AMC's are actually really good, solid cars. We bought a '74 Hornet for my one Son because he turned 16 before his '65 Olds convertible was finished, and he needed something to drive. It was a pristine, one owner (older man) 4 door wagon, and we paid $ 600.00 for it at an auction. No one wanted it because of being an AMC.

He drove that car for 2 years, and when his Olds was done, he gave the Hornet to me. I used it for about 4 years, with very few problems. People at work would laugh at me too, but I really could care less. My daily drivers are just point A to point B vehicles, and so ego doesn't enter into it.

I finally sold it ( can't remember why) and for years we would see it still running around. You couldn't kill that 232 engine.

The Jeep truck isn't a screamer, but it runs better than the average Jeep. It has about 200,000 miles on the engine now, so it is getting tired. Time for a fresh engine/trans. It confuses people, because I took all the Jeep emblems off of it, and replaced them with Ford and 5.0 emblems. Just the tailgate says Jeep. People think I put a Ford cab on a Jeep truck.

Take pictures as you go along, it will be cool for the rest of us to see this swap come together.


Don