean you could eat off it.  All the underhood parts are fresh and clean.  I never even got to clean my engine bay.  Yup... His car sure is nice... but it makes me depressed...
Home at last
Bob's engine bay... makes me cry
Almost there!!
After the break, Todd got under my car and installed the transmission crossmember and mount.  He got rather messy in the process.  My job was to hand him the nuts, bolts, washers, and tools he needed.  Just like in an operating room!  Only this room was far from sterile!  My sensitive ears had to endure some serious swearing... When everything was tightened up, we let the car down and off the jacks.  I was a bit worried about the front shocks, as the front end was still riding awful high.  By the end of the night (yes, night... we stopped at about 9pm) the front seemed to be closer to normal. 

The next steps are to buy a few more bolts for the transmission, install the starter and alternator, and all the fun parts like pulleys, plugs, wires, the coil, distributor, exhaust manifolds, etc.  That's the part I look foward to, becuase I can do most of it myself!  I think the carburetor may be an issue, but hopefully not...
7/4/03 UPDATE: It's July 4th and Todd has to work, which stinks... We've attached a few more parts to Maxi, like the coil and bracket, pulleys, fan, etc, and I added some oil.  Hopefully tomorrow we will get a full day's work in, as I have an appointment with an exhaust shop the 14th, and the car needs to be running by then.  Oh, and Krylon makes a "Hyacinth" paint that almost exactly matched unfaded Maxi Blue ;-)
Click To Enlarge
7/22/03 UPDATE: We've had lots of progress lately, but some setbacks as well.  First we had major power steering pump issues, as the one on the car had a broken bolt, and after a trip to the junkyard, we found that we couldn't make one good pump out of two as planned due to a 1980 hardware change to metric, etc.  Had to use Todd's nice used unit instead, one he was hoping to use for himself.  Then the car didn't go to the exhaust shop on the 14th as planned.  I was away that weekend at Lime Rock Park in CT for the Ferrari Challenge, and Todd couldn't get much done in the meantime.  He got the hoses and radiator in, but my NOS distributor needed a new condenser, the timing was way off, the Pertronix coil fried various sets of points forcing him to install a regular coil he had, and other headaches.  After I got back, there was more fun, like a leaky carb, leaky fuel filter, ill-fitting pre-formed transmission cooler lines, uncooperative droplights, alternator that wasn't charging, and two brand new starter solenoids that were garbage.  The last straw was when we found a leaky brake line...
Things started to go better when Todd got hold of a real Motorcraft solenoid, let me use his new rebuilt carb, changed the fuel filter to the correct size, found a bad wire causeing the alternator problem and fixed the situation with a wire the previous owner had rigged up, etc.  The driveshaft got installed, and once we put some transmission fluid in, the car could move on it's own!!  But very loudly, since it had just manifolds.  Last night, I topped off the engine with it's repainted air cleaner, complete with new "401" sticker.  There was some debate over where the sticker should be applied, but sources from the AMC Forum point to the correct location as being next to the air snorkle.  I have to buy some replacement engine-bay stickers to complete the package...

Thie morning, Maxi finally got towed to the exhaust shop.  It was interesting driving behind it!  I had this big blue thing staring at me the whole way!  Half way there, it started to downpour, and the rain sort of messed me up and I forgot to tell the man at the shop some important stuff.  Hopefully they will have the exhaust and brake lines done by the end of the week.  And better yet, done CORRECTLY!  We shall see... The car now has plates, insurance and needs a MA inspection sticker by the 29th. 
9/28/03 UPDATE: I've neglected my duties by not updating this page!!  Bad starter solenoids, missing connctions... So much has happened!  Firstly, the car is up and running.  The new exhaust came out real well.  The tailpipes may be a bit short, but they are very passable.  The system sounds reeeal nice.  I had the shop make it as stock as possible, but in 2.5" with Magnaflow turbo mufflers.  Also, I started to patch the hole in the rear fender with metal flashing and Bondo.  I never got to finish it, and am too ashamed to post a pic of it, but at least the hole is gone for now.  Hooraay for Liquid Nails, by the way ;-)  Without it, I'd still have a huge hole on the trunk, too!! 

The car had some teething problems, though, and still does.  It seemed to be overheating in the hot summer air.  I need to get parts to make the dash gauges work, so I still don't know if it runs too hot.  But I have been carefull which days I drive it.  Never over 70 these days.  May have to get a repro Blackstone radiator.  I've driven Maxi to work a few times, to do some local errands, etc.  Todd and I took it to the big AMC meet in Framingham, which was really neat. I was last to arrive and that made me attract attention.  Lots of people looked at the car while I was looking at theirs, and the before/after photos I printed out were popular.  Todd's friend Bob won Best Stock Javelin with his 401 AMX.  He sure deserved it! 
12/7/03 UPDATE:  Maxi has been granted winter parking rights in our back yard.  It's been there a while now, sitting on four small bits of plywood which are becoming rather "squishy".  We put some Stabil in the gas tank and hopefully it will start fine come spring.  By the I hope to have a new radiator and 4 new shocks ready for installation. 

This weekend brought a major Nor'easter (aka: snow storm) to the New England area.  Winds caused lots of drifting, but the snow on the back yard was up to the top of my knee.  The mounds by the street are a lot higher.  Maxi was happy and content in our back yard, all warm under my Ford's car cover.  It used to be Mom's Chevy car cover.  Worn and too large for the Javelin, it stays on real well in high winds, probably because the elastics in the front and back are snug and way under the metal bumpers.  On the Ford, the rounded plastic bumpers don't help with keeping the cover on.  But I digress: Maxi WAS happy.  This morning, it wasn't, as the photo shows...
Happy and content in the leaves
Not so happy and content in the snow
2/22/04 UPDATE:  It is still winter.  But yesterday was about 40, so I went outside, closed the carb's choke, then tried to start the car.  No dice for two tries, so I let it sit a short time, then it started right up.  I was rather suprised since we've had such cold weather lately.  But the battery seems juuuust fine!  :-)  The tires are still frozen to the plywood we put under them, though... Hoping to get an electric choke onto the carb soon...
3/21/04 UPDATE:  I am told it is now spring.  We got hit with some good snow a few days ago, and now it is about 50 outside and the white stuff is melting.  I wasn't too suprised it snowed.  Why not?  Because I took Maxi out for a drive a couple of days before!! 
Yup, I couldn't take it any longer.  The back yard was still frozen, so I just rolled out onto the main roads.  The car drove just as it did when parked last fall.  In other words, it still bottoms out when going over speed bumps... The cool weather seemed to suit the engine.  I stopped at one point to take a walk in one of the Minute Man National Park trails.  The mud I stepped in should have been a warning of what was to come...
After a nice ride, I thought I better park Maxi back in the yard.  Stupid me figured it would be simple.  Well, the ground had thawed a bit too much.  Long story short, I got stuck half way into the yard.  About an hour later, I was back in the driveway.  In that hour, we managed to put huge ruts in the "lawn".  The smell of burning mud and grass... the sound of my tires sinking deeper and deeper as they spun... 

The car is now in the driveway, still rather muddy, and Dad is parked at a neighbor's house until they return from vacation.  I sure wish we had more parking spaces here...
11/14/04 UPDATE:  We got our first snow yesterday.  About 3-4".  And yet Todd and I put the Jav into the back yard.  Yup... a little slippery... This past summer I took the car to the Kimball Farm weekly cruise-ins, the Larz Anderson Museum of Transportaton's first annual American Muscle Day (where Todd won an award with his '74 AMX), and the annual Codman House show in Lincoln MA.  But once it got real hot out, I couldn't trust the car.  So now I am faced with a decision:  store the car somewhere until I can save enough money to get it really sorted out, or sell it and look for a rust-free car.  OR, sell it, and trade my Crown Vic in for an '05 Mustang GT!!  Yummy...  We shall see how I feel after this winter has melted away.

Todd has finally installed his rebuilt 360 into the blue '74 AMX.  It has a light cam and was rebored.  Sounds much nicer, ut we haven't been able to drive it much.  His red '73 AMX is still being patched together. 
Maxi at the Kimball Farm weekly cruise-in.  Note the similarity in front end styling between the Javelin and Mustang
11/25/04 UPDATE:  It is Thanksgiving and the snow from the last update has melted.  Today it was over 60 degrees, so I tried to install two new horns under Maxi's hood.  Well, long story short, the deed wasn't done due to a snapped bolt.  How can such a small project go wrong?!  Sometimes the thing just won't cooperate... But the reason I would like to keep the car is driving it is fun!  That 401 sounds great... (sigh)...
12/27/04 UPDATE: Christmas has come and gone. Test drove a 2005 Mustang V6 last week.  It was snowy on the ground, but all in all the car drove nice.  I need to drive the V8 GT next.  Am starting to think about if buying one would be a good idea.  Sure is tempting...
3/13/05 UPDATE: It is March here in MA, and we have gotten lots of snow this winter.  Maxi is outside, slowly sinking into the backyard.  Good news, though.  My brother is finally taking his '87 Camaro out of the garage across the street, where he has been storing it for a few years now.  Why is this good?  The owner of the garage says I can park the Javelin there... at no charge!  I just hope it fits... But this is a happy turn of events!  Itmeans I can drive thecar whenever I want!

A big box arrived recently from American Parts Depot.  Somehow, Doug packed two front springs with some small fragile items with no damage.  Some of those items are an electric choke, decals, thermostats, etc.  Todd and I hope to install my four new Edelbrock shocks and the two new front springs ourselves this coming season.  Add the 4 new tires I have sitting in the garage, and Maxi should ride much better.  Another project will be putting Todd's old AMX 360 into the '79 Jeep CJ5 he has. 
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