AMX/3 Reproductions

[Tom Dulaney]

Jim,
Thanks for posting, I am in love with this design too, can't wait to drive this sucker. Big thanks to so many friends who are doing all the work. I am not much of a welder, I just try and plan out the next phase, so the project keeps moving. The chassis is moving so quickly, it might be done in August. Thanks to Steve Temple from Kit Car Builder and his recommendation, I may have the fiberglass shop we need next.
Tom

 

[Tom Dulaney]

Wow,
What a day, it has been just over 1 month since we brought Dave Ward to fiberglass reproduction AMX/3 body and he is just flying. Lots of progress happening very quickly and the quality is superb. Dave has so much experience with the Big Red Camaro and other race cars that he is known for over engineering and building strength beyond what is required. Thank God, because if my butt ever rolls one of these fancy firecrackers I want to be in a Precision Welding chassis made by Dave Ward. Super strong! As you can see from todays images, the Wilwood pedals are in place, the front left wheel is bolted on and the front tires are 295 in width, on the rear they will be 345. Wow, those are some big meats! I love traction, it's loosing it that scares me, with tires this wide, the end of adhesion will be pretty far away. What can I say, I am not a chassis builder, so observing one of the best in the world in action, is a thrill. The front sway bar you may notice is not a C4, it is a NASCAR thing and you wouldn't understand, or maybe you would? Do I sound pompous and arrogant today? Well I am!
Tom

We may not run a power steering pump, because the front end is so light we might just connect a hose to each end of the fittings and loop it back into itself on the rack to let it keep a little fluid inside as a manual rack and pinion, we'll see. Tim Burton and I had lunch together today as well. I can't express enough how important his contribution is to this project. Tim is performing so many critical jobs to support Dave's work. Not to mention all the pictures he takes, thanks Tim. Thanks Dave. Thanks Richard Teague. Thanks investors.
Your fan,
Tom Dulaney

 

[Bill D]

Excellent progress! That is one awesome looking chassis. Will the final product be skinned in aluminum?

Bill D

 

[Brian Hamilton]

Looking good man!!! Keep at it!!

 

[Tom Dulaney]

Thanks for the support guys, I appreciate the kind words, it keeps me moving forward on this project.

Bill,
The body skin will be fiberglass and for the inner structures we are planning on making them fiberglass as well. There may be some aluminum or steel sheet metal work on the floor pans and other areas, we'll see.
Tom

 

[Cliff Beer]

Super nice! Looks like there's a lot of final welding to do with that much tack welding in place. Don't go jumping on that chassis in your enthusiasm until the final welding is done!!!

Really neat project you have there. Did you get any outside investor financing lined up?

 

[Randy V]

Tom - Making fantastic progress!!! This is one of the most exciting builds going in my opinion!!! I loved those cars and was very disappointed that the concepts were abandoned ...

 

[Tom Dulaney]

Thanks guys, I am glad to hear you think we are going in the right direction.
<o></o>
Cliff, all the welds are tacked, in the end Dave will have a big final welding job, he’s a second generation welder, so I am confident they will come out right. I just gingerly sat on it that one time. Yes, and investor has come forward and invested in the new company <st1ersonname>Sciabola</st1ersonname> Inc. So after the wire transfer into the company account, we sent him his stock certificate and are spending the money on this first chassis. Once the chassis is completed, and at this rate it might just be in August, we will need to start on the fiberglass work. We have the reproduction fiberglass shell, but are missing the inner structures. The door jams, inner hood etc, need to be engineered, plugs made, molds made then reproductions. I have both the engineer and the fiberglass shop preparing bids locally. However, we don’t have the financing for this stage yet. I would hate for this project to stall due to lack of funds in the home stretch. I have around 100 people on the mailing list now who have expressed interest. I expect this next phase will cost around $50,000 and will allow us to bring these reproduction body panels to market.<o></o>
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Randy, thanks for your support, I agree, this is a fantastic design. I am very proud to be the AMC hobbyist who brings back the AMX/3, it was our halo car. But AMC was a struggling independent, fourth in the <st1:country-region><st1lace>US</st1lace></st1:country-region>, but far behind the big 3 in size. Some people called them the largest independent, they had vision, but not size. I wish Richard Teague was alive to see this.<o></o>
Tom Dulaney <o></o>

 

[Tom Dulaney]

As you can see Dave Ward is just as much an artist as he is a welder.
Tom

 

[Randy V]

Very interesting concept on the spine....

I've never seen pictures of the interior of the AMX Concept cars that I can recall..

Are you planning on using the doors as stressed chassis members? Doesn't look like the thin A-Pillars will allow much of a superstructure inside the body unless it's of dimensional steel...

Watching with keen interest!!!

 

[DRONE]

Tom would you mind some fellow home builders comming by?
We are always looking for some place to drive to in the San Diego area on the weekends!

 

[Tom Dulaney]

Randy,
The center console is an original Dave Ward idea, it looks strong so I am going with it , although it is different from the original AMX/3's that were made in Italy. AS for the rest of it, I am just waiting patiently to see how it developes. I am sure it will be strong.

Drone, I sent you a private message with my info.

Dave Ward is doing a great job on using the 1970 AMC steering column.

Look at how nicely the AMC column is integrated to connect with the Corvette C4 steering rack.
Tom

 

[Tom Dulaney]

I went up to see Dave Ward at Precision Welding yesterday and I am very happy to report that the body was on the chassis for the first time. Dave has done a lot of work on the rear end since I last posted pictures.

 

[Brian Hamilton]

Awesome man!! I was just thinking about this build today and was going to post one of those "Hey what's the latest?!" posts, but looks like you beat me to it. Hehe.

Awesome work my friend!!!

Brian

 

[Tom Dulaney]

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As you can see from these recent pictures, Dave Ward has added a more developed front clip, like the rear, it is removable in case of an accident, it can be replaced separately. The halo hoop roll cage above the driver has taken shape, as well as some other more subtle details. Sorry for the delay in posting the chassis update pictures. I know there are those of you, like myself, that have become addicted to seeing this project progress. My good friend Tim Burton who lives near Dave Ward's shop in San Bernadino, was taking pictures of the chassis on a regular basis and e-mailing them to me in <st1:city><st1lace>San Diego</st1lace></st1:city> for this website. However, Tim, his wife Shirl and son Cole recently moved to <st1:state><st1lace>Colorado</st1lace></st1:state>. Thanks Tim for all the pictures you took, Happy Holidays. So I have not driven up to San Bernadino in a while to take pictures, I have been driving south to Mendeola and Meziere to work on some of the custom parts we need. Thankfully Dave Ward got his digital camera going and e-mailed these pictures today. Dave told me on the phone yesterday that he will be mounting the radiator next, the fuel cell area is completed, it is just not pictured here.<o></o>
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Here is an update on the Mendeola and Meziere custom pieces.<o></o>
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<st1ersonname>Mike Mendeola</st1ersonname> now has the correct welding rod for adapting the Porsche 930 Turbo CV bearing assembly into the aluminum C4 Corvette upright, this will allow us to use CV's instead of half shafts, a very important piece to be able to set the chassis on the ground on it's 4 wheels and tires. <st1ersonname>Mike Mendeola</st1ersonname> will then make the custom bellhousing, so we know the exact distance between the AMC 390 V-8 engine and SDR 5 speed transaxle. The transaxle mounts are completed on the chassis, but there are no engine mounts until we have the bellhousing.<o></o>
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www.mendeolatransaxles.com<o></o>
Clearance is very tight between the engine and the rear bulkhead so we will be running a WP127 plate on the front of the engine with two fittings and hoses to a 300 series remote pump off to the side, where there is more room. These electric water pumps flow 55 gpm, so we will have plenty of cooling. The Meziere family will be supplying our starter as well as the water pump.<o></o>
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www.meziere.com<o></o>
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Tom Dulaney<o></o>
President<o></o>
<st1ersonname>Sciabola</st1ersonname> Inc<o></o>

 

[Randy V]

Tom - Great to read you again!!! You had us a little concerned there!!

Progress looks great - Nice cage!!!

Looks to be collecting a little surface rust here and there... Might want to consider a light coating of weld-thru primer on her...

 

[Jack]

Tom,
FANTASTIC! Keep up the excellent fabrication. With your new financing she'll be on the ground in no time (comparatively).

 

[Tom Dulaney]

AMX/3 Bell Housing

it is time for an update, I had another meeting with Mike Mendeola last week at his factory in Chula Vista and he gave me a copy of the CAD dimensions he took of an AMC bolt pattern for the bellhousing we need to make in order to use his SDR transaxle.
Tom

 

[Randy V]

One more step closer Tom!!!! Good for you!!

You'll be designing dashboards and door panels before long!

 

[Tom Dulaney]

Yesterday I was at Mike Mendeolas shop in Chula Vista picking up parts, today I went to Dave Ward's chassis shop in Fontana to drop them off.

We stretched the body 2 inches for more legroom. Bizzarrini did the same thing in Italy in 1970 when AMC sent him the molds from the original prototype, since we are also working with the original prototype we did the same thing.

Dave made two panels for the bottom of the chassis that will be attached later.

Mike Mendeola machined a custom bellhousing that will allow us to use the AMC V-8 engine with the Mendeola SRD five speed.
Mike also made custom axle stubs that allow us to use CV's for the SDR 5 speed transaxle instead of the stock half shafts that the C4 Corvette normally uses. Mike made a fixture that will allow this conversion to be done much quicker in the future.
These two parts took quite a while to make, because they required some R&D. Now that the process has been established and some new tooling has been developed, we can get these with a much quicker turn around time.