hotrod16105's 1966 AMC Ambassdor

Builds
21

After doing some research i ran across this on an amc forum and now i’ve got some ideas going through my head.

There’s a little you can do with the GEN-1 AMC V-8, but not much. A later model AMC intake can be adapted to fit, but that requires cutting the water crossover from the front of the intake (use the stock 327 crossover) and making a pair of 1/2" thick aluminum spacers for each side. The intake ports aren’t an exact match, but you can grind the spacers to blend them together satisfactorily. Then you can use any available AMC intake, including a blower intake if you can find one.

The old V-8 is heavy with thick cylinder walls and forged crank and rods. It has a tough bottom end, but the pistons are still cast aluminum. They are thicker than later models though, and should take a 150 shot of nitrous. I wouldn’t go any more. It has been run with as much as 30 psi boost on them with turbos, but I’d keep it down to no more than 20 psi if you want it to stay together for a long time. The guy that ran 30 psi only used it fro drag racing a couple years – don’t know it it lasted any longer or what, he sort of “disappeared” from the radar. A few runs a year didn’t hurt it though.

A turbo or vortech type supercharger is the best booster of long term. Personally, I think I’d just put a factory 4V intake on (if yours is a 2V) and run a 100-150 shot of nitrous if you just plan on playing with it a bit. Do replace the little factory 4V (somewhere around 450-470 cfm) with a 600 cfm carb though!

If you want to tear into the motor pull the cam and send it to one of the cam companies for a regrind. Call first and talk to them, they can improve lift and duration.

The exhaust manifolds aren’t bad for stock cast iron manifolds. I’d just run a 2" or 2.25" dual exhaust system from them. The center exhaust ports are siamesed together. No one makes a header, but you could trace a stock manifold and cut a flange, then build your own or cut the flange of a similar header and do a little bending and welding. Factory didn’t use an exhaust manifold gasket IIRC, but rebuild kits might include one to make up for slight warping.

Hmmmmm…

I’ve already had the cam reground(dont have the specs in front of me). Maybe a little spray and see what happens.

22

You can buy my nitrous kit :slight_smile:

23

Hmmmm… I would probably use a plate–it uses a holley 4150 flange.
Would i be able to use your kit? I’ve never messed with nitrous so i have some research to do on that front.

24

yeah all you need to do is run lines to the plate fittings and use appropriate jets If they are 3AN you can try and use the lines i have or else have HSW make you custom length lines for you for the cleanest install. . The bottle and solenoids will work just fine. My jets are designed for fuel injection 45 psi fuel supply. With something like old mechanical pump or so, typically 4-6 psi i think fuel pressure is so you’ll need to get different jets for that. There are calculators you can figure it all out.

25

I should probably spend the cash on getting it together and running but if the price is right… You can pm me if you have a price. I’ve got 5-6 months to finish it so theres no hurry.

26

same here, i actually have 1.5 lbs left in the bottle, i may try to spray a small shot to use it but i think my flex plate is broke :frowning: So we’ll see. I’m not in a hurry to sell it.

27

Ok, I haven’t been getting too much done lately. But that changes today. I’m just taking a break from sandblasting/stripping the interior. It’s going slow as usual but at least something is getting done. I hope to have the inside in primer by the end of the week.:x: