3rd generation AMC V8 Engine family 304, 360, 390, 401
Vložit
- čas přidán 31. 10. 2023
- Today on what it’s like engine episode Wednesday 3rd generation AMC V8
Which was built from 1970-1991 ( with the 360 being produced after Chrysler buyout )
Displacements of
304. 360, 390 and 401
Also talk a bit about amc racing and mark donohue enjoy this episode =)
If you’d like to get in touch with me or shoot me a comment in the comment section below or check out our Facebook group to correlate with this CZcams channel by clicking the link below after the show
groups/70769...
If You would like to send me a private message shoot me an email
What_its_like@yahoo.com - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Helmet unsung,maybe if not a similar riff ,I realize that Chrysler was selling 2 different 360s from 87 to 91 dodge truck and grand wagoner
Yeah buddy you got it =)
Yeah Chrysler is 360 v8 situation in the late 80-90s was very interesting to say the least
I thought that aswell. Only ever heard the song on gta san andreas
@zekeosborne9684 I love that game, I would pause it and play the stations like streaming before streaming early 90s and late 60s early 70s music I name quick
@@davidpistek6241 Same bro i feel like gta influenced so many people's music taste. Playing gta was my first time hearing grunge and alt rock now i cant get enough of the stuff but it really didnt have a bad channel
nope, AM V8 not same as Chrysler 'LA V8'
2nd/3rd gen AM V8 largely copied Buick's '62 v6/v8 design...Cadillac too
AMC is in my opinion vastly underrated. They were the last of the "Independents," the car manufacturers other than the big 3. Studebaker went out in the mid-60s. Glad AMC lasted as long as they did and that they were bought out by Chrysler, and didn't just shut down like Stude.
Totally agree I wish studebaker would have went with them
And packard merged
With peerless and Pierce arrow
Agreed. I don't understand why some people would put a chevy 350 in a Jeep when they could easily put a AMC 360, that's more than plenty.
Indeed, not to mention the 360 is a better engine! @@MrElPoderozo1
The 390/340hp was found only in the 1970 Rebal Machine. It was a one year only build for both engine and car.
High school days,360 ambassador 4 door sweet ride
I bought a new 1975 Jeep CJ5 Renegade White with blue Levi seats and top with alloy wheels and a 304 v8. loved it .
Sweet =)
3rd gen AMC v8s were very competitive in Pro Stock Wally Booth driving...imo
RB ............those sectioned , raised port heads were crazy !!!!
Bobby Allison also had some success racing AMCs in NASCAR. His team could make a 360 run with just about anything out there. I imagine that they were using the same four bolt main blocks. I have seen and driven quite a few different AMC products in my time. Jeeps, Hornets Gremlins, etc. Knew a guy when I was just a teen in the 80s that had an AMX 390 four speed. After he wrecked it he ended up putting the engine and transmission in a Gremlin. Think he might have also installed the rear differential from the AMX as well but I don't recall. What I do remember is that with 60s on the back you couldn't hardly hold it straight under acceleration. What a ride, lol. For number 1 I would choose the CJ5, and for number 2 I would say the Javelin but I had a 72 Javelin SST which I always thought was cooler, lol. So I would take the Travelall.
Awesome information and choices =)
Thank you so much for sharing that one day we will have to do a trans am racing episode
WYR: 1975 CJ5 and 1971 AMX, which are frankly two of my favorite vehicles. Great coverage as always. Thank you so much for all of your hard work ~ Chuck
Great choices =) glad you dig this episode
I love doing this still hungry lol even after 370 something episodes
At the moment I daily drive a '77 CJ5 with the 304 and plan on never selling it. I love it too much. I've had CJ's before in my life and always ended up selling them to "get a more practical car"- I always ended up regretting it. Hang on to your favorites if you can! Long live AMC!
For WYR, I'd take the Jeep, and the AMX.
The story of AMC in its last decade is indeed a sad one. I was watching a video on that topic the other night 😢
Great choices maybe one day will do the fall of AMC because it is a super sad story how a company could go from one of the greatest highs to the lowest of lows all within a few years and looking back I totally understand why they just didn’t offer powerful engines in their cars and I get it that it was the malaise era or whatever but they just offered six cylinders mostly ( don’t get me wrong David eights were there but I read something to the effect that they discontinued the 304 V8 because the six cylinder was making more power than it )
Gremlin X
Javelin
I had a '79 CJ 7 with a 304, with a Edelbrock Performer cam and intake and a 750 Holley 4 bbl, it made 298 at the rear wheels. Very tough engines.
Ambassador wagon !
Sweet =)
The Tubes- "Talk to ya' later" These cars and engines along with music from the eighties takes me back to a time in my life from 1980 to 88 when it seemed like I ruled the world. Life was a party, cars were fast, every junk yard had parts for your Javelin, Gremlin, Charger, Camaro, Mustang, Nova or Chevelle and VW Beetles were parked in almost every field with weeds around them.
Fridays were payday, Saturday and Sundays were total magic with good friends, great cars and no worries until the Monday morning start of work, and even that wasn't bad. I lived in a small town in PA that Hot Rod magazine called "The best cruising spot East of the Mississippi" or something like that?
It was a two mile two lane loop that easily took 40 minutes to complete on a busy weekend night. Classic cars were a dime a dozen with everything from 2 four barrels,to 3 deuces or blowers stuck through the hoods. Wheel tubs were fairly common. There was even a guy with a Gremlin that pulled wheelies once and awhile.
But, times change, people change and do things like get married, have babies and families. I met my wife, three kids came along and it was downhill from there (just kidding, honest! Lol).
304, my old 70 Ambassador DPL hardtop, in good condition. 401, absolutely that 72 Ambassador Brougham wagon!
Sweet =) choices
Can you stroke a 304 as I have 1 and looking to wake it up?
That I do not know how to do. @@fnafplayer6447
Interesting! I had assumed that after Chrysler took over Jeep that the 360 ci engine was Chrysler's 360. Learn something new every day.
I’m always learning =) as well
They kept the straight 6 also the 4.0 was the last AMC designed engine. Chrysler kept it in production until 2006.
AMC has been underrated for as long as I've been a car enthusiast. Their successes in TransAm and Pro Stock racing in the 70's is hardly remembered. It blew my mind that Maskin-Kanners and Wally Booth won in Pro Stock in their Hornets. They were doing ultra-trick stuff with the AMC heads, but it was working and they were competitive.
I would’ve given anything to live back then with that said watching some of the old AMC advertisements they had a product and they didn’t know who to sell to..
I had a CJ-5 with the 304 back in the early 2000s. The only mods I made to the engine was a DUI GM-style HEI distributor and a junkyard GM TBI system that I hand-wired to be a stand-alone system. It ended up being one of the most reliable classic vehicles I have ever owned.
Awesome =)
Never owned any AMC products, & that's with some regrets. I'd take the 70 Hornet SST 1st, & of course the 73 AMX Javelin in the 2nd group. Thanks for the video on America's last great independent automobile manufacture.
#3 means you have to try harder.
360s could last 250,000 miles, had one in a 77 Model 17.
Thank you so much for watching glad you dig this video =) we love the cars off the beaten path on this channel
My daily driver is '77 CJ5 with the 304. It's a great engine with plenty of power as long as you let it breathe. It's pretty suffocated in stock trim. Some minor "bolt-ons" like carb/intake/headers really liven this engine up more than you would expect.
Sweet your cj5 sounds pretty sweet thank you so much for sharing it with us
I would rather the cj-5 and for the second one, I want my old pickup back. 1980 j-10 with a 401 interceptor from an embbassidor
Awesome choices =)
The 360 was an excellent engine.
Mate the engine colors are sooooo awesome my ford 302 in my town car sand blasted valve coveres put ford blue on it looks absolutely amazing then redid the upper intake in dark metallic gray and the cover that says 5.0 on it black but left the 5.0 metallic gray too.
What year is your town car I had an 88 as well as an 89 the 89 was a total turd... I think I had a bad copy the 88 was one of the best cars I ever owned to this day I’ve on 36 cars it is the best riding car that I’ve ever owned.. I was going to see about buying another one and doing the nostalgia episode with it to just prove that even though it’s kind of sucks on paper it doesn’t really suck in reality and it’s better than a Mercedes 450 SL lol
First choice, the 70 Hornet SST, second International Travelall. great follow up to the first AMC engine video. Watching again the 56 Hudson Rambler, and 59 Rambler wagon videos, look forward to the coming up 59 Rambler video. Wish you can run across one with the factory AC and heat.
=) I want to find a 59 ambassador wagon with a 327 v8 but I want to drive it those are cool I’m not sure what episode is next I have a ton in the pipeline and going to classic automall next week to shoot some more =)
Great choices
My best friend wrecked his dad's 1971 Ambassador 360 one night when he was drunk. He set it on fire and reported it stolen. Of course he got caught so he didn't go home that night. The next night he showed up at my house with a black eye his dad gave him when he kicked him out of the house. Good times. I'd choose the 1970 Hornet SST and the 1971 Javelin AMX.
Hahaha great story thank you so much for sharing that i read it at the dinner table =) everyone laughed
Great choices
Jeep cj5
Jeep
Ambassador
I had to stop the video after reading that story. 😮😂
Did your friend ever get sober?
Good content.
The 390 was also available in the Ambassador, Rebel and Matador.
You did correctly suggest the 401 was available in these models.
Keep it up.
Thank you so much for that information =) glad you dig this episode
I came across a Matador at a gas station and I told the guy it looked like an old L.A.P.D. under cover car and he said it actually was an old black and white from same department. He swapped out the 401 for a small block Chevy 350 for the gas mileage he said. That was one of my favorite L.A.P.D. cars.
@@RedBud315 1 Adam 12, Roger!
@@RedBud315 I still drive one, slightly rusty, slightly dented, weather permiting.
I'd take the CJ-5 and the AMX javelin great vids man TOODALOO!!!😂
Awesome choices =)
I'm not feeling the Travelall, but
any of others will do.
I had a 76 Renegade with the 304 and a 77 J10 with the 360.
No complaints with AMC V8.
Thanks 👍
I’m not a huge jeep fan but the J10s look nice great choices
@@What.its.like. Nor am I but had to get one just because it was something different.
Thanks 👍
Love all the cars ,
All over the place today =)
1) Give the Bore dize in actual rather than approximation
2) The 290 and 304 had an extremely generous over bore allowance. Safe overbore allowance is .125". Likely a hold over from the Gen 1 design. Maximum overbore of a 304 to 3.875 opens it up to 325 cid.
3) If opened up to 3.875 this allows the use of the pistons for 4.0s. And possibly Chevy 283 pistons
4) All 304s were choked down smog motors. There was a lot of potential left on the table. That potential lay in different cam grinds.
Sources sometimes round
all sources are different
@@What.its.like.
Stan Weiss Bore and Stroke chart. It may not have everything but it has a lot. Includes Bore Spread
Awesome ill have to look that up
The 390 was available 69 and 70.. it was introduced in 69 in the amx and hurst sc/rambler
The 390 was first introduced mid-1968 model year.
@@jeffbranch8072 yes, but it was a second generation engine in 68 & 69
The 390 for 68 and 69 was a square Port head. in 70 it was a dog leg Port head with pistons for that year only due to the higher deck height.
great video, i am glad to see this come out. it came out sooner than I thought, and i am very glad about that. on question #1 I would take any of the three, all three are great cars i had a 1971 hornet station wagon it was a very good car.
Thank you glad you dig this episode it wasn’t going to be this engine at first I want to do hudson big 6 but keep hitting road blocks with that one... one day
Great choice =)
@@What.its.like. I await that video when it comes.
I'll take the Hornet SST and the Javelin AMX!
Sweet choices =)
Gremlin X (Though I'd love the 401 version boutique-built by a dealership out west), Javelin AMX
I saw that Someone was putting 401s in gremlins I couldn’t find a story about it though was that a factory thing or was it a dealership thing kind of like yenko with the Camaro 401 in a gremlin would be something especially 401 from 71
@@What.its.like. Cars were made by Randall AMC in Mesa, Arizona. Called 401-XR Actually approved by AMC, which shipped them Gremlin bodies. Apparently started in 1972. Some videos on CZcams.
WYR: All of them, but the CJ5 would see the most use because of its off-road capabilities.
Cool choices =)
Replaced my 304 3 speed with a 390 4 speed from a 68 Javelin into my 72 Grem X , it was a short nice ride till a friend totaled it
That was a great memory until your friend totaled it
AMC supplied 360 engines to Bricklin Motor Co. in 74, but couldn't manufacture enough for 75 forcing Bricklin to change to Ford 351.
Awesome I knew I forgot something thank you so much fir including that information =)
I heard that AMC had a problem getting Malcolm Bricklin to pay up, so they pulled the plug on the deal. And, having read up on Bricklin, I can believe it and can understand why AMC cut him off.
The 70 340hp was only available in the Machine. AMX and Javelin had 315hp
Awesome thank you so much for that added information =)
My buddy had a AMX superstock in 1969 it came with Crane heads and Dual Holeys on a cross ram intake manifold. It had more than 310 hp.
I am sure Brad still has the engine; I think the Body has left the building.
Alot of people don't know it but the Reason Donahue won 1971 was the AMC team Was the only Team that had corporate backing! If Ford Bud Moore team had full Ford backing, like 1970, the 1971 season would have been a different story.. The Penski team used AMC cash. Bud Moore used his own pocket money. But a title is a title.
Yes.. it’s also crazy how they can go from a HIGH like that to a LOW like that within a few years.. the finish was like ford at Le Mans really cool totally agree if ford backed their guys things could have been different but it’s always good when the underdog wins
Amc lost to second in 70 by a single race.had Ford have factory backing they still whould have lost in 71 72 .Ford had 5 times the funding as amc.and why did Ford and Chevy not continue to have factory backing? And pulled out of trans am ? Because ,they couldn't beat the amc.they suddenly had interest when penski moved to NASCAR in 74 .Lol. The Ford Cleveland also lost to and in 75 76 pro stock where Ford did have factory backing. The 71 72 javelin had the most power .factory backing is a excuse considering the funds Chevy and Ford had.
Amc won in 71 7 out if 10 races .keep dreaming if you think factory money whould have stopped this.
The reason Ford pulled out of all racing in 1970 was because America Elected an AZHome named Nixson For President and He Stopped Corporate funding, The reason AMC was still funding was Becaause they were considered too small to matter to the fed! Bud Moore Won the Three races they entered in 1971 and that was with personal funds. the Boss 302 would have kicked ass had they raced all races and had Ford money behind them.
on question #2 I would take the first one and the third one, but, i would prefer the 1974 model of number 3, it is one it is the best looking compared to the 1973 model is the second best looking of that model. still a great video.
Awesome choices =)
You mentioned Penske! George Costanza was assigned the Penske file. You might say he did a transfer of it. 😊
Haha nice =)
The jeep and the travel all
Awesome choices =)
Corrections: The 343 was available BEFORE 1968, up into 1969 with the 4-barrel Typhoon having 10.2:1 compression. The 390 was available from 68 1/2 into 1970 and had a compression ratio of 10.2:1. It became available when the AMX was introduced halfway in 1968. I've owned my pre-AMX, top-optioned 343 Javelin since 1979 and have turned EVERY last nut and bolt on it at least once. It's beautiful, and others agree. I KNOW MY AMC's!!!!
Awesome thank you so much for that information finding exact years was hard =)
I first used the terms "Gen-1, Gen-2, and Gen-3" to describe AMC V-8s in a little "fanzine" I published for AMC back in 1998. It was in two articles I edited (authored by others) in "American Independent Magazine", Volume 1 Number 3. I defined them in three generations due to differences in the block and head castings. Of course the differences between Gen1 and Gen2 are obvious, but minor between 2 and 3 -- the port change in the head and the slight deck height increase to allow a slightly longer stroke. I received a lot of flack at the time for using these designations. Most referred to the Gen1 AMC V-8 as the "Rambler V-8" or (more accurately) the "Nash V-8" and the Gen2 and 3 as the "AMC V-8", dismissing the differences between them as minor -- which I suppose they are. But it caught on, eventually! There are still a few who insist on calling the Gen1 the "Rambler V-8" though (while it was mostly used in Ramblers, it was first used in a Nash... Nash was just discontinued a couple years later).
The main reason I received a good bit of flack was that GM identified their small blocks as "Gen I, Gen II, etc.". I was told I was using GM designations for AMC engines, and that wasn't good! Apparently there was some fear they would be confused, but only a small one. Most just didn't like it because GM used the same words. I simply pointed out that: 1) I always designated them AMC Gen1, etc., and 2) "Gen" (or "GEN", as GM most often uses) is just short for "generation", and it made perfectly good sense to use the word.
As you can see, it has eventually caught on with just a few hold-outs. As I said, it just makes perfectly logical sense.
I wrote an extensive article tracing the AMC I-6 back to the very first Nash I-6 (AIM Vol. 7 No. 1 -- issue 27). Now that wasn't such a straight forward path! 85 years (at the time - 2003) of Nash-AMC sixes, with two distinct designs being manufactured simultaneously in several instances made "generations" difficult to use, so I used a "Series" designation starting with "Series 1A" for the first Nash designed six (1918-25 248.9 cid) and changed series number for each subsequent design. I used a letter to designate the initial design then any relatively minor changes (i.e. Series 2A and 2B). Five of the Eight total Series of Nash/AMC sixes have more than one version. A letter version had a casting change, but not a major one -- major parts will still interchange between versions. If applied to the V-8s there would be Series 1 (Gen1) and Series 2A (Gen2) and Series 2B (Gen3). It was harder to trace the six back! When I thought I was done I had another amateur AMC historian go over my work to make sure I was on track!
If you'd like a copy of the two mentioned magazines drop me a DM. Some more info (including an index of all 60 issues of AIM/AMC) can be found at www.amc-mag.com or www.ramblerguy.com.
Great information =)
Thank you.
It was the smog that ruined them, in the mid70s when floored, they would kick down to 2nd, and not much happened. Cali cars were worse. 77 360AMC and 74 Chevy 350, both 4V, GUTLESS.
On the up side, with no power, and therefore less force on the wear areas, they last a really long time.
Yes 1970 'cars were sad! I bought a new Mustang Cobra 2 with V8 in 1977, you knew you were accelerating because the Speedometer was slowly moving.
Totally agree
I always wondered how much of the smog stuff was BS it seems like all or most of it was
@@What.its.like. kind of like the Covid thing, make a car engine that had no power and burned twice as much gas. It didn't help emissions, but it made the Politicians feel important..
I’m working on a documentary on the electric car I don’t think it’s going to come out until December I want to cover as many aspects as possible I want to be the most epic video I’ve ever put out.. but I want to cover a couple electric cars so people don’t think that I’m anti-electric car I’m not but I don’t think that they are the saving grace that a lot of people claim them to be... They are not green and they are not safe particularly
@@What.its.like. I think an electric Car has its place and is a good idea for City driving.. To force the Country to switch, when the grid can't put out enough power to handle the power draw will be a disaster.
I had several Gremlins 😂 👍 great little car ran good 👍
Bad Transmissions 😲. Gremlin Xs were pretty decent and Zippy 😊.
I had a 1977 Hornet AMX white and black 😝 pure 70s styling 😂🤦
Give it a look .... VW Bugs could beat it !!!!😱🤦
Love to have a good 1973 Gremlin X again 👍
Great Episode 👏👏👏
Happy Motoring ✌️🤠
Awesome I would love to drive a 304 gremlin I saw they put 401 in gremlins as well
That’s pretty bad if vw beetle could beat it
Thank you so much for sharing those memories =)
@@What.its.like. smog equipment 😢
AMC went down in flames!!! It was sad , Winning Races a decade earlier 🤔..
It was a shame 😕✌️🤠
For a while, I had a 72 Gremlin demo with a 258 six and four on the floor. It surprised the heck out of a number of muscle car drivers!
General Motors Holden Australia had a 304 ci V8 as well from 1988 to 1998 sequential injection EFI.
Thank you so much for sharing that information
The Hornets, most American, unless you were to find a military surplus jeep.
Hornet 304.
HOWdy W-I-L, ...
Thank YOU for the AMC V-8 Content
COOP
the WiSeNhEiMeR from Richmond, INDIANA
...
Great vid!! 🤜🤛
=)
That’s Helmet Betty
Helmet unsung one my favorite bands
=)
The song was Elton John Saturday nights
Ya like that?!
Can you stroke/destroke a 304 cause my dads scout has one and I wanna give it a beefy powerplant?
............for any one out there , look for Pete's Patriot .........SS / C ......car always wheels up !!!!!!!
Gremlin and javelin
=) sweet choices
Kenosha WI made 🇺🇸
Happy days =)
Pantera-5 minutes alone
Helmut, Unsung
Yeah buddy someone go it fir title but no has gotta the franklin episode Nash Healy or Chrysler town and country yet
@@What.its.like. right after I commented I saw another comment with the title, even after scrolling for a bit and not seeing any.....meh!! Thanks for the reply though
I'll have to do some digging on those other episodes. But for my would you rathers on this one, I'm finding it quite difficult to chose between the Gremlin and Hornet, also the the Travelall and Matador Wagon.
Yeah they were all great choices =) I try to make the would you rather segment hard plus if your looking for this car other cars that are like it and maybe didn’t know of the other cars =)
Gremlin X!
AMX (Please)
Sweet choices =)
Gremlin, Javelin... I have no clue... Did I win?
Sweet choices =)
Gremlin X
Javelin AMX
Sweet choices =)
Unsung by helmet
SC360 Hornet..
Great write in =)
You had 360 likes, but I just ruined it LOL
1971 hornet the river 1971 hornet
What about the 343
I have a1976 Jeep Cherokee cheif s model 304 with 401 heads i would like the specs for Penske 304 please reply
Sweet how do you like it? Automatic or stick
3speed auto 400 turbo fulltime quadra trac hi lo range PTO precision in t case vacuum locker e drive my beast
Awesome =)
American motors ok not metric motors and CJ5 , Matador wagon mate oh and gotta be Ode to Joy
Pantera Walk
Great guess not that song or band
Marilyn Manson --Beautiful People ?
Unsung helmet
Helmet
Cut the metric jaber, let them read it.
Plug your ears and leave the normal people alone.
It doesn’t bother me. Who is he hurting by mentioning both US and metric numbers? Doesn’t bother me one way or the other.
@@victorboucher675it seems as if some people thrive on complaining about something just because they can
Not rounded FUBARed
just trying to be transparent that some sources are rounded
The bore on the 390 and 401 was 4.165 not 4.20. get your facts straight
Clearly where I got the information they rounded the numbers which happens all the time..
www.conceptcarz.com/s9472/amc-rebel-machine.aspx
Bore and stroke sizes maybe rounded, I honestly I hate when people round the numbers why can’t they give the actual numbers also it’s possible to correct someone without being a total jerk
......don't want to hear about fig newton meters, so I guess I don't need to hear about you.....unsubscribed and gone.....CZcams is rapidly becoming NotMe Tube anyway.....
Eh your loss.. you want me to exclude a whole demographic because they have a different system... sorry you feel that way
I’ve found out it’s impossible to please everyone
Fig newtons never hurt anyone, @oldmancigars! And they'll help make you "regular" if you eat enough of them. "That boy needs a good laxative!" - Don Henley (Talking about Mojo Nixon, who roasted him).
Haha nice =D
@@What.its.like.aren't you trying to please everyone by putting in newton meters?
Not pleasing the people that don’t want it there
Ya like that?!
Unsung by helmet