Re: [gremlintime] '74 Gremlin Drive Report : Week 3, more little problems fixed...

["John Ferguson III" <liberty_valence@xxxx>]

Have you considered an electronic ignition, & dumping the points? Mine has 
an MSD setup, but a 70 or 80's's Jeep 258 (used until 1991, IIRC, in Jeep YJ 
Wranglers) should have an electronic setup that would work.

Alternately, Pertronix has a conversion that uses the stock points 
distributor.

I loathe breaker points!


----Original Message Follows----
From: Gremlingts@xxxx
Reply-To: gremlintime@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: gremlintime@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, NOSIGMA@xxxx
Subject: [gremlintime] '74 Gremlin Drive Report : Week 3, more little 
problems fixed...
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 14:26:59 EDT

Having my Toyota truck down for repairs still, I have had time to look 
at
all the little things that my bronze Gremlin is doing that needs work. I
still had a persistent backfire this past week, so Saturday evening, after
removing the Toyota rear axle, I started to diagnose the Gremlin. I got out
my dwell meter, figuring the points needed adjusting. I popped the hood,
cranked it up, hooked up the meter, and as I was watching the motor, noticed
something peculiar....the spark plugs were vibrating OPPOSITE of the motor
torque direction! Wha' th' 'ell? I reach over, and tweak one, with wire
attached and running, and the darn plug turns! Well, sheet! I turn the motor
off, and check them all....they're all loose! I don't remember changing 
plugs
myself, might have been the previous owner. They were practically new, 
hardly
any deposits on them, and just a little medium brown color. I tightened them
all up, and cranked it up again. Most of the missing went away, the little
Gremlin was running smoother yet! I looked at the Dwell...50 or so. Hmm, too
high ( low gap ). Took me about 4-5 trys, but got it down to 30 ( 33 
optimal,
but it will wear into that range soon enough). She was humming good, and I
kicked the throttle linkage by hand, no hesitation now! I closed the hood (
after disconnecting my meter, lol! ), and took it out for a spin 'round the
block. It fired off the line great, no backfire or stalling, and ran up to
speed quickly. Did this a few more times, I have a LONG block, about 2 times
a normal city block. It did backfire once, at 20 mph when I really floored
it, but other than that, it ran sweet. I think I just over-gassed it. :) 
Carb
may still need some tweaking. But overall, the Gremlin is getting the
gremlins worked out of it, so maybe I can pull out in front of traffic
without worrying it'll die and make a target of me!
I now need to wash it off outside, and let the blower blow out all the
trapped leaves and stuff, it really stinks in the ductwork! I'll lay a sheet
inside the car ( a bed cover, wink! ) to catch the worst, then clean up the
dash and such afterwards. If I really needed the defrost, it'd be a mess, I
bet. Hasn't been used in years. And I would like to change the dash light
bulbs, they're a bit weak, actually only two left working. I need to go to
the Auto parts store anyway, for the Toyota.
Well, that about wraps up my Gremlin report. I do think the rear leafs
are sagging some, not much, maybe an inch, but it is noticeable driving the
car, as the nose is higher. That being my only little gripe right now,
though, it's getting me to work and back great! Gas mileage ( pre-repairs
this Saturday ) averaged about 18 mpg. Hopefully, with the timing set by the
points, and the plugs tightened, it'll get even better mileage. It's a fun
car to drive. Well, back to cleaning/organizing the house. Later, all.

Jerry
saluting all those men and women who sacrificed their lives so I can own
seven Gremlins freely....Ten-hut! Snap salute!




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