1975 Gremlin...Yay or nay?

Hello. 1975 Gremlin for sale around here. 650 dollars, I haven't seen it. It is about 2 hours away at best, so Id rather not waste my time going there to find something I cant use.

Being what it is ( an orphan), are parts a pain and a half to get a hold of? I know HemiGremi may be able to help with this question. What kind of modifications need to be done to put in a larger engine (suspension and frame wise?). It has a 3 speed manual on the floor, so that leads me to believe its a 232?

Anywho, doable daily driver/project, or something not worth the hassle?

Thanks!


Register now (free) or login to remove ads

Gremlins were known for being peices of crap, but there just so cool. take it, find an AMC 304, and make a Gremlin X clone. put a 4spd behind it, you'd have 1 hot machine you could have fun with. providing it's in buildable shape now

A GREMLIN!!!!
LOL.
Yea I got mine because I was tired of pulling up to car shows and having the same ryde as everyone else (55-57 chevy, camaro, mustang, street rod.
Ive not saw one Gremmie around here so mine will be way different.

Parts are a little scarce, but youd be surprised what you can get on a few clubs n ebay. They make glass fenders, hoods, ect...

Id get a 304, 360 or fab up some mounts n drop in a sbc if ya get it.

But, the 232 n 258's are perfect candidated for turbo setups as well. They have factory steel cranks n rods and like 7 main caps. A friend of mione bolted a turbo on a 258 of his gremlin and its pretty quick and didnt cost a ton.

First Id chk out the car. Make sure its even worth fixing. HG

A buddy of mine here in the valley has a bone stock looking Levi edition with a modified 390 with a 4 speed. That thing is fast, once the tires stop smokin'.
Mechanical parts for that shouldn't be a problem but, interior, trim and rubber parts for some amc cars can be a little hard to come by but most are still available. Any amc v8 from 290 to 401 will drop right in but 390 and 401 engines are hard to come by and a little pricey.

Hemmi Gremmi, today is the first time I checked out your journal. Awesome work! I remember the Gremlins and I kinda liked them, but they were always over shadowed by the usual cars. It's cool to see you're putting one on the street.

P.S. No matter what you do, that blower is NOT going to look subtle!

Who needs subtle?

Okay, being the AMC guru of the board, I'm probably a little biased, but Gremlins weren't "known as pieces of crap" -- not more than any other 70s US built car anyway. Sturdier than Pintos and Vegas, their primary competition! AMCs didn't have as high a resale value and were usually beat to crap after the first owner. So I'll agree with one thing -- 10+ year old used Gremlins were known as pieces of crap -- because they'd been beat to that level with little care or maintenance! I often here things like "man I beat that car to h--l, but it just wouldn't quit!". Usually there was a "wish I hadn't beat it so bad now" or something following.

The Gremlin is literally a shortened, hacked off Hornet. The engine bay is the same, and the Hornet was made to handle AMCs V-8. Any small block (Ford/Chevy/Chrysler) will drop in with relative ease. So will, of course, the GEN-3 AMC V-8 (technically not a small block, but near enough in physical size). A big block will be crowded. The engine bay is similar in size to a Chevy II or early Mustang -- much bigger than Vega/Pinto/MII.

Probably...Canada's most famous Gremlin...Bert Straus' Chilly Willy........SB Chevy powered Gremlin.....Turned 10 sec times in the early 70s ..Mini Pro Stock Class.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
In the words of Walter Cronkite..."And that's the way it is."

Ontario Rodders

And, since Willys36 will ask, Why wasnt it a Willys?....Well it was first.......

__________________
In the words of Walter Cronkite..."And that's the way it is."

Ontario Rodders

Wicked

Thanks Farna. Are buildups of AMC signifigantly more than any other engine (save a chevy).

Thanks FeverFred.

Its been a LONG, LONG almost 8 years. But I think the payoff will be worth it.
Its not gonna have a 5 grand paint job and a grand interior job, but it should look good when done.
And yes, it will be drivin quit regularly. HG

I like the gremlins but then I like anything out of the ordinary. Why else own a 38 DeSoto?

Here´s a Picture Review of American Motors
Gremlins seem to have run for quite a few years.

I realize they are different body styles, but it looks to my untrained eye like the basic Gremlin chassis was used all the way to the end in form of the Hornet/Concorde/Eagle/Spirit. Am I right, or did they change them enough over the years that parts aren't interchangeable?

BMM, some people will tell you that AMCs cost more to build, but for the same power potential they are not. AMC heads flow better than anything else made IN THEIR DAY (67-late 70s). They are roughly equivalent to Chevy LS-1 and 90s Chrysler Magnum heads (the later were based on the AMC design after Chrysler bought AMC). So to compare apples to apples, garden variety Chevy/Ford/Chryco heads need upgraded or highly ported/massaged heads to be the equivalent of lightly cleaned up garden variety AMC heads. There are no different heads for hi-po AMCs -- all 343-401 heads are basically the same. The smaller 290/304 uses a similar head with smaller valves and I seem to recall the ports might be slightly smaller -- can't recall now. They are a different casting than the "big" engine heads. There are a couple differences in the heads -- 67-early 71 big engine heads have a smaller combustion chamber than later ones because early models had higher compression, and 67-69 GEN-2 heads have a rectangular exhaust port compared to 70-91 GEN-3, which have a "dogleg" exhaustport that flows about 10-15% better (the sites that say up to 50% better are full of it! I've seen flow tables made with the two heads on the same bench). No big deal if you have later big chamber heads -- pistons are available to get the compression you want in a rebuild. Some people believe the earlier heads are "better", but if you're building and replace the pistons they aren't -- save your money!

As for parts, yes, they will cost a bit more. Consider the savings of not having to put a lot of work into or upgrading the heads though, and the few dollars more for parts don't make up the difference. Some people complain that there are fewer choices of parts. That's true -- I don't think there are but 4-5 readily available. But I'll let you in on a secret -- those intakes are available because they sell. They sell because they are known to work well in their designed rpm range. There used to be more choices, but the trash has been weeded out. What you get is more likely to work well, as long as it's paired with similar potential cam/carb/etc.

For more info on AMC engines, you might want to go to www.amcforums.com. Lots of AMC racers on their.