Pro Touring Gremlin

[whitey02]

Now that is three words that you never thought you would hear. But anyway, I've found a 1975 AMC Gremlin X Levi edition that I plan on turning into a pro touring car. I just graduated high school and am starting college in the fall, so this is going to be a long term project that I am working on with my dad.

My dad has a shop where he usually does sheetmetal work on Camaros, and he can also do any kind of custom fab that I would need, the biggest constraints are time and money (just like everyone else, right??). He works in the fab shop as a part-time night job, and works as a CAD detailer as his day job. So like I said, I don't have a whole lot of time that I'm going to be able to spend with this car, but we're going to make some slow progress and we are going to do things right the first time so we don't have to fix them later.

Oh yeah, and we've ditched that AMC 6-cylinder. It's going to have a small block with a 700R4 and a Ford 9" rear end. Pictures will follow.

Ok, enough blabbering here is the car as I found it:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2474/3606003528_454b5dffc4_b.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3555/3605175713_9079c96d97_b.jpg


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As you can see, the car is all there. There is a bit of a rust problem in the battery box area up front and the drivers side quarter panel was bunged up from a fender-bender and fixed incorrectly with a mountain of bondo. We will address these problems eventually, and the rest of the metal in the car is in great shape for the most part.

Hope you enjoy, more pics to follow

[whitey02]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2590/3782975980_88a4da3b37_b.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3427/3782164061_00e02b3b33_b.jpg

With the dash, we are planning on making a custom dash, because the original plastic dashboard broke into several pieces while removing it, and I think any try to put it back in would crack it even more.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3434/3782159279_cc595ff354_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2573/3782964486_698002cca8_b.jpg
here is the pan clearance, and it seems to have worked out well with the stock GM pan.

[whitey02]

closeups of the LH motor mount tacked into place, My dad and I will work on getting the passenger side done this week.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2306/3782961456_2ec79660d5_b.jpg


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This is a front view through the hole where the radiator would be, the horizontal bar is a deal we rigged up to make the motor level in the engine bay.

The headers are going to be a tight fit. If anyone has any suggestions for headers, I would like to hear them. My said he would rather not have to fab up completely custom headers, but if there are some which would be kind of close to fitting, we are not against modifying them.

[whitey02]

Here is two more shots with the dummy head on the block

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2581/3782968874_69e6dec7d2_b.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3539/3782971342_f06549850c_b.jpg

[67rstbkt]

Nice, man:thumbsup: Wayne's World, party time :dance:

[asifnyc]

live to AMC... AMC to live :thumbsup:

I've got a '75 Gremlin I'm going to start on as soon as I wrap up my Javelin. Keep postin' pics.

[Big-Foot]

This will be a fun project...

Pretty unique motor mounts! :thumbsup:

Sanderson make's some block-hugger shorty headers that might work for you - or you might want to look at some Ram's Horn style Corvette exhaust manifolds..

[XLexusTech]

Wyanes world fan? I dunno why anyone would do a gremlin but cool it should be fun.

I do know one thing anytime I have seen a modded gremlin at the track or elsewhere it makes most peole smile. So good on ya....:thumbsup:

[BlkBird]

This is TOO cool. My best friends mom had a Gremlin X when I was growing up.

[214Chevy]

Bro, you are insane!! Rock on........... Hey, where in Texas are you? Or did the car just come from Texas?

[whitey02]

So good on ya....:thumbsup:

I can understand why people will scratch their head, but I see a unique looking car that will make people smile just like you said, also lightweight with a V8 is another big reason. :cool:

I live in Houston and I spotted the car one day during bumper to bumper traffic on a fairly large street. It was at a mechanic's place set back almost 100 yards from the street, there is no way I could have seen it driving normal speed down that street, and I had been looking for a Gremlin for about 2-3 years before that because I knew they were hard to find. So I lucked out in that regard.


And I'm glad someone else thinks the motor mounts look good, that will make my dad happy. I was a little skeptical at first...;)

[ProMav71]

Im all for that! Now I need to get that Pinto project started.:lol:

[ProMav71]

Hey all these small cars can be cool with the right treatment, don't listen to any haters you come across. Just check out my Pinto rendering in the Multimedia section.

[tones2SS]

That thing looks pretty clean for sitting so long!!
Should be a fun/cool project.:thumbsup:

[WILWAXU]

Like it already :yes:

[70rs]

That is a really cool project. I have never seen a pro touring Gremlin before and only a few even fixed up. It's neat to see someone thinking outside the box and taking a chance on a not so common car. I'm looking forward to seeing it all come together. Keep the pics and updates coming please.:thumbsup: