69 amx with 70 front suspension

[javelinjeff]

saw a 69 amx that appeared to have come off the assembly line with 70 style front suspension.this was at the show in Irwindale hosted by SoCalAMX.the owner stated that several people have tried to see where the front could have been swapped to the later design but to no luck.has anyone ever heard of cars built in late 1969 having a 70 suspension?unless someone took the time to put ALL the pieces to make a 70 AMX look like a 69,,including the VIN tag,i think that guy has one extremely rare AMX--the better looking dash and body with the better suspension

[Big Bad AMX]

I haven't seen or heard of that configuration before but I had a '70 Javelin with a complete '69 interior. There was no evidence or reason it had been changed. I heard of one other 70 AMC with a 69 interior. Kinda makes you wonder of the possibilities of what's out there.


.

[Matadoro]

saw a 69 amx that appeared to have come off the assembly line with 70 style front suspension.this was at the show in Irwindale hosted by SoCalAMX.the owner stated that several people have tried to see where the front could have been swapped to the later design but to no luck.has anyone ever heard of cars built in late 1969 having a 70 suspension?unless someone took the time to put ALL the pieces to make a 70 AMX look like a 69,,including the VIN tag,i think that guy has one extremely rare AMX--the better looking dash and body with the better suspension

I've seen the same car @ a gathering near Pomona as well as up in the Valley near a restaurant in Canyon Country? I don't recall exactly as it was 2 years ago before I deployed overseas ( I'm in process of redeploying to the States). The gentleman whom owns the car bought it this way. As I recall it used to be orange before he painted it red.
It appears to be the recipient of the retrofit '70 supension kit that sold for about 600 bux back in the day. I'd have to look at the car again but I recall looking closely for signs of removing/modifying the inner engine bay aprons forming the spring support area. I'd have to compare my '70 side by side to check if the inner sheetmetal is '69, or if '70 apron sheetmetal was grafted. I do vaguely recall seeing some anomolies; though the worksmanship was superb, I seem to recall the area appeared to meld '69 and '70 details and that at the very top of the old towers was a weld line that was factory like in it's consistency but indicated that later shock towers were transferred to earlier sheetmetal. Yet, all the welds look highly professional including any spot welds. AMC did not produce any "hybrids" that any historians have made note of.

Steve Avery

[Matadoro]

Ok, I'm back at home now. Any events coming up for SOCal AMX members? I'd like to check out that '69 again and explore what has been done. There was someone on the AMX Files that had a kitted '69. It would be highly educational to get some comparative details from them...
Steve

[javelinjeff]

go to www.socalamx.net

[donsjave]

As previously written in another post, AMC had optioned the 70 frontend on the 69 AMX and Javelin for around 600.00. The company decided while racing in the Trans-AM to change the frontends to the twin ball joint system as used by the Ford Mustangs. AMC did away with the old trunnion system for a far better system in 70. The main reason for the changeover was to be able to play around with the frontend to gain some advantage in regards to the setup on the frontend itself.
There were very few of the optioned frontends in 69 ordered and in 70 they became a standard feature in the cars themselves. AMC had to have so many of the Javelins (and AMXs) come with the modified frontends in order to race in the Trans-Am series back in the day.
I have never seen a 69 with the 70 frontend in it as original from the factory and have been told that very few cars exist today due to the low number of cars produced in 69 optioned with the 70 frontend (twin balljoint) suspension.
Along with the suspension upgrades, AMC made strides in the mechanical aspects of the engines to help them breathe better and other improvements. AMC at the time was in the racing aspects all of the way and was a complete turnaround from the early 60's.