Announcing the Muscle Car Interior Restoration Guide

It’s been difficult keeping this under my hat for so long, but now that I have it in my hands, I can announce my first book for CarTech, the Muscle Car Interior Restoration Guide, chock full of tech on how to do just about everything from lay new carpet to install a convertible top.

Why write about interior restoration? It’s an aspect of restoration that many car guys avoid, thinking it’s some sort of black art, so they tend to leave their interiors raggedy and half-done (admit it, somebody you know uses or has used a Vise-Grip as a window crank). But the reality is that it’s not that hard to do your own interior, and it’s just as rewarding to re-cover your seats or hang a new headliner as it is to rebuild an engine.

Oh, and I took a no-sew approach to everything in the book, so no need to go out and buy a sewing machine to complete any of the tasks shown in it. Also, a little hint: Even though the book’s focused on muscle cars, a lot of it applies to cars of other eras as well.

Official release date for the book is September 1, and you can order it directly through CarTech.

If you buy the book and decide fix up your car’s interior, send us some pics!

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Like shaking hands with your clone – Chris Hawley’s 1979 AMX

I couldn’t believe my eyes. In the five years I’ve been at Hemmings, I’ve attended nearly every one of our bi-weekly cruise-ins, and not once have I ever seen another AMC Spirit, let alone another 1979-1980 Spirit AMX. And of all the AMC shows I’ve attended, I’ve never seen another Spirit AMX in Firecracker Red. But there, among the throngs of collector cars at our cruise-in tonight, sat a 1979 AMX in Firecracker Red with a black interior. And it turns out the owner – who happens to have bought the car new – lives not 15 minutes from Hemmings HQ.

The owner, by the way, is Chris Hawley of Arlington, Vermont, who has put only 50,000-some miles on the AMX and has only ever replaced the battery and the tires. That’s it. The paint, interior and 304 V-8 remain totally original. I think he was also a little taken aback when I told him I’m building the exact same car, save for the engine. Looks like I’m going to have to make several visits now, for reference purposes, of course.

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Rambler Love: Hemmings is full of it

This past Sunday, the Wally Parks NHRA Museum at Pomona was host to the 3rd annual Socal AMC gathering, a show so big that we haven’t seen its like since there were still AMC dealerships (speak for yourself – DS). The bulk of the interest was around the AMX and Javelin models, but there were still Ramblers, Gremlins, a Concord, a Pacer, and the most gorgeous restored Hudson pickup we’ve ever seen. As a bonus, if you were part of the show and entered a car there, you got to go poke around the museum for free. Sweet!

1954 Nash-Healey

As regular blog readers recall, after finding the AMX/3 pushmobile, Tom Delaney envisioned creating replicas, and here he displayed his efforts along that path: a fiberglass replica body and a chassis to go underneath the body.

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Auto Metal Direct is also manufacturing an aluminum first-gen F-body trunk ...

While cruising through the SEMA/ARMO tent at spring Carlisle a couple of weeks ago, I snapped these pictures of Auto Metal Direct’s new aluminum body panels for first- generation Camaros.

Hanging off the wall of the tent was a 1969 Camaro fender weighing in at a svelte 11 pounds with the extension. (For non Camaro people, first-gen fenders have a small, bolt-on extension that attaches to the lower front portion of the fender and to the front valence. The fender pictured doesn’t have an extension bolted to it.) The ’69 Camaro fender will retail for $599.95 and according to Auto Metal Direct’s web site, they will also offer front fenders for 1968-’69 Novas and 1970-’72 Novas. Those too will retail for $599.95.

Also on display were: an aluminum cowl-induction hood weighing in at 21 pounds that will fit 1967-’69 Camaros priced at $599.95; and an aluminum ’69 Camaro front bumper (we’re told that a rear bumper will be available as well) weighing just four pounds that will sell for 329.95 anodized and $299.95 painted.

Auto Metal Direct is also manufacturing an aluminum first-gen F-body trunk lid that will sell for $399.95, an aluminum header panel for $249.95 and an aluminum front valance for $249.95 The company is also selling an aluminum body panel kit for the ’69 Camaro that includes everything mentioned above for $2,999.95

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