AMC Gremlin

[Unix]

Well, yesterday it arrived in Rotterdam, The Netherlands where it was unloaded. Should be in Poland next week, as soon as they load the car on a lorry.
+ some pics of loading in Houston.
The last pic shows what i plan of doing with the car , looks good in silver

 

[Unix]

Well on it's way. Spot the creature

 

[LocuMob]

Well on it's way. Spot the creature

View attachment 503360

That's a lot of old cars being transported!

 

[Marv]

I always liked the Volvo P2000 but I figure I'll never fit into these cars being 6'3

 

[Unix]

The creature has arrived, and is alive. Drives fine. Suspension and steering is good , engine also ok , had the compression checked: I 9,5 , II 9,5 III 10 IV 10 V 9,5 VI 10 .
The Borg Warner automatic transmission works in DRIVE, but reverse is gone, and kickdown doesn't work. Brakes are horrible - 4 MANUAL drums .... really bad, need lots of pressure to stop this thing.

Overall condition is good, very well mantained taking into account 140kmiles. The body is mostly straight, bumpers and trim are good. Having the car stripped as we speak, shouldn't be too bad with the rust. The original color was B3 Quicksilver, really good news since i planned on going silver anyway - so now a bonus that it will be numbers matching.

Interior is near perfect, nothing missing.

Have lots of spare parts , but that's another update, have to sort them all.

The engine is really nice and perky, 232ci 145hp. Just as quick as my 383 Newport. I like the gas mileage, easily over 20 MPG. Just tap the gas off the lights and it glides smoothly and quickly to 50/60mph.

So here it goes, another restoration in the making.

Keep rollin'

 

[Marv]

It´ll be a head turner when finished. Nobody will know what that thing is. Do you still see some Lada or other former Sovjet cars that you frequently see on the roads ? With it´s small and boxy appearance some people will likely mistake it for one those.

 

[Snotty]

If you want to address the brakes, find a late '70s AMC Spirit with disks. Everything is a swap! Even the sway bar if your Grem doesn't have one; it's pre-drilled in the frame for one to go. New brake parts for a '79 AMC are less expensive than original parts. I swapped everything from a '79, and stayed manual; car stops exceptionally!

If you're thinking of rebuilding or swapping that little 4, I'd suggest finding a Jeep 4.0 straight 6. Lots of power and it's a bolt-up. We swapped in a V8 where a 258 had sat; I'd do the 4.0 if I did it again.

Have fun and good luck!

 

[Unix]

Well.. hmm , looks like the car lived up to its name. The restoration shop owner called me yesterday (unusual on a sunday), and said he had some bad news. The car is destroyed. Half of his shop burned down 2 days prior. Among the cars, my Gremlin perished. 50 firefighters were on the scene, and 10 firetrucks fought the fire for 3 hours.
When i asked if it's salvagable, he just asked how much the car cost.
Don't really know what to say. Glad it was at the start of the restoration, not at the end, and that my Chrysler wasn't at the shop.
Cause of fire, probably electrical fault in the wiring on the oustide wall, fire crept to the ceiling, and went on the inside.

Here is the story, in Polish anyway ;)

https://gazetakrakowska.pl/wielka-w...-sa-spalone-samochody-zdjecia/ar/c15-15996719

Wish him luck, and need to get me money back.

Well, i guess life ;)

 

[1978 NYB]

Well.. hmm , looks like the car lived up to its name. The restoration shop owner called me yesterday (unusual on a sunday), and said he had some bad news. The car is destroyed. Half of his shop burned down 2 days prior. Among the cars, my Gremlin perished. 50 firefighters were on the scene, and 10 firetrucks fought the fire for 3 hours.
When i asked if it's salvagable, he just asked how much the car cost.
Don't really know what to say. Glad it was at the start of the restoration, not at the end, and that my Chrysler wasn't at the shop.
Cause of fire, probably electrical fault in the wiring on the oustide wall, fire crept to the ceiling, and went on the inside.

Here is the story, in Polish anyway ;)

https://gazetakrakowska.pl/wielka-w...-sa-spalone-samochody-zdjecia/ar/c15-15996719

Wish him luck, and need to get me money back.

Well, i guess life ;)

Sorry to hear your Gremlin got burned up. That was a nice one! I'm sure you can find another one...or a Javelin or AMX. All cool AMC cars!

 

[Marv]

wow that´s my personal nightmare. My car sits in a shop with 15 others. all carburated cars, space to work on them with welding equipment too...
Good luck getting your money back. You looking to replace it with another Gremlin ?

 

[65sporty]

Sorry to here about the loss of your car

 

[Unix]

Thanks guys. When i get my money back (hopefuly this won't be a problem!), I will probably look for another Gremlin - preferably a driver for a few k usd - so if you guys find something on the webs or locally, please let me know.

Luckily all the spare parts I got with the car i put in storage, before driving the car to the bodyshop.
At this point in time I'm the best parts source for a Gremlin in Europe ;)

Will be difficult to find such a bargain for a Gremlin again, 2,5kusd for a driver filled with boxes of good spare parts.

Before i knew my car burned down, I sent off the Automatic Borg Warner transmission to the United Kingdom to Borg Warner Specialist | Automatic Gearbox Reconditioning so he could rebuild the trans. Paid for shipping and all. Now I'm not really sure what to do, rebuild the trans, or just ship it back to me in Poland. What a waste of money.

Will post some pics of the wreckage when i get them.

regards,

 

[LeBaron1973]

Thanks guys. When i get my money back (hopefuly this won't be a problem!), I will probably look for another Gremlin - preferably a driver for a few k usd - so if you guys find something on the webs or locally, please let me know.

Luckily all the spare parts I got with the car i put in storage, before driving the car to the bodyshop.
At this point in time I'm the best parts source for a Gremlin in Europe ;)

Will be difficult to find such a bargain for a Gremlin again, 2,5kusd for a driver filled with boxes of good spare parts.

Before i knew my car burned down, I sent off the Automatic Borg Warner transmission to the United Kingdom to Borg Warner Specialist | Automatic Gearbox Reconditioning so he could rebuild the trans. Paid for shipping and all. Now I'm not really sure what to do, rebuild the trans, or just ship it back to me in Poland. What a waste of money.

Will post some pics of the wreckage when i get them.

regards,

Suggest you get the transmission rebuilt as it'd be ready to install in the next one, otherwise you've wasted money shipping.

The forum guys can keep a lookout for a good replacement Gremlin, the right one must be out there somewhere.

I wish you well and feel sure you'll be cruising Poland in your (new) Gremlin before you know it.

 

[1978 NYB]

Yeah, I also agree to have the txsm rebuilt and have it ready in case you need it for the new one down the road.

 

[Snotty]

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear this!

 

[jake]

Perfect candidate for a hellcat swap!

 

[King Hooter]

 

[Unix]

Dead as can be.

What is good (not warped): front & rear bumper. Front Gremlin emblem, and side Gremlin (amazing). Front left fender is good as well. Front wheel good.

The rest is junk, really badly warped. Anyway, will store the car, place it on some bricks so it's level, cover it up.

I plan on buying another Gremlin, from 70-73. So you never know, might need some patching, and some small patches might come in handy from the burned up one.

What do you guys think of the wheels ? They don't look deformed in anyway. Would be a shame of those Magnums.

And what do you think about the engine ? The carb melted, but maybe mechanically it's good (i mean pistons, crank etc).

At least the shop owner already repaid me most of the money. Apparently, the car was outside, and the fire started on the outside wall of the building, from the electrical box with the meter - so it's the energy companies fault, because it was before the building wiring. The owner is going to sue them. The box ignited the styrofoam insulation, and crept to the roof and then inside. The blaze must have been great because it caught the Gremlin.

Some pics of the car where it laid to rest, the blaze came off the wall ... must have been some crazy heat!

It's a real shame, the car was in great shape...

 

[PH27L7]

Such a nice car & unbelievably bad luck. Condolences & some new possibilities...

RARE 1972 AMC Gremlin X V8 project car or? - auto parts - by owner -...

1971 *AMC* *Gremlin* - cars & trucks - by dealer - vehicle...

 

[1978 NYB]

I wouldn't use any of the engine parts. It seems that the fire got pretty hot. Stuff like sheet metal if survived the fire in the engine compartment would be OK and not a risk. But any internal engine parts wouldn't go inside another engine if it was me.