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View Full Version : My Son's First Project Car- 1972 Gremlin "X"!



BulldawgMusclecars
10-10-2012, 05:28 PM
My son Jim just turned 14 recently, and has been wanting to get a "driver" of his own for quite a while. He already has two other cars, both given to him by my father (who passed away a few months ago); a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air 2 door coupe that was my first car, and a 1987 Buick Grand National! Sadly, the '57 is too valuable and too expenive to rebuild for a "school car", and impossible to insure for a new driver, at least at anything approaching its actual value, so its out. The Grand National is in the same boat. While not as valuable, they are very popular with thieves in the Atlanta area...so again, its not a good daily driver. Before anyone asks, neither are for sale!

We discussed lot of different cars, trying to find something that isn't insanely valuable or hard to insure, is fairly cheap as a starting point, and would have some "cool factor" to it. Third gen Camaros, Fox Mustangs, and a few others came up, but the car he decided on that he really wanted was an AMC Gremlin! Rare? Somewhat. at least now. Desirable? To some. Different? DEFINITELY!!! After a lot of searching on Craigslist, and asking everyone I knew to be on the lookout for one, he found a 1972 Gremlin "X"

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2012/10/jimgremlin_zps99cba334-1.jpg

BulldawgMusclecars
10-10-2012, 05:35 PM
The car was listed on the Chatanooga, TN Craigslist, but was actually located in Lookout Mountain, GA. The owner was a pretty eccentric (to say the least!) guy, but very nice. He told us he had owned the car for about 12 years, and that the 304 was freshly rebuilt at that time. It has maybe 100 miles on it since then, and seems to run great, but the valve stem seals are shot from sitting. Remarkably, the underhood wiring is untouched and everything was in pretty good shape. I was a little sceptical, but the car fired right up with a fresh battery and a little gas in the carb, and after digging a hole in the guy's front yard (no posi!), it easily pulled onto the trailer.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2012/10/IMG_1696_zpsa203cf08-1.jpg

BulldawgMusclecars
10-10-2012, 05:38 PM
A few more pics:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2012/10/IMG_1697_zpsb8650afb-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2012/10/IMG_1698_zpsb0ab3b20-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2012/10/IMG_1699_zps32bc6069-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2012/10/IMG_1701_zpscff789f9-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2012/10/IMG_1700_zps762feb71-1.jpg

Sneke_Eyez
10-10-2012, 06:06 PM
Saweet! Love Gremlins when they're done right! That's a sweet first car!

MichaelLeeHearn
10-10-2012, 06:56 PM
Nice project.

I had two different Gremlins on was a bright orange with a 318 and 4 speed, the other was blue with a inline 6 and auto trans(same inline 6 AMC and jeep used for ever). Only real problem was the mix and match of parts they used to build them. Will watch and see what you and your son has planned for this one.

BulldawgMusclecars
10-10-2012, 07:01 PM
For now, let's just say that the purists aren't going to like it!

SRD art
10-10-2012, 07:18 PM
Very cool project. Sounds like my 14 year old son, Roman, and I except we're GM purists and big time Nova fans so we have a 73 Nova hatchback for him. It'll be fun to see both of these "father/ son" projects going on in the same shop at the same time.

PS, we challenge you to see who's kid car is track ready first. :) May the best team win... Lol!