Re:Rusty Gremlins, etc.

[Gremlingts@xxxx]

 Well, from what i heard from an old gentleman who used to sell Ramblers 
and AMCs, AMC back in the '70's was putting a little too much acid in the 
metal formulation, there's a specified limit on how much acid can be in steel 
by gov't regs. So, after a few years, moisture would work with the acid in 
the metal, and start eating the paint, and then fenders would rust off the 
cars in 4-5 years, and people would have to buy replacement parts. And AMC 
made money doing this. At least, this gentleman indicated there was a 
successful lawsuit againest AMC about this, after they tested the metal and 
found the acid content too high. Some of it is just poor design. But I've 
noticed that even the windshield pillars will rust out, and I've hardly EVER 
seen that happen on any other car than an AMC. My GT has a rust repaired spot 
on the right pillar down near the lower corner. I hope the rest of the car 
doesn't deteriorate badly that way, it's inside a garage now, so hopefully it 
will stop it or slow it down until I can get to doing something about it. 
The front fender design with the inner brace also holds moisture, so the 
tops of the fenders rust out. Good engineering design, bad practical design! 
Heck, the fact that I've got 6 Gremlins, and found them, versus a Pinto or a 
Vega...heck I've only seen a few Pinto's lately, and NO Vegas at all! I'd say 
the Gremlins have held up pretty good in the East Coast humidity so far. How 
many of the old Honda CVCC's have you seen lately, the little early Honda 
sedan? I can't remember the last time I saw one of those, they were rusting 
away 15 years ago when they were only 10 years old. So I'd say the AMC's are 
about average, with some special areas to watch out for. 
Well, time to get some breakfast, and prepare to head to the farm, going 
to bring back some more of my AMC parts, maybe an engine/trans out of the 
Javelin. Fun fun! Ya'll have a good weekend.

Jerry
wet in Woodbridge...