What was your dream car as a kid? Mine was a V8 Gremlin. I know, that’s really weird. And when you set the bar low, it’s pretty easy to attain. I never harboured any illusions of buying a Lamborghini, Ferrari, or a Corvette. I’ve already explained my love for these strange little things in prior articles so I’ll spare you that diatribe. This car appeared in the driveway of a gearhead friend down the road one day and within a year it was in my parent’s driveway. That was fifteen years ago. And I still have it.
When I first signed on to write my COAL series I wrote a list of all the cars I’ve owned in chronological order. I had a very hard time figuring out where to put this one as I’ve only actually driven it for 6 months – over the last 15 years. I bought this thing when I was 17 and it’s still in my garage. We all have our excuses for uncompleted projects but I’m really pushing the limits. This car has followed me through 8 moves and about 15 different jobs. It’s always had shelter in a garage; much of the time in decrepit ones. My brother even dragged it 1600 kms on a U-Haul tow dolly across the country so it could join me in my new home in BC. My parents really wanted it out of their garage and it gave my brother a good excuse to come visit me out in the mountains.
So this car showed up on my street right around the time I bought my first Gremlin. It looked much like it does in the above picture except it was attached via tow bars to a ’78 Dodge Ramcharger that had just completed the 2300 km journey from Vancouver, BC. The twenty-something son of the backyard mechanic down the road had returned from living out west for a while and brought both his vehicles and all his earthly goods with him in one trip.
After a year of sitting in storage I bought it for a ’89 Pontiac Firefly plus $1000. The Firefly was bought from a different neighbour across the road the day before she moved for the princely sum of $350. It had been sitting with a for sale sign for a few months and no one was interested so my brothers and I bought it looking to make a quick buck. We did some work on it and buddy down the street approached us looking to buy it as he just got a job as a courier and needed some cheap wheels. I jumped at the deal, it’s not often someone comes knocking at your door offering you a V8 Gremlin. Granted, he knew I loved it. The deal was however complicated by the fact I had to pay off my brothers for their share of the Firefly, but we came up with an installment plan.
My Gremlin was one of 3410 V8 cars that left the factory in 1975. It originally had a 304 with a 3 speed but that was long gone by the time I got a hold of it. An earlier owner had swapped it out for a 343-4V and Borg-Warner automatic from a ’69 Ambassador cop car. He obviously made the most of this combo as the motor and tranny were both badly worn. The guy I bought it from was an auto body technician and had redone the body and painted it. The very dark metallic purple with white racing stripes looked really good to my 17 year old eyes but looks increasingly tacky as we both age. He had also painted some steel Cherokee rims to match. The interior was disassembled but came with Levi’s edition rear seats and the wiring really needed to be redone.
As this was a project car I slowly worked on it as time and money allowed. Unfortunately I had very little of either. I first set to work fixing the wiring which proved very frustrating. I can’t remember what was wrong with it but I ended up with a butt connected mess that was ugly but functional. Next came the assembly of the interior which wouldn’t have been possible without the parts car I had purchased for my earlier Gremlin. There was no way I could go to a local parts store (or junkyard) and ask if they could source me some interior parts for a Gremlin. I would have been laughed out of the store.
My next task was to replace the drivetrain. Knowing the Borg-Warner automatic that came with the car was very worn I found a ’73 Ambassador wagon at a local “junk farmer” and yanked the 727 Torqueflite for cheap. I took it to a local tranny shop for a full rebuild with shift improver kit. This transmission was a very tight fit as they never came with Gremlins from the factory.
The eccentric fellow I had sold my first Gremlin to called me up one day and said he knew of a ’76 Matador with a freshly rebuilt 390 that was about to be junked. Knowing Matadors never came with 390s I went and had a look at what turned out to be a 304. It appeared to be freshly rebuilt and ran very well so I bought it for $500. I procured an Edelbrock Torker intake manifold, a Holley 4 barrel carb and some headers and threw it all together. A custom 2.5″ exhaust was built and I was finally ready to rip.
So, 4 years after buying this car I was finally driving it. What a beast! It took nothing to break the right rear wheel loose. Yeah, unfortunately it has an open differential. If you stayed on the pedal while spinning, the wheel would hop violently like a jackhammer. I soon installed some traction bars which solved the wheel hop, but not the excessive spinning. The transmission shifted very firmly, often barking the tires on the shift from 1st to 2nd. Not surprisingly, the rear end was very prone to breaking loose. Apparently re-locating the battery to the trunk didn’t solve all the weight distribution problems. Fat tires, good shocks and re-arched rear leaf springs improved the handling but it was still borderline scary. I was absolutely loving it.
As the summer progressed I gradually made some tweaks to improve my ability to go fast. Any unnecessary weight was jettisoned. By unnecessary I mean things that every car should have. Like a front bumper and heater. I think I was overly influenced by the movie Two Lane Blacktop. But she would certainly go fast; I managed to get the needle past the end of the 120 mph speedometer.
As winter approached, I cancelled the insurance and made a dumb decision that would keep her off the road for a while. In the interests of going faster I decided to rebuild the 343. I did a lot of research and came up with a plan to get around 400 hp out of the old mill. I brought it into a local race engine rebuild shop with hopes of picking it up in the spring.
It would be a year and a half before I got the motor back and it cost way more than I had hoped. Apparently the engine shop hadn’t rebuilt any old obscure AMC motors in a while. I dropped it in, hooked it up to the new aluminum radiator and tied everything back together. I threw on a good carb from a friend’s car, pre-oiled the system with an old distributor shaft and a cordless drill and ran it for 20 minutes at 2500 rpm. A pushrod broke and the lobes were wiped off the cam. What the hell? I pointed my finger at the engine shop and they pointed their finger at me. I still don’t know what exactly went wrong but I suspect the valve springs may have been too stiff.
As the engine was sent back to the shop, I had just finished University and decided it was time for me to head out west for my own adventures in BC. The shop agreed to re-rebuild the engine at a heavily reduced rate and I told them to take as long as they wanted. I would pick it up another year and a half later on a return visit from my new home in BC. I hastily re-installed it in the engine bay in a few days so that it could be towed out to BC. A few months later my brother towed it out for me and my parents were finally rid of all my cars and junk. Except for the engine crane that’s still under their deck, I’ll get it next time I’m out there.
So that was 8 years ago, where all progress pretty much stopped. What are my excuses? The usual too many projects, mainly other vehicles but I also bought an old house I fully renovated and sold. Work, family life and an increased love for the outdoors (hiking and skiing) have forced this project to the background. Not having a decent garage until recently hasn’t helped either.
Above all though, the biggest barrier I have right now to getting this thing done is that I haven’t had a driver’s license for 15 months. Unfortunately, I’ve recently been diagnosed with epilepsy and cannot work or drive. I have lots of time to work on it but have little motivation due to my inability to be able to enjoy the car. I’m doing well and taking effective medication, so I should soon be getting my license back within the month. I’m not looking for sympathy, it’s just information that will figure in future articles. It’s also a pretty good excuse to not be driving my dream car.
On a positive note, I have recently started fully re-doing the entire electrical system with a full universal wiring kit. Turns out I did a shoddy job the first time around. It’s really not very fun but it’s progress. If all goes well, I plan for the Gremlin and I to be back on the road together next summer. My wife will not accept any more excuses. She’s been wanting to go for a ride in it for seven years.
Thus concludes the tangled tale of the Gremlin X. For those weary of hearing about AMCs, I promise next week’s COAL will not be weird. It might even be a true classic, albeit in terrible condition.
And you have just truly defined the term “car fanatic”.
I’ll guess that most of us are wimps by comparison.
This is like Dave Saunders part two! Must be something in the water up there. Great story, I hope your wife gets that ride one day.
I guess the closest I ever came to this “mindset” is wanting to put a V8 in my 1976 Pinto MPG hatchback. I thought I would leave it completely stock looking, except for the underhood view.
I can assure you that this weeks coal was not weird.
And you have a wife who wants to go for a ride in it? Sir, you are blessed.
my thoughts exactly. you are doing god’s work.
That thing looks great setting on the Cherokee wheels! Purple is one of those colors that you get tired of eventually so yeah I can understand that but the car does look good. Thanks for the story!
+1
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x7DFzl6ZU5k
This is currently the most popular Gremlin around. Enjoy!
I LOVE AMC. Particularly their performance models. Though I’ve never owned anything AMC in all my 56 years, I’ve still got the dream of owning one or more before I leave this life.
GREAT story…I enjoyed the heck out of it! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
I am not much of an AMC guy, but a 304 Gremlin would be welcome at my house. In the late 70s, one went toe to toe with my 390 Galaxie through a series of downtown stoplights. Though I can hardly imagine a less pleasant car to drive in slick conditions. 🙂
I applaud you for not giving up. I went through something like this with a 61 Thunderbird for about 7 or 8 years, but I gave up as kids took priority over cars. I hope both you and the Gremlin are on the road soon.
Great story! I understand lack of motivation, it’s been an issue with our house reno, which I agreed to finish before I tackle our ’57 Chevy Handyman.
My ’71 Gremlin was just a 6-banger with a stick but it was cheap (paid $60 in 1978 for it) and got me around. I got to drive one with the 304 and a 4-speed once…fun but that light back means stay out of the rain!
You’re bang on about staying out of the rain. We got hit with a freak snow storm not long after I put this thing on the road in May, it was scary. The car would slide sideways at anything higher than idle when taking off from a stop. I couldn’t get up the slight incline in the driveway or the back lane, I had to get a neighbour to tow me to my parking spot in the back lane. I really didn’t want to park on the street cause I figured someone would smash into it.
I’m with you Chas. The title describes my efforts with my 57 Handyman.
Almost there but the tractor has to come first. Always something.
Great story. Love AMC and I have owned a couple. Would love your Gremlin but it would set even longer.
Another great story for the “I like weird cars” support group. I know I feel better.
Those who have inexpensive and weird automotive dreams are much more likely to achieve them. How many guys that lusted after Lamborghini actually have one now?
Great series of COALs. Inspires me to go piece a car together myself. Now if I can just find space, money, and mechanical aptitude…
Slightly off-topic but I assume you’ve researched the ketogenic diet as a treatment for epilepsy? It’s possibly the oldest treatment for the condition and effective. If you haven’t tried it, it’s worth a shot, cheap, and without the side effects of medication.
I am not a woo-woo Dr Oz crank, nor am I a physician, but I have done quite a bit of research into diet as a treatment for my insulin resistance which I have treated successfully without metformin or any other medications (I was never diagnosed T2 diabetic, though it was close before I adopted this diet. My blood sugar is now low-normal; T2 diabetes is a disease of too much insulin, not blood sugar).
Insulin resistance and epilepsy are the two more-common conditions that can benefit from a ketogenic diet, for different reasons. The brain is the highest consumer of energy in the body; in most people that fuel is glucose and it’s fine. In epileptics, the neurological pathways can misfire on glucose and cause seizures. Replacing glucose with ketone from a high-fat, low/no-sugar diet MAY provide relief. YMMV, worth what ya paid.
I hope you get that Gremlin back on the road. I owned two old Ramblers in the 90s, a wheezy 1961 Classic six 3-speed and a kind of bad-ass sleeper ’64 Ambassador 990H 2dr hardtop with the old Nash 327 and a twin-stick 3sp+OD that would surprise Mustangs and Camaros and such. It looked awful but went like stink. It finally received the restoration it deserved by its 5th-6th-7th owner last I heard. The Classic had been partially restored by the seller and looked perfect outside but too bad about the engine and interior… Anyway best wishes.
My youngest brother has epilepsy, and takes dilantin to control it. I think he had to go a year or two seizure-free before getting his license back, and has had no episodes in 15-20 years now. Hope you’re able to control things and get back on the road soon!
You probably wouldn’t want to put a LSD in this car. Handling in the wet would go from scary to terrifying.
why would you drive this car in the wet?
I dunno about a Gremlin, but a Hornet wagon with a stout powertrain could be cool…or how about a Gucci Hornet wagon with 300HP?!?
Anyway, I commend you for the long term relationship with that car…more power to ya!
How about this?
That’s awesome. I’ve heard of these but never seen an ad for them. I have a hard time believing they were that cheap ($17 050 inflation adjusted). Poor man’s Corvette!
Also, I wonder how they got the weight down to 2400 lbs on that drag racing ticket. Mine was around 2800 lbs. I suppose one could tear out the sway bar, rear seat and rear bumper as well as go to fiberglass fenders and hood. Not sure if that’s worth 400 lbs. His E.T. certainly is impressive.
Oh, and one could order a Hornet from the factory with a 360. I believe you could only get them with a 2 barrel but you could get them in any body style. They didn’t sell too many but I saw a Sportabout 360 pop up on Ebay not too long ago.
Nelson: I love reading about your automotive adventures. I’ve loved the Gremlin since it came out and AMC was a strong influence in my love of cars growing up.
However, AMC went to Chrysler automatics across the board in 1972. Were these different from the one you transplanted into your Gremlin ?
Your dedication to your Gremlin is admirable. I’ve had my 63 Valiant since 1980. Some things are just worth keeping. It’s family now.
Hoping you’re getting your medical situation under control.
My Gremlin came with the old Borg-Warner automatic and 343 from an old Ambassador, but 304 automatic Gremlins came with the 904 or 998 Chrysler Torqueflites as of ’72. I opted for the heavier duty 727 Torqueflite which never came in Gremlin but came in the bigger Ambassadors and possibly Matadors from ’72 on.
Good on you for keeping the old Valiant, I got a bit of a soft spot for those things too.
Thanks for that clarification, Nelson.
That Valiant is one of only a couple of cars I’ve never wished was something else and the only one I’ve never considered giving up, good times or bad. I’d sell a kidney first.
Some cars just speak to you. Your Gremlin is talking. Wish I had our 71.
I can understand how it sat garaged for 15 years. Somebody I knew in Brooklyn NY had a `67 Pontiac 2+2 that he almost totaled in a front ender back in 1977. Its still sitting in his parents garage in the same condition for the last 38 years.
Love the car.
If it was my car, once I had a 727 tranny, the urge to get a chrysler 440 would’ve been overpowering. There are ways to make it fit.
Thanks.
AMC and Chrysler Torqueflites had different casing as they had different bolt patterns on the engine. I learned that after buying a cheap Chrysler 727 and then noticing that the bolt holes don’t come anywhere near bolting up.
As for dropping in a 440, I couldn’t imagine putting any more weight in the front end of it. The weight imbalance was bad enough, it would just be easier to coax more power out of a small block. That and I consider any non-AMC motor in an AMC to be heresy. Which is pretty ironic when you consider that most other components were a mish-mash of parts from other manufacturers.
You do not need a street legal Gremlin with a Supercharger…
https://youtu.be/mMvhu1OSFDc
Was the Pontiac Firefly a Canada-specific car? Tell us more!
Apparently it was, I didn’t know that. It’s the same as a Suzuki Swift, Chevy Sprint, Geo Metro, etc. Having just looked at the Wiki page for the Swift (Cultus) it would appear to be one of the biggest victims of serial badge engineering.
The Firefly merely existed to provide Pontiac dealers with a compact car to sell. Given that most Canadian dealers have small populations to serve over large swaths of geography, it makes sense to have every dealer have one of everything to sell. If you’re interested check out a few good pieces David Saunders did on Canadian branding history here; https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classics-mercury-trucks-we-do-things-a-bit-differently-up-here/
And here https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/canada-day-classics-canadian-ford-branding-history/
The short explanation for a lot of the uniquely Canadian variants is this: Each of the Big Three historically had two dealer networks in Canada, but the low population density in many areas meant that some areas might only be able to support one of the two. So each dealer network had to cover a broad range of vehicles (low-priced, middle-priced, and trucks, at least) at a single dealership. In addition, the market in Canada was slanted more heavily towards smaller/lower-priced cars than in the U.S., so it was especially important that each dealer network have smaller/lower-priced cars.
In GM’s case, the two dealer networks were Chevrolet-Oldsmobile and Pontiac-Buick-GMC. In the case of Pontiac-Buick-GMC, Pontiac took on a lower-priced role, similar to Chevrolet, more downmarket (at least at the lower end of its lineup) than in the U.S. Due to this arrangement and to Canadian market conditions, it was felt that Pontiac needed an equivalent to the Chevrolet Sprint/Geo Metro, even though Pontiac didn’t have one in the U.S.
Lovin’ this series! I’m a hands on kind of guy too and I like reading about other people’s mechanical adventures! Hope you’re on the road soon so your inspiration can continue!
Love the car and the story. Hope you finish it some day. I have a soft spot for most mid 60’s and later AMC products, especially AMX, Marlin and the almost unknown Scrambler.
Nice article .
I was never impressed by Gremlin’s handling but they’re fun quirky cars like so many AMC products .
Impressed to hear SWMBO wants to ride in it , that’s a very good thing indeed .
-Nate
Looks like you’re getting close to finished–hopefully you can drive again soon and enjoy the fruits of your labor! Very cool, uncommon car and it’s quite a feat to say you own your dream car!
Great story! Salut & good luck!
My Dad had a Gremlin when I was little. We lived right by Kenosha, so they were all over the place growing up. He had a string of “work beaters”, this one was previously owned by some kids down the street. It was primer grey, V8 automatic, and had GIANT rear tires (and stock black steelies in front) The quintisential teenage burnout car. It didn’t have a back window, so I remember going to the huge junkyard by the airport in Milwaukee with him, he traded the slot mags for a window and a pair of normal wheels (after we walked all over looking for another Gremlin) I was pretty small, grade school age but I vividly remember him having me walk on car roofs, helping him see which way to go to find a Gremlin, and stopping at an A&W for hot dogs on the way home. Man I wish I had taken a video camera with, that would have been cool footage to see today…
Anyway his Gremlin had cool floor mats, with the Gremlin character made like a puzzle, you could take the different color pieces, head, body, legs, etc out and put them back in. I also found a “water pipe” under the seat, that caused a big stir when I showed it to him, to see what it was…
THe car was scary handling, seeing as how it was his winter car in Wisconsin, he put it in the ditch a couple times (I remember going with Mom to pick him up in our wagon to pull him out a couple times) The car went away after it started on fire in the driveway, to be replaced by a V8 Vega (Why did he keep picking these things out for a winter car, I never knew)