Re: [gremlintime] Hello All! New member here!

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

Hey--that car sounds nice! Mopar 727 auto, right? And a Corporate 20 in 
back?

My 74 has a 401 (from a 1975 police Matador), a manual trans (I, uhh, kinda 
blew up the T-10), 3.15's in an AMC 20, rollcage, sidepipes...big, stupid 
fun. =)

One thing, though: if you have the 20 rear axle, IF YOU DON'T HAVE THEM 
ALREADY, GET 1 PIECE AXLESHAFTS! The 2-piece shafts are seriously weak, & 
can spin the shaft in the axle end, & even snap off & possibly lose the 
wheel! BAD news. Mine are custom (holy crap, that was expensive) Moser 
1.30" diameter HD shafts, since I have a 401 (working on a blower), a 
4-speed, & race it on wrinkle-wall Hoosier slicks. I think Moser can 
shorten & respline Wagoneer or big-car axles. My advice is to check with a 
4x4 shop, since most 1976-86 Jeeps had the AMC 20.


----Original Message Follows----
From: "robot_tank" <robot_tank@xxxx>
Reply-To: gremlintime@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: gremlintime@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [gremlintime] Hello All! New member here!
Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 17:30:32 -0000

Hello all,

Thought I'd try my hand at posting to the group. I've been an AMC
owner for over 15 years, and have had a few of them. I've always
liked Gremlins even when they were first introduced in 1970. I was
only 9 years old but I liked the style. I tried to get my dad to buy
one late in '70 but he came home with a Pinto. Oh well... least it
wasn't a Vega!!

My first AMC was my '72 Gremlin X 304/3speed. I loved that car and
should have never got rid of it. But as I'm sure you all know... the
grass is always greener story... well that is what I thought when I
traded my Gremlin for a '73 Javelin/AMX. Suppositly fully restored,
turned out to be actually just a cosmetic restoration. Ever since
then I've kind of looked on and off again for another Gremlin to
replace my old one. I even called the current owner (not the looser
that I traded it to) to see if he'd sell it back to me - no dice -
even though it's now torn apart and has been that way for years. I
don't know why as it had just been rebuilt (engine that is) about a
year before I traded it.

Well, anyway, fast forward up to last November when I saw a '73
Gremlin X for sale on the classic auto trader page. Said it was
a 'hot rod' with a 390 engine in it. I was on the phone! It was also
in my favorite color - Maxi Blue - with white X stripes. Needless to
say, I drove down and bought it several weeks later. I live in
Northern CA and it was in Southern CA - about a 12 hour drive one way
but I didn't care. The body is straight, paint was great, interior
was terrible, and it didn't run quite right but the potential was
there. Had not been run for over 2 years as the owner had died. His
parents finally got to doing something with the car. Got it home and
started working on it right away. Timing was WAY off, no wonder it
would hardly start. Yanked off the old Holly carb and replaced it
with a new Edelbrock AFB, new plugs, wires, MSD coil, timing adjust,
belts, rebuilt alt, flex fan (clutch fan was shot), and it is running
like a scalded cat. I also found out that the advertised 390 was
really a 401!! Yeah! No wonder this thing frys the tires at the
slightest amount of pedal. Anyway, I've been working on it since
December of last year bringing it back to a condition I can be proud
to drive and show at the cruz-in's.

People still are not ready to accept Gremlins at car shows, but no
matter, I still go and put up their incorrect information and crap. I
try to straighten out the ones that will listen. Most people seem to
ignore the car (you know, it's not a true 'classic' I'm told - say
what!? it's 30 years old!! Dolt!) as I don't open up the hood (even
though its a 401, it's not all dolled up to show), until I start it
up that is. Then a crowd appears asking what's in this 'thing'? It
has a pretty loud Flowmaster dual exhaust system. I might start
opening up the hood and see what happens.

Anyway, this is getting too long winded... I posted pictures of
my 'Gremie X' in the photo section. It's under the name: Robot_tank's
Gremlin X. Take a look and let me know what you think. If I get some
pics of the front and engine I'll post them later. Glad to be here!

Keep on AMC'ing!

Tom Cloud
'73 Gremlin X 401/auto

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