AZ AMC Restorations

AZ AMC Restorations Preservation & mechanical services location of AZ AMC Restorations, owned and operated by Dan Curtis

Dedicated to restoration and preservation of 50s - 70s Muscle Cars with a particular focus on very rare mid 60s to mid 70s AMC muscle cars.

We recently concocted a combination of paint materials to replicate the Machine wheel finish and it came out as good as ...
05/28/2026

We recently concocted a combination of paint materials to replicate the Machine wheel finish and it came out as good as any restored wheel I have seen and considerably better than most. The first picture is before the final dusting with a metal flake but with that final step, it was a 5 step painting process. First we media blasted the wheel to bare metal and then primed it with a black self etching primer. Next we painted it in SEM trim black which is a satin finish. Next we hit it with a textured coating before painting the wheel in a dark argent metallic paint that we use on the botton flat panel on 69 AMX grills. The final coating is a metallic "stainless" paint that we dusted the wheel with in order to recreate the extra glittler finish on top of the dark argent metallic. The two pictures show the dark argent before the final dusting and after with the final dusting. If you zoom in on the picture where I am holding it in the sunlight, you can see lots of glitter. I have seen lots of Machine wheel finishes and this one is as good or better than any restored Machine wheels I have ever seen

I am offering 2 sets of 360 Wiseco forged piston and custom made cast steel rod combos for right around $1050 for the se...
05/25/2026

I am offering 2 sets of 360 Wiseco forged piston and custom made cast steel rod combos for right around $1050 for the set including shipping and tax. I have both .030 and .045 pistons shown in the picture. The cast steel rods come with cap bolts and floating wrist pins and are made with high grade cast steel so they are much stronger than factory rods PLUS they are brand new rather than rebuilt 60 year old rods. The Wiseco pistons come with wrist pins and free floating lock rings plus piston rings and sell for $700/set on Summit racing. The custom rods retail for $550, if you can find them. I am serlling the combination for $1050 rather than over $1300 after shipping and tax wich is at least a $250 savings over buying them online.

We finished up our last crate engine builds at AZ AMC Restorations and got them both crated up this week. We had been b...
05/22/2026

We finished up our last crate engine builds at AZ AMC Restorations and got them both crated up this week. We had been banging out 8-10 crate engines/year for the past 20 years but because machine shops are getting more and more scarce with each passing year plus parts quality has become so hit or miss, we made the tough decision to exit the crate engine market. Why? Because we warranty every new engine against defects and by doing the installation, tuning and test driving in house rather than sending a brand new engine off to be installed by the owner, we are able to catch any failed parts before the customer gets stranded on the side of the road. On the other hand, we still build engines whenever we are asked to remove the old engine and reinstall the new and also still build a different than original engine and install it in a car when requested to do so. But going forward, we will only build engines that we install and test and tune in the car to ensure that everything is good before giving the car back to the customer. AZ AMC Restorations is all about making cars and engines as good as they can be and this decision will help us continue our history of top quality engine builds and restorations that our customers enjoy problem free for the rest of their lives.

One of the nicest cars we have ever restored is heading back to its owner after we did a secondary upgrade to port elect...
05/17/2026

One of the nicest cars we have ever restored is heading back to its owner after we did a secondary upgrade to port electronic fuel injection, roller cam, and long tube headers to leverage the Engines power potential better. The initial restoration included throttle body fuel injection, and shorty headers plus a mild flat tap at Cam that lacked the kind of punch one would expect for an engine with Edelbrock heads. Our experience has been that the throttle body fuel injection diminishes the power potential on a heavily built-up engine. One customer determined that he just didn’t like the way the throttle body EFI system felt and had us put a carburetor back on it after which he swore it felt like we bolted on another hundred horsepower. The other thing that the EFI equipped cars lack is the roar of a good 4 bbl carb along with that pin you into the back of the seat when you punch it and cut in the secondaries

Here is a good lesson on why we always prefer to strip any repainted body panels down to bare metal and will only do met...
05/17/2026

Here is a good lesson on why we always prefer to strip any repainted body panels down to bare metal and will only do metal work on an hourly basis rather than a fixed price based upon an estimate that may or may not be accurate due to hidden damage repairs. We knew this car had some repair and repaint work on the rear quarter panels but were surprised to see the replacement body panel riveted to the original sheet metal. The rivet were not visible from the inside due to sound deadener also be resprayed on the inside of the panel resulting in the back of the rivets being hidden. This isn't the first time we have seen rivets in old body work and it probably won't be the last. The crazy thing is that they did not add weld to the seam in addition to the rivets rather they just bondo'd over the unwelded seam which resulted in moisture getting under the new paint resulting in surface rust on the new metal.

Many of my AMC facebook friends have been inquiring about how my hip is doing after it was replaced and the response is ...
05/16/2026

Many of my AMC facebook friends have been inquiring about how my hip is doing after it was replaced and the response is all is doing very well to the point that it is 85-90% fully functional after just 8 short week. I have resumed hiking and working out with weights which together will hopefully get the hip back up to 100% over the next couple of months. Now that I am in my mid 70s, the loss of muscle tissue while I was down was pretty startling so I am also using a protein supplement to help recover the lost strength and muscle tissue that disappeared after not being able to do any real exercise for the two months leading up the hip replacement ad then the first 4 weeks after. Starting on day three, I did multiple PT sessions every day during those critical first couple of weeks and because at my age,PT is the key to recovery. When someone does not put in the time and effort to do as much PT as possible, the recovery becomes prolonged and much more uncomfortable without the 5 times a day PT that was recommended. I stuck to the PT regiment like glue and it appears to have resulted in a fairly quick and successful recovery

If anyone is looking for a Machine project, this is an opportunity you won't see again for a long time. The owner is an...
04/26/2026

If anyone is looking for a Machine project, this is an opportunity you won't see again for a long time. The owner is an AMC friend who has decided to focus on another car for the forseeable future. It is a real deal facotry RWB 4 spd Machine and has fairly serious rust issues in the quarters but comes with a very solid parts car plus a bunch of parts the owner picked up over the years. It does not currently have the 390 engine and not sure about the original T-10 transmission but it is otherwise all there except for Machine wheels. There is also a good 3.54 rear end and springs and control arms for the parts car as part of the deal. Both can be purchased for combined price of $7500 with a clean title on the Machine which seems like a really good value to me considering whatever metal is bad on the Machine is covered by the parts car. They are located in Wyoming MN and the owner would like them both to be with a new owner within the next couple of weeks so if you have been looking for a Machine project at a reasonable price, don't snooze as this deal should be scooped up pretty fast. I will provide contact information via PM so that he does not get bombarded by facebook scammers from posting his phone number with this post.

A fellow AMCer from Las Vegas, who's car I have seen up close and personal at the annual AMC shows in Henderson, has dec...
04/07/2026

A fellow AMCer from Las Vegas, who's car I have seen up close and personal at the annual AMC shows in Henderson, has decided it is time to let someone else enjoy this beautiful AMX. It is every bit as nice as it looks in the pictures. Here is his listing:

1969 AMX

This rust-free specimen saved from the Las Vegas desert is one of only 729 built in this year with the 343 engine and automatic transmission. The Go-pack includes a 3:15 ratio “Twin Grip” differential. Another added option includes a tilt steering column. The functioning odometer displays a low 76,000 miles. The engine and transmission were rebuilt to factory specs three years ago, with less than 400 miles driven since. It is a factory A/C car, but the parts aren’t installed.

The car was completely stripped, sand blasted, ironed out, and painted in Sun Poppy yellow. Under hood and front end parts were powder coated grey for an appealing contrast. The 17x8 inch Rev Wheels are wrapped with Kumho 215/55 on the front, and 245/50 in the rear. Stock tire height was maintained to insure an accurate speedometer.

As shown in the pictures, the interior is a combination of factory and aftermarket parts. I wanted to build an affordable driver and not a concourse trailer queen.

It’s fun to chat with people all day at the local car shows who've never seen an AMX or have cool stories about one from their past. Unfortunately, I’m getting too old to play with cars now, and looking to pass this on to another enthusiast for only $45,000.

If interested, I can be reached at [email protected]. My cell is 435-668-3656. Text before calling so I know you’re not spam, thanks. Rick.

We have a Calvert Racing split mono Spring, Caltrac and Rear shock kit that we are removing from a 73 Javelin. The full ...
03/26/2026

We have a Calvert Racing split mono Spring, Caltrac and Rear shock kit that we are removing from a 73 Javelin. The full setup has around 5000 miles but the new owner is looking for a more stock vehicle so we will be removing all of the Calvert Racing parts. To purchase this same kit would cost around $1300 with sales tax and we will sell them for $695 plus shipping. These pictures are from Calvert racing site, but I can get pictures of the actual components still installed in the car as well.

I have some pretty interesting new 390/401 rods plus the same in 360 rods if anyone is interested. If you use them on an...
03/14/2026

I have some pretty interesting new 390/401 rods plus the same in 360 rods if anyone is interested. If you use them on an early 390 you just run 401 pistons and .027 Cometic head gaskets if you want high compression @10.05:1 with stock early heads or run the standard .045 head gasket for a very pump gas friendly @ 9.66:1 with stock small chamber heads. They are made from 4340 steel, have full floating wrist pins and have rod cap bolts instead of rod bolt studs and are already pre balanced. They are cast steel (as compared to cast iron which is what all 360 factory rods are) instead of forged and are good for up to 6000-6500 RPM all day long. Cast steel is a lot more durable than cast iron and rods cap bolts are much stronger than studs and nuts so one could certainly conclude that they are every bit as strong at the factory forged 390 /401 rods and they are new and nice and straight. We have built a coupe of engines with them and they work great. I am asking $495/set including tax and shipping which is close to the same cost as adding ARP rod bolts and resizing 55 year old factory rods which usually have at least a couple that are bent and need to be straightened or replaced. I would not recommend these rods for 750 HP drag racing egine but they are an excellent alternative and stronger than 50 year old stock rods for a street performance engine.

We don't usually post pictures of non AMC cars but I am making an exception about this 69 Firebird 400. It has a 461 Bu...
03/07/2026

We don't usually post pictures of non AMC cars but I am making an exception about this 69 Firebird 400. It has a 461 Butler stroker rotating assembly, Edelbrock aluminum heads, Long tube 1 3/4" headers, TKX 5 sped and all sort of other goodies like a serpentine system, 4 wheel disc brakes, Retrosound radio with bluetooth and USB, Vintage AC, close ratio steering box, Q1 suspenions and the list goes on and on. I was never a big fan of Camaros but I have to admit, this Firebird really grabbed my eye from the say it arrived in 2021, yes that is nearly 5 year ago. It came out VERY nice and I would be thrilled to own this car any day.

Address

Dan Curtis 10728 N 96th Avenue
Peoria, AZ
85345

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+16023172018

Website

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