Welcome to our little Gremlin online community, Rebecca! I'll intro
myself to ya - I'm Jerry Casper, married to GremlnGirl, live in northern
Virginia, own 8 Gremlins currently ( and 18 AMCs total ), love these
cars and
many others. That said, I do have some experience on areas to look for
in
these cars. Rust can be a big problem, and in strange but critical
areas, so
you need to learn to look for them, and look UNDER the car as well,
I'll bet
99% of car buyers never even peek underneath the car to look really
well at
it to look for damage from accidents, rust, etc. VERY important. Sites
under
a Gremlin to look at include the rocker panels ( the sheetmetal directly
under the doors ), both outside view and underneath view. The inner
rockers
can show jagged rust lines from rust eating away at it, so carry a
bright
flashlight to look at these areas VERY CRITICALLY if you want a solid
car and
not a major project. Floorboards also rust out, so look for carpet
poking
thru holes in the floors ( front floors most prone ), or flaking metal.
Up
front, look at the frame behind the bumpers and running under the
engine,
this area can rust out, and your bumper can literally fall off if bad
enough
( although it'd have to be pretty bad to do it ), but these are unibody
cars,
and the frames are more sheet metal than thick steel, so this is a
critical
area to check.
Rear wheel well lips rust, too, so look for bondo repairs. Around
the rear
tail lights and rear hatch ( upper hinge area on roof CAN rust out,
too! Also
around the lower lip where water collects ).
Even the front windshield pillars can rust out, you can find rust
spots
forming on half way up the front windshield support pillars if it's
really
bad.
Front fenders can rust out on TOP, near the rear, there's an inner
fender brace that catches moisture, so look carefully about 12 inches
from
the windshield on the top of the fenders, see if any bubbling of paint
is
apparent.
Open both doors, and look at the front hinge areas, these can rust
out
and cause the doors to sag, this is a HARD repair to do if the car body
is
rotted in this area. But it's important to look for. Also check the area
around the big pin that the door latch locks onto ( the rear door
opening
pillar), this sheetmetal can rust out, or the pin can be pulled out,
there
was a later factory fix of a big plate over this area to reinforce it.
I have
several Gremlins with a big plate with many screws around the door
locking
pin. Check for wear on top of the pin, to see if the door is dragging.
See if
the door lines up, or does it require lifting to raise the door to
close. The
door hinges may need fixing ( minor , somewhat ).
Now that I've scared the bejebbers out of you ( not sure what a
Bejebber
IS , really ), don't let a little rust scare you off. These cars are
getting
old, heck, a '70 is 32 years old now, and unless you live in southern
California or Arizona or some other dry climate area, ALL Gremlins will
show
some rust. All mine do, and I didn't let it stop me from buying them,
even if
it HAS some rustout in some areas. It's just knowing how bad is too bad
that
is critical. You don't say what area of the country you live in, so not
sure
how critical it is for you to check, but if you live where there is
lots of
snow and salt use, then check it carefully!
Ok, here's a short Critical check list to look for stuff, and
importance
of each.
=== Critical importance : 1 is minor, 5 average, 10 MAJOR ====
- Inner/out rocker panels - 10 - this is a MAJOR structural
component,
believe it or not, and if you have major holes on the inner side that
you can
put your fist into, could cause structural integrity problems! Most
holes
near rear wheel area. One big hole acceptable, but if entire length of
inner
rocker is ate up with rust, BEWARE!
- Door hinge area - 8 - This area can be fixed, but it will be
expensive and require custom metal work, so if it's really bad, BEWARE!
This
problem can cause door sag, not just worn hinge pins, so if the doors
don't
swing open cleanly, check out this area ( check it out anyway! ).
- Front subframe, bumper to firewall - 5 +/- - This can be
crucial,
especially if you're involved in an accident. If the rust is mainly up
front
near the bumper, it can be lived with ( structural rust, not the brown
surface rust ALL cars have to some extent ). Look at it back where the
frame
is attached /welded to the firewall, if there is ANY rust in THIS area,
it's
an 11 ! Usually doesn't happen there, but it's near the floorboard
rust-prone
area, so should be checked anyway. Very FEW people do check. I'm
guilty, I
doubt I looked at this on ANY of the 8 Gremlins I bought ( then again,
some I
just bought for parts, too ). IF the rest of the car looks good, this
area is
probably ok, too.
- Rear quarters/wheel well openings - 3 - Not a major problem,
just
cosmetic. But some states don't allow rustthru for inspection
( Maryland is
one of them ), and metal to repair this area is practically
non-existent, so
special repairs will be needed. I drive mine with this area rusted, so
it's
not a crucial item to me. Looks bad, but... LOL
- Hatch opening - 5 - Look for rust holes on lower lip area
across the
back, can leak inside the car if it has leaked or rusted thru. Hard to
fix
area, too.
- Gas tank/filler opening - 5 - can be a problem area, look for
crusty
rust under gas cap ( take it off, look inside tube opening with
flashlight,
NOT a match or lighter ) A well-maintained Gremlin will have a little
rust,
but if it's sat a long time, could be seriously flaky rust here. Gas
tanks
can rust out, too, so if you see lots of rust here, hmm...
- Floorboards - qualified 7 - This is an EASY area to repair,
generally
speaking, and therefor requires careful analysis. If the rockers arent'
rusted out, and no other major rust, then it's minor. If other areas are
badly rusted, then it can be major problem. ANY State safety inspection
will
reject this outright as unsafe, even if it is easy to fix. So that's
why I
qualify it as a high number. But it can be repaired easily and restores
structural integrity, so if that's all that's wrong, then I wouldnt'
reject
the car for it.
- body sheetmetal - 4 - This covers all other sheetmetal.
Fenders can
be replace or removed to be fixed. Other areas like windshield pillars
can't.
If you can live with minor rust, then it's ok. :) With old cars, you
generally have to, unless you're rich. Look for major holes in fenders,
bubbling paint around water-prone areas ( wheel openings, rubber gasket
areas, etc ). Rust isn't cheap to repair, bodywork costs money, so if
you
want a nice car to begin with, it'll be tough if there's lots to fix.
But as
these cars are getting harder to find, it must be lived with.
Well, I think that covers the major areas, Rebecca. Hope you have
found a
rare gem, '70 Gremlins are almost non-existent these days, and saving
one of
them is a cool thing! If you find one with a non-opening rear hatch,
THESE
are really rare, and super-cool to me, as they're the first 2-person
Gremlins
put out, and not many at that. Oh, and check for the 2 Gremlin guys on
the
front fenders, these emblems alone are worth bucks these days, if
they're
missing, figure $40-50 to replace both.
Other neat things to look for that are rare :
-locking gas cap
-pop-out rear side vent glass ( not sure if '70 had that option,
though)
-Am/Fm radio
Well, keep us informed of what happens to your mission, Reb. Hope
the car
turns out to be a good one!
Jerry Casper, owner of:
'71 Gremlin w/rare canvas sunroof (dented but not very rusty )
'72 Gremlin w/rare canvas sunroof ( not dented but rusty )
'74 Gremlin , plain,junkyard save ( some rust, missing grill )
'74 Gremlin, plain, green, some rust ( rebuilt motor not running, but
was a
free car!!! )
'74 Gremlin, gold, plain ( high mileage, but was garage kept!) running
currently, only Gremlin on the road.
'76 Gremlin, primer ( rusty parts/project car )
'78 GT ( BADLY rusted parts/project car )
'78 GT, Sun orange ( my first Gremlin, runs sometimes, still not on the
road
yet, my baby, maybe this year...)
http://www.geocities.com/caspercars/Gremlin.html
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