Amazons, good points? bad points?

hi there lab rat nice car you have

so you want an amazon?
there are so many different things to consider when buying one
but the main thing is what do you want to use it for?

so with the rust side of things here is a list of places to look,
front inner wings where the wing bolts on,
// // // on the later models 1968 on there is a metal
plate in the corner of the inner wing and the bulk head this goes,
front wings around the headlights and indicator,
wind screen scuttle by the wings,
wind screen corners behind the rubber front and rear,
lower part of the 'a' post near the sill,
spair wheel trough,
rear valance above the bumper,
fuel tank area,
chassis out riggers,
rear chassis spring mount,
under the rear seat floor to arch area,
front foot well side kick panel,
and the usual ,
sills, arches, bottom of doors in and out, lower rear 1/4 ,
rear jacking point if this show es signs of any distortion then the
inner sills may need repairing,
on pre '67 models they have a pressed steel radius arm to locate
the rear axle this must be checked!!! the later ones have tubular
armed 4 link setup usually ok...

as for the other bits
make sure that the temp guage works as they are capillary not
electrical or cheap to replace with a reckon
check the front and rear oil seals these are made of fuzzy felt so
they leak when worn, but some have been converted to rubber.

spares are OK to get some bits are unobtainable

early model have drum brakes all round but most have been
converted to disc front which is easy to do if you need to do it..

prices vary allot

i hope Ive covered it for you if there is any other questions then
PM me ;D

l :on

true, but i recon my 'zon has only been cranky maybe 3 times in the 6 months i have had her, slow she is on take off, but she will pull up any hill with ease and putter along at any legal speed quite happily, shes no more inefficient then anything else i have owned, infact with the high compression, when in tune she is probably the most economical car I've owned, and 2 breakdowns in 6 months (on consecutive days, due to a tiny bit of dirt in 1 carb) isnt too shabby at all i recon. and the grin factor is definitely there, nothin like cruising wondering what all the people in the normal cars are thinking as you roll past them.

Early B16 cars are hard to get parts for and tune.

121 \ Favorit models \ some 122S (pre 67) have unservoed brakes which are a bit shocking if you're used to a modern car.

Clutch is light, one with heavy pedal pressure suggests cable \ clutch master cylinder issues, these are obtainable, the schaefer master cylinder types are hard to come by and only repair kits are available.

Front discs are expensive, about the only consumable that is mechanically.

Laycock O\ D is useful on B20 engined cars, B18 okay without. J type is preferable over D type for any later power mods you had in mind.

Preferably look for a car that has had the front and rear crank oil seals replaced with neoprene items, as the felt originals degrade and will kill the clutch, meaning the box has to come out.

Refitting the clutch \ gearbox is a nasty job because you keep twatting the bulkhead getting the damn things lined up.

Doors rot from the inside out taking the window channels with them. Getting the window winders off is an absolute sod without breaking the plastic shroud between the door trim and the winder.

Door seals are expensive.

Rear hubs need a special tool to remove, although I have found a place that sells them cheap (and I'm not saying where FTM)

Engines, despite being OHV, can rev to 8000 RPM with a lairy cam and gasflowed head.

Performance of A series B18s is pretty marginal, try and get one with the twin SU carbs. You can easily pick up 15 - 20 BHP with a freer flowing exhaust (£162 from Amazon Cars minus the header, other than that a complete stainless system, standard one is very restrictive) and a set of these.

Gearstick knob pops off if thread is worn, only reconned knobs available.

Front wings and chrome work is expensive, as are the doors, rear wings and bottom rear wing repair panels.

Summary: Buy the best car bodily that you can afford. Having made the cardinal mistake of buying the first car I saw because I was proper excited (and got stitched up by a bloke in Edinburgh selling a non running 122S) I would now much rather have a bodily mint Amazon with a rogered engine rather than vice versa, which is what I have.

Engines are very strong provided they're not neglected with curse word oil. Bare minimum green old style 20W \ 40. I use a fully sythetic 15 W \ 40 on mine simply because it's an old engine and gets used a lot.

Hope that helps.

Wow, some Amazon experts here.
Can anyone tell me how to identify a pre- or post '67 model?
Or maybe another way to determine date of birth. (mine has had some identity problems, for the looks of it probably a mistake of the RDW (think it's SVA overthere))

on pre '67 models they have a pressed steel radius arm to locate
the rear axle this must be checked!!! the later ones have tubular
armed 4 link setup

plus if you tel me your chassis number and model i can tel you
what year it was built

Just had another thought of some information that would be useful to me before I look.

Has anyone got any links to exploded diagrams of the engine, front/rear suspension and steering set up please.

Thanks again

FTW!

Thanks ;D

How big are the engine bays in these things ?
And what's the running gear / axle like ?

I assume they are all RWD ?

Cheers
Rob

gotta love the armchair, most comfortable low down seating position in any car i have driven. I am 6'2", so my 'zon is the only car i have ever driven where i don't feel like I'm looking through the roof, infact there is somuch damn room i could wear a tophat without touching the roof!
Rob, the previous owner of mine refused sale to the buyer before me because he was going to put a chev V8 in it. supposedly the 'boxes are strong enough to take it as well, i would imagine the only thing you would need to do is move the rad a bit (heck, the small block would probably be lighter then the cast iron donk in these!)