1980 Concord Saved - One Year Later

[El Matador]

Today marks the first anniversary of the 1980 Concord sedan rescue.  For those who want all of the background information, see here for the original discussion (9 pages and counting) and some pictures:

http://forums.amceaglenest.com/index.php?topic=22118.0

For those who don't want to read through all of that, the condensed version is:

One year ago, three of us Nesters (myself, DESA and Mechanic) went to a local yard in search of parts.  What we found was this Concord, fully intact, sitting on death row waiting its turn to be shoved into the crusher.  It was probably less than an hour away from being lost forever.  I convinced the yard guys to sell it to me and move it to the parking lot.  Shortly after, it was moved to Mechanic's place and he determined it was a runner - and a very good one at that.

It's still not legally back on the road yet, but progress has been made.

What has been done so far:

- general tune up (spark plugs, wires, etc.)
- new battery
- new u-joints
- new wheels and tires
- replaced carburetor
- replaced fuel tank
- replaced trunk lid

What has yet to be done:

- repair sun visor
- repair front seat belts
- reattach rearview mirror
- reattach headlight switch knob
- align headlights
- replace front bumper brackets
- replace windshield (maybe)
- general cleanup
- inspection

Future items:

- install sport steering wheel
- install factory tachometer
- install intermittent wipers
-install front and rear sway bars
- repair body damage
- repaint (probably white)

[Pat]

I remember reading the original post, had to go back & refresh my ( lack of ) memory. Glad to see you've still got it.

[83Eagle!]

I am so glad you saved that concord.  I have followed that story from day one, but just not posted many comments.  Sounds like it is coming right along nicely.

[IowaEagle]

And its a rare Concord in that it did not have a vinyl top and lacks the rear quarter windowettes, so this was an excellent save.

[matt1971]

Hi. Matt here. I love that Concord! AMC's are so cool. Is that car light blue, or white? It's hard to tell from the photo.

[Whuntmore]

That is very light, powder blue.

[amcinstaller]

would the front (and back for that matter) bumper supports be the same as a spirit in the same year? im ditching my chrome front and black rear bumpers both with endcaps, and youre welcome to them. and is that the mirror i traded you a while ago?

[El Matador]

Is that car light blue, or white? It's hard to tell from the photo.

Light blue, baby blue, powder blue... or in official AMC terms, "Cameo Blue".  I'm not too wild about the color, and if/when the time comes to repaint it, I'm going to paint it basic white (in keeping with the plain-jane theme of the car).

would the front (and back for that matter) bumper supports be the same as a spirit in the same year? im ditching my chrome front and black rear bumpers both with endcaps, and youre welcome to them. and is that the mirror i traded you a while ago?

Front bumper and brackets would be the same, rear would not be.  I'll gladly take both off your hands regardless, though. 

That's the same style of mirror, but not the mirror.  Since that picture was taken, the mirror has been changed because the glass fell out of that one.

[amcinstaller]

the one in the spirit now is the sport one i think, it has a shell and is remote. i keep fli flopping whether i want to keep it or trade that mirror back haha. ill let you know as soon as i pull the bumpers from the spirit.

[amc78concord]

Any other updates thus so far? Just wondering.

[El Matador]

Any other updates thus so far? Just wondering.

Not a whole lot, unfortunately.  Back in December I pulled the entire dash, and installed intermittent wipers and a factory tachometer.  The wiper upgrade works perfectly, but I haven't installed the tach wiring yet.  While I had the dash out I checked all instrument bulbs, and none were burned out.

I'm still aiming to have this on the road by spring or early summer, but considering how busy I am with work lately I don't know how I'll pull it off.  It's just little things left to do, but a lot of them.

[JayRamb]

Where did you ground the intermittent wiper set up?

[El Matador]

Where did you ground the intermittent wiper set up?

There was a tab on the headlight switch for that purpose.  I just slid the wire on and was good to go.

[Whuntmore]

If you have the dash out, I'd seriously consider changing all the bulbs out.  Nothing sucks more then having the dash out, and then getting it back together and then having something stupid happen like some bulbs die a few months later.  I replaced all mine, and they're not expensive - they are common bulbs.

Have you been taking any pictures that you can post?

[El Matador]

If you have the dash out, I'd seriously consider changing all the bulbs out.

Too late for that, the dash went back in a couple of months ago.    Since the car has such low mileage, I figured the bulbs wouldn't have seen much use and should last a good while yet.

Have you been taking any pictures that you can post?

Unfortunately no.  However, during this dash removal/replacement process I was very careful to document and bag every fastener, and number them in order of removal.  Then when it came time to put it all back together, all I had to do was reverse the order of the steps.  Potentially saved myself some headaches that way.