and finally...
Can I jump in here years later?
I just picked up a 83 GLC hatchback sport and I'd love some guidance. Things a trooper.
It was sitting since 1999 when I went to see it. Bought it with out trying to start it because ya know 20 yrs and all. Took it home cleaned it up fresh fuel in the carb and it coughed once twice and settled down and ran perfect. Since then I've been tinkering on it and fixing bits and pieces that I'm able to find.
What are your plans/goals for the car? Fun, nostalgic summer cruiser? Rotary drag strip crusader? Rallycross monster? Somewhere in between?
That thing looks like a real beauty. I can honestly say I've never seen one in person that wasn't either cut up or rotted.
I had an '82 just like that except for the colour. 67 thundering horsepower IIRC. Not much in the way of performance parts was available back then and I expect even less today. Maybe, with some careful measuring parts for other cars may be adaptable. It was a fun little car that I autocrossed and tracked regularly. I quickly learned that to go fast you couldn't touch the brakes.
If you swap the motor I would be interested in the original one, as something to keep in the back of your mind.
Small cars were more fun back then because of the low weight. This GLC, even with a sunroof is probably under 1900 lb, so the 67 HP isn't as anemic as it sounds. The Challenge Tercel a few years ago was something like 1700 lb and ran on motorcycle carbs or throttle bodies and just flew around the autocross course.
Our family had an 85 GLC Sport, automatic. It was a fun slug.
Weird service factoid: there was no provision for changing the pcv valve in the maintenance schedule. Do it! 69 hp, and a million miles of vacuum hose on an emissions carb did not make for a quick car.
The automatic had a fun feature though, kind of a preselector. You could be hammer down at max velocity of around 150kmh, put the gear selector in 2, and it would only downshift when your speed had dropped to something 2nd gear could handle. Pretty cool. Worked with 1st too, IIRC.
Does your 83 have the striped or chequered interior? Ours was striped. Very cool. IMO, they had the best econobox interior design and quality at the time.
In reply to TheRX7Project :
I'm not 100% sure at the moment. Ever since I picked it up I've had a insane urge to turbo it. But that's down the road, right now it's my daily until the snow melts in the great white north and I can get my bike out and time to work on it
Looks like tilt adjustable Series 3 RX-7 seats with different padding. Neat. Do they have lumbar adjustment too?
Actually I see a lot of S3 RX-7 in that interior, from the door handles/door handle cups and door pull cups to the turn signal switch assembly. Neat stuff.
Wow, that's in amazing shape. I cannot remember the last time I've seen one of them. Our eastern winters (AKA the salt) killed all of them here.
Have you discovered the laughable "reclining" rear seats? They have 3 (I think) positions, 2 of which are ridiculously upright, leaving the final position as the only usable one. Cute idea though.
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