It was nice to meet you and glad to hear you made it back safely.
It was nice to meet you and glad to hear you made it back safely.
If you can find a 4.0/auto/2wd Cherokee driveline donor, what about using the stock rear axle, drums and all? I know, they're not sexy like discs, but it would save cash and complexity which could be used to improve other areas. Cherokee ABS would also be one step closer to as a factory intended which I like.
In grade school, a friend of mine - his dad had one of these. I thought these were neat. I've thought of one as a sleeper build with a 360 AMC motor with large quiet mufflers and hubcaps/whitewall combo.
The interior looks really nice on this one you found.
Definitely drive an example of whatever car you are considering as an Abs donor. Not all Abs systems are created equal, and some older ones are bad enough to be scary.
I'll just leave this here...
It's here! After a lovely 20 hour round trip drive from Tennessee to Michigan, the Hornet has found it's new home.
I was pretty worried about buying such an old car without first seeing it, especialy from way up in the rust belt. But thanks to GRTechGuy getting some eyes on it and giving it a passing grade I was in. I still didn't have high expectations for the the body work, being 42 years old an all. But man, was I in for a treat. The body of this car is in excellent shape. I can't find a single door ding on the thing. I found one tiny ding on the top of the drivers fender, and the plastic around the front bumper is distorted from age, but that's it. It's coated int he original laquere finish and still has shine to it. The wood grain vinyle is starting to fade and crack in places, but all in all still presentable.
No door dings here.
or here.
And check out those flares man! I think they will swallow some mighty wide meats.
Paint is a little dull but no dents on the hood.
and none on the roof also, amazing.
Like I said earlier, I think some chocoalte brown metallic paint would look killer on this car. Not sure if the wood grain will make a comeback though. But it will need something to contrast all that dark brown.
Something like this.
Oh and just in case you forgot what this was..
Buzz Buzz
This thing is a time capsule. Almost showroom fresh except for the carpet on the driver’s side, and someone busting the steering column trying to start it without a key. Seats are in perfect shape and are even pretty comfy. The glove box lid needs adjusting, and a key to open, but that's missing, so not sure what to do there. The hatch area needs a wood floor made for it and possibly is missing some plastics, though I'm not sure.
Rear seats are perfect, just need a good cleaning.
All the door panels are as good as this one.
Factory A/C and AM radio.
Here's a good shot of the carpet damage.
Headliner is perfect.
No tach, or even the factory clock. This just won't do.
And here's the back. I have the plastic cover for the middle latch section, but not sure if there are covers for over the round punch out sections.
I'll need to get some UV film on the windows to help keep the interior in such great shape when I start driving.
In reply to t25torx:
I owned a car like that in high school. I loved that car and wish I had it back. You should drive it before you start swapping a lot of things they were very capable cars in stock form. Well done sir I will be living vicariously through you!
Ahh, we finally get to the meat and potatoes of the car. Bad news first I guess, it's got some rod knock. So for the moment I will not be putting this car into daily driver status as quick as I had hoped.
I'm not up on my AMCs but looks like there were two striaght 6 engine choices back in the day and this car got the bigger engine.
Ahh 258CC's of broken motor.
Hmm guess the A/C isn't working.
The other big thing keeping the car from moving on it's own pwer at this point is the passenger side rear wheel is locked solid. Even pulling it on some concrete with my truck just made it slide. So not sure if it's the drum locked up or the axle. So how did I get the car loaded up? Well thankfully the guy had this plastic sheet laying around and we jacked the car up and set it on it. Our though was the tire would slide on the slick plastic. It sorta worked. The plastic wasn't quite slick enough and the tires a little too deflated. But I was still able to drag it up on the trailer with my come-along, one day I'll break down and get an electric winch.
Other than those things though I think it'll be a great base to build off of. There's some surface rust under the car but nothing too bad. The exhaust will need replacing as it's hanging on by a prayer. And looks like the brake lines are coming loose too.
So that's the ride guys and gals. Now I have some questions for you guys to help me get started on my repairs.
The rod knock, if possible, would i be able to just take the pan off, and repalce the bearing as a temporary solution. This would be just so I could run it around for like a week or two to get a baseline feel for the car in it's current state. I want to be able to get some figures for the old car before I start improving it. Things like MPG, HP( yes I plan on taking it to a dyno), braking distance, 1/4 mile time, 0-60mph. I want to be able to compare with what the orignal numbers for the car where back in 75, then compare to the new numbers once I do all my improvements.
The steering column. It needs replacing, I think I read that it was a GM unit, if so, I would liek to swap for a tilt unit from an 80's Caprice or other GM. Anyone have info on this?
I think that's it for now, stay tuned.
One thought - make sure the knocking noise isn't something else, like maybe the a/c compressor. Try running it with the belts off the front of the engine to see if the sound changes.
Cool car! Love the brown on the mini for it as well
I'm with Stuart from mn. Those old AC compressors make a hell of a racket when they E36 M3 the bed.
Be cautious about the 4.0l you grab (if you go that way). The late '99-'01-ish had the 0331 head that are notoriously bad.
Thanks for the tips Stuart/Angry I'll slip the belt off and see what she sounds like. It would be awesome if that's the issue.
@GeeddesB - Yeah I was reading that on Wikipedia about those engines. I was hoping to get an '03 or '04 to get the coil pack version of the engine, and also avoid those head issues.
on the ABS side with that VW, I don't forsee myself getting into any gravel rallies with this car so I think I'll be alright. Also for a more realistic idea of what ABS can do on the street, see below.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/mKiTAcXK6M4
You'll say to yourself, well just let off the brake dummy, or don't brake so hard, but in a panic, your brain doesn't really have time to figure out, oh hey you're not slowing down because you braked too hard and locked the brakes, better ease off them. It's going OH CRAP OHCRAP!!! At least this has been my experience with panic stopping in real life.
Having driven a '98 Cherokee without ABS into the center ditch of an ice covered US41, and looking through the passenger window into the eyes of the man that used to be in front of me, I can say ABS would have been welcomed. The man politely continued driving so that I could merge back onto the highway.
Yea...abs is so much better in most panic stop situations.
if you go 03/04 4.0, then you'll be in WJ grand Cherokee range which won't have the bulletproof AW4 behind it.
onemanarmy wrote: Yea...abs is so much better in most panic stop situations. if you go 03/04 4.0, then you'll be in WJ grand Cherokee range which won't have the bulletproof AW4 behind it.
Interesting. Thanks for the info, I may go back to the 96-98 vehicles then. I want OBD-II for diagnostics ease and to be a little nicer to the environment with my tailpipe.
That thing looks WAY too nice and original to paint! I'd try and preserve the exterior as-is and do all the modding under the hood.
AMC paint back then was not as terrible as you would think. I was able to resurrect the gross old paint on our Challenge Spirit with some rubbing compound and elbow grease. Here's a couple pics:
Okay gang, with the Mustang project completed it’s time to focus some attention and resources to this guy.
Let’s do some bench racing and talk engine swaps for this project and some project goals.
What is my end goal for the car? I want a car I would feel comfortable letting my wife drive from NY to LA without thinking twice. I also want it to be easy on the wallet when it’s time to fill up at the pump and easy on wear items in the process. Yeah I know, I don’t want much.
So this means the old AMC lump is out, and something with fuel injection is in. Must be OBDII compliant for ease of troubleshooting. Also because my wife hates driving a manual transmission, it will stay so equipped in its final form.
The Easy Button – Jeep Grand Cherokee donor vehicle. Jeep 4.0HO motor 1996+ for the OBDII compliance. 185hp is 85hp over stock output. Grand Cherokee as it’s more likely to have ABS and I could basically remove all the guts from the donor and with minor surgery have them installed in this body.
The cons, of this. Well, I’m just not a fan of these engines. The one newer Cherokee I have driven was slow to rev, and just plain slow overall. Also with these engines being all iron, they are not light and fuel consumption isn’t the best even with fuel injection.
The weird choice. – 2004+ Chevy Trailblazer. The good. All aluminum DOHC straight 6. Modern fuel injection and COP ignition design. 4.2L would match existing engine size but have an increase of over 170hp for 270hp total. I could probably utilize the ABS and brakes off this, though the 6 bolt pattern would make wheel choice.. interesting. Also these things are a dime a dozen on CL. Cons are the engine is front sump, and a custom oilpan is available but pricey. Also not sure how good fuel economy would be.
A recent option that has come up is possibly a Pontiac Solstice donor. 5 speed automatic, 175HP 2.4L all aluminum, DOHC. I could probably use the brakes, but any suspension crossover would be a chore thanks to the IRS rear. Would probably get good fuel mileage though, and with the reduced weight be a more balanced chassis.
Other lower power potions include 4cyl Chevy S10, 4cyl Ford Ranger, 4cyl Nissan Frontier
All come with their own pros and cons for swapping. Let me know why I’m off my rocker for considering anything other than the Jeep 4.0L
What about a 10+ 3.7 v6 drivetrain from a mustang?
300hp, 30+mpg....
A four cylinder seems like it would give you better mileage on paper but I think you need to consider the weight of the vehicle it is trying to move. A tiny solstice weighs much less than a big 70's land yacht. (I think).... what I'm trying to say is running a smaller engine at 10/10 burns more fuel than a big engine at 6/10.
Having a straight six in there means you have enough room to put whatever you want; 4,6,8 cylinder. Straight sixes and v eights make the most torque and I think that will help you keep the revs low while being able to keep up with modern traffic.
Since you want so upgrade so many parts maybe it would be cheaper to buy some crashed rig and strip it bare.
IDK if a newer Pentastar V6 from a Chrysler 300 or a Dodge Charger would be an option. If you can find one with a 8 speed automatic, that would be a good thought if you want to stick with the brand. 300 hp and about 31 mpg. You could probably get more with some proper gearing.
Drop a Cummins 4bt in it...
(said somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but it’d be wild...)
other good options- Ford 5.0, LS, 2jz, rb26, any of the Jap v-6’s from a ‘Yota or Nissan SUV...
lotsa room in there; sky’s the limit.
Pattyo said:A four cylinder seems like it would give you better mileage on paper but I think you need to consider the weight of the vehicle it is trying to move. A tiny solstice weighs much less than a big 70's land yacht. (I think).... what I'm trying to say is running a smaller engine at 10/10 burns more fuel than a big engine at 6/10.
Having a straight six in there means you have enough room to put whatever you want; 4,6,8 cylinder. Straight sixes and v eights make the most torque and I think that will help you keep the revs low while being able to keep up with modern traffic.
Since you want so upgrade so many parts maybe it would be cheaper to buy some crashed rig and strip it bare.
You and I think alike, that was one of my thoughts when it came up in my search, so i had to do some checking. The Honrnet's stated curb weight is just a tad over 3000lbs. The Solstice is a surprisingly hefty 2900-3000lbs depending on options. So it's almost an apples to apples comparison in that department. The Hornet is probably not as slippery when it comes to airflow though, with it's square front end and bigger frontal area, so the Solstice probably gets points for that, but Convertibles tend to not be as slippery as coupes also, so I think it's a fair trade.
This got me thinking a Colorado with a 5 cylinder might be the best middle ground. It's also a DOHC all aluminum design, 220hp. Would be a bit shorter than the straight 6, comes with a rear sump pan already. I could use the brakes and possibly the rear end also in the Hornet. might be better fuel consumption than the 6, and mayb match the 4 cylinder if the 4 is having to work harder due to the higher CD.
Recon1342 said:Drop a Cummins 4bt in it...
(said somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but it’d be wild...)
other good options- Ford 5.0, LS, 2jz, rb26, any of the Jap v-6’s from a ‘Yota or Nissan SUV...
lotsa room in there; sky’s the limit.
I think you missed the part about me wanting it to be economical at the pumps. lol I'm looking for a good comprimise of power and fuel milage. Pretty much all those engines don't make the economical requirment.
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