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Harold ya'll getting some of that sleet, freezing
rain and snow about now up there in panhaldle. Good time to take a AMC out and
see if heater works, and also how it handles. We have sleet and freezing rain
forecast for tonight here in west Houston, should be fun. I have to go drop off
some FedEx packages, taking the 81 Eagle with 4cyl, 4spd for that. Funny thing
is all those yanquis who have moved here from points north think they know how
to still drive in this stuff. They are usually the first to eat cement barriers.
Second would go to the folks from 'sunny climes'
which would include Pakistanis, Mexicans, Brazilians, Saudis, and even a lot of
the Russians we have here, not to mention anyone from Africa
and ares of Middle East, many of these people have never seen snow and
ice.
When there was a big sleet like storm years
ago here, all the stations were telling people to stay off the roads, however,
for those that didn't there were something like 2500 wrecks in a 24 hour period,
and cops were telling people unless someone seriously injured or dead, don't
call them. One reason why so many wrecks is this is 'the bayou city' and
thousands of bridges all over Harris county, and they iced up
easily!
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2005 6:29
PM
Subject: Re: [BaadAssGremlins] sand &
Gremlins in snow
Onree,
I agree as I have driven my 74 gremmie 258 3 speed in every kind of
weather there is to experience in Texas, from South of San Antonio to Amarillo
to Texarkana, in the 32 years I have owned her and she handles well in
everything. There isn't a vehicle made(save a tank) that handles ice well and
you should see Texans drive in the rain! Another reason to be glad to be a
Yankee.
Onree <onree@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I
REMEMBER DRIVING MY NEW 1970 GREMLIN IN THE SNOW 35 YEARS AGO--OF COURSE IT
WAS MY PRIMARY CAR AT THE TIME. Oops, sorry about the CAPS. The original
6.00x13 tires gave kind of a tenuous grip to the pavement , so I did buy a
set (5) of Michelin X radials, which made a real difference. I never had any
high speed handling problems after that, and no cement in the back. I
always carried (still do) an old army entrenching tool (a short little
folding spade) and a couple of gallon milk jugs full of gravel (better
than sand) in the back in the winter, especially (like Hal said) for helping
out somebody else.
A full gas tank makes a real traction difference
with a Gremlin. Simple math--the Gremlin tank holds about 21 gallons, and
gas weighs about 8 lbs 4 ozs per gallon, so the difference between a full
tank and near empty is over 160 pounds (THE WEIGHT OF TWO BAGS OF
CEMENT)--and it's right over the drive wheels.
Fast forward to
2005--In the last week--because I'm trying to sell a couple cars and my
storage situation is changing--I've had the opportunity to drive both of my
Gremlins in the c-c-c-cold and snow/ice. The 1972 (258-3speed) is pretty
good. Sometimes need a second gear start to get rolling without spinning the
tires. The 1973 (304-auto) is absolutely terrible. Just too much low speed
torque and too high an idle speed. All I have to do is let my foot off of
the brake for the tires to break loose, and braking is just as bad. What a
contrast--so it's hard to make a blanket statement about Gremlins being good
or bad in the snow.
I love my four wheel drive Gremlin (also known as
an Eagle SX/4) which will go just about anywhere through anything--but you
still have to watch out for all the 4x4 pickup and SUV drivers who seem to
think it makes their pr*ck longer to drive fast and stupid when it's
slick.
Onree
on 12/7/05 2:21 PM,
eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx at eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx did
write:
Actually on driving AMCs in the
snow, if I can find the photos, there are several Eagles that STILL do
duty at several Michigan airports! And yes, in the snow. And AMC's
marketing relied heavily on marketing the Eagle Series as snow ready. Here
are a number of original brochure photos of Eagles off Arcticboy's
website, and there is the Airline car. There is a interesting story behind
that as all the SUVs and 4X4s they have at that airport, the Eagle was the
only one to not only start, but also worked tirelessly pulling carts,
small airplanes, and well, pushing dead vehicles in a major snowstrom they
had up there in 2001 I believe it was. Jim Wajda is the prez of the
Bricklin club, good fellow, but the article appeared in several magazines,
really neat to see:
http://www.arcticboy.com/Pages/arcticboyseagle.html
As for Gremlins in snow,
nah.....
Eddie Stakes'
Planet Houston
AMX
713.464.8825
eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.planethoustonamx.com
<http://www.planethoustonamx.com>
----- Original Message -----
From: Bradley Jones
<mailto:wagonmasterx5@xxxxxxxxx>
To:
BaadAssGremlins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, December 07,
2005 1:40 PM
Subject: Re: [BaadAssGremlins] sand
When I
was in high school, my girlfriend had a '72 Gremmy. In deep snow, it
couldn't be stopped. On icy or rainy roads it was a little squirrely.
She ran biased snow tires all
year.
themixtoo@xxxxxxx wrote:
Maybe you shouldn't drive ANY 30year old AMC in the snow
(only Doc can because he's a grumpy old Santa). Especialy a Gremlin,
no amount of sand in the back (what Back?) will fix your traction
problem. 'The Mix'
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