Roof News

The Javelin roofs fit was a question mark a week ago but it looks like it will work ok after last Sunday's "2nd fitting" session. Baby steps. Sure the AMX has a body line above the gutter that the Javelin didn't have, that's what body filler is for. Measuring & cutting a body panel like a roof is a slow process. I have found that the "eyeballing it" method has been helpful with the leap of faith needed before the cuts are made. I'll get some new photos soon.

Progress as of MLK Day '07

To view each picture click on the photo outside of the "click to play" box.



carworks

29 1/2 years ago, I sold my '68 AMX after UNH graduation and took the rest of the year off. (Sure, I also sold my '58 Willy's pickup and lived with my soon-to-be wife in her studio apartment in Newmarket rent free, whatever.) Just before Halloween 2006 same wife was avoiding the traffic at the Lee Circle and happened upon this "Project Car". She called me on her cell phone and I thought she was probably talking about some Javelin AMX or Hornet AMX aberration of the real thing. One of my guys, Shawn, at the shop was just about to test drive his last car of the day and I asked him to test drive past the supposed AMX. He came back to the shop 20 minutes later and said "If you don't buy it I will". I went up that night with my son AJ, my flashlight and the 1978 Oregon license plate said it all. What a piece of shit! But no rust other than the roof (and a few spots I've found since). I dragged a couple of old AMC buddies to the site. As Norman crawled into the locked trunk, Steve said "this doesn't have the rust where it is supposed to have rust!" Thanks to their qualified appraisal I got the go ahead. According to the legend, this car was sitting on a car trailer in Lebanon, Maine for the last 25 years (I can't believe somebody didn't need the car trailer at least once in the last quarter century?). An interesting trip to the wilds of Wakefield, NH with my tire salesman, Roland, and buddy RJ led to the procurement of a Javelin roof which might or might not fit?

The AMX has always been in the back of my mind ever since I divested almost 30 years ago. It's the screen saver on the shop computer, it's the papier mache model my son made me in middle school, it's the model a kid gave me at the Scout Yankee Swap, it's the forever reference to my foray into muscle cars, and it's one of the prettiest profiles of that genre (hard to believe it came from those goofy people at AMC).

This ought to keep me busy. Blame my wife.