My son Ryan turns 16 in June and has started looking for cars. He really likes the Gremlin and found 71 that is in his price range. Anyone here know anything about thes little critters? Its a 6 cyl 3 spd manual and looks to be in decent shape. Looking for info on parts availability, possibility of reliability, complexity (I assume they are stupid easy to work on)... Generally, is it a good first car? Here are a couple pics...
Any input is appreciated!
Thanks!
It's a start anyway... http://www.allpar.com/amc/gremlin.html
Gremlins make fantastic first cars! The platform is the "small AMC" and was used for the Hornet, Concord, Spirit, and Eagle as well as the Gremlin. All mechanical parts are readily available. The Gremlin has unique body parts and trim that are harder to find, but that one looks pretty complete.
The I-6 is the AMC unit and will either be a 232 or a 258 unit. This engine was used all the way to the 2000's in Jeep's as the 4.0. You can swap the 4.0's head and EFI on to the Gremmy to make it more modern. If you combine certain parts of the 258 with a 4.0 you can make a 4.6L (~282 ci) I-6!
The 3-speed is an old unit and tough on gas. Luckily AMC was the first company to use the 5-speed T5, and in fact it was for the I-6 small chassis. Find one from a Concord or Spirit and swap it right in for 2 extra gears and lighter weight.
That shape has aged much better than I would have expected.
My 258 I-6 3-speed automatic in a Pacer got 11-14 mpg. YMMV...
They are reliable and simple. Not much room in the back seat (which may be good or bad for a young guy's car, depending on your point of view. 
) I imagine their crashworthiness is not so hot compared to modern cars.
three simple rules: No water, no food after midnight, and no bright light
...
Oh wait...the car...uh...yeah I got nothin
A three speed Gremlin was the first floor shift manual that I ever drove. (I had driven three on the tree). I was fifteen, had no license and a cheerleader let me borrow her car to go to a store before a football game. As I recall, she never mentioned that it was a three speed and I assumed it was a four. There were no numbers on the knob. I kept using second and third, thinking that they were first and second and that I couldn't find third.
So, I guess they are pretty easy to drive and have decent torque.
I always liked Grimsters. Shoot, yeah go for it! They are pretty tough. Do the EFI swap using the Jeep manifolds, do that 5 speed swap and I bet you see a MPG increase.
AMC 6's are as reliable as gravity. It is work trying to break them.
As Javelin hinted, a 4.0 swap with a 5 speed would make for a really neat little car.
Gremlins are okay, but for maximum 70's grooviness, you've got to get the Pacer.
Ok It has been one of those days. I was thinking this when I read the title.
ST_ZX2 wrote: AMC 6's are as reliable as gravity. It is work trying to break them. As Javelin hinted, a 4.0 swap with a 5 speed would make for a really neat little car.
I really, really want to do this, but in a Spirit AMX. Combine the 258 and 4.0 HO to get a nice 4.6L I-6 with EFI. Throw a single turbo on there, swap in a rebuilt T-5, and upgrade the suspension. It would be a sweet little car!
It would be sweet without the turbo--would be insane with.
go to www.schwartzperformance.com or find their FB page.
All AMC--aluminum head 360--about 450hp...will be autocross monster.
The T-5s mated to the big six give good mileage. The 5th gear is very tall and will pull over 20mpg with no problem. The 258 cid with 5spd in my Eagle will get 22mpg at 70-75 mph, and that is with the extra weight of the 4wd system.
Go for it! AMC used mass-market OEMs for almost all of the secondary items----easy to find parts. (water pumps, distributors, etc.)
an injected straight6 5-sp gremlin is just exciting to think about
As I recall they were pretty popular in showroom stock racing, too.
Oh man, first I'm looking high and low for a Yugo. Now I'm going to be obsessed with finding a Gremlin.
Thanks alot guys.
nicksta43 wrote: Oh man, first I'm looking high and low for a Yugo. Now I'm going to be obsessed with finding a Gremlin. Thanks alot guys.
/thread hijack
If you are willing to come to Alabama, I have a spare Yugo.
/thread hijack
I like Gremlins a lot but I also think my next car is going to be something rear engined and French or odd and British (aka not a sports car) and I own two Yugos... I think I am not right in the head...
sean, i will trade you the gremlin for my '96 probe gt which gets 25mpg @ 80 mph, has ABS and airbags and comes rolling on a baller set of 17" rims with good winter tires.
I had a '73 "X". Never bothered to check gas mileage. It ran great, never let me down. Needed valve seals, would foul the plugs if left idling too long. Never got around to replacing them. Manual steering was bog slow.
1988RedT2 wrote: Gremlins are okay, but for maximum 70's grooviness, you've got to get the Pacer.
There is a Pacer not terribly far from me, it has surface rust but is complete including all that big glass. Put that big straight six with FI in there, upgrade the brakes, add some flavor of overdrive automatic, limo tint the windows and it would be a really unusual/cool tow rig for a lightweight race car like the bike powered A Mod I want to build.
I hate having automotive ADD, dammit.
I see you are from PA. Snow tires and sand bags. Wire dry and an extra distributer cap. My orange 75 blew holes in mufflers when new. Big backfires due to emission stuff. Mine was 232 auto. I spun the car twice. Also got my first ticket with this car in '77.
Javelin wrote: Combine the 258 and 4.0 HO to get a nice 4.6L I-6 with EFI.
Any motor that can be labeled "stroker" is awesome on it's face!
My dad bought a 75 new off the showroom floor with the 258, manual trans with overdrive, and of course, the Levi's interior. If he hadn't wrecked it, I think he'd still be driving it.
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