The Quadraphonic Gremlin Progress report....

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It used to be said that CBers were wannabe hams and they were looked down on by the amateur radio community. I had friends that tried to get me into ham radio but I never had the interest, same with CB radio. I'm too antisocial to have any interest in that!
 
So, this happened today. Sorry, didn't film the actual first start. This is third or fourth start. I filled the trans and figured I'd see what would happen with the 6-year-old gas in the tank and really.... happy with the results. Have a solid CHECK ENGINE light under run conditions, first was for charge temp sensor, and now apparently MAP sensor is out of range - so those two parts are on order. Should clear all engine codes at that point (fingers crossed).

But, it runs pretty good. Smooth, good throttle response and even sounds decent. Just gotta get the license plate lights in back working to make it legal, setup the end play on the rear axle and she's ready to rock & roll. Then I can get back onto the Gremlin!

 
So, this happened today. Sorry, didn't film the actual first start. This is third or fourth start. I filled the trans and figured I'd see what would happen with the 6-year-old gas in the tank and really.... happy with the results. Have a solid CHECK ENGINE light under run conditions, first was for charge temp sensor, and now apparently MAP sensor is out of range - so those two parts are on order. Should clear all engine codes at that point (fingers crossed).

But, it runs pretty good. Smooth, good throttle response and even sounds decent. Just gotta get the license plate lights in back working to make it legal, setup the end play on the rear axle and she's ready to rock & roll. Then I can get back onto the Gremlin!

View attachment 77261
Thathat doesn't look like a Gremlin to me. More like Big Truck.
 
That doesn't look like a Gremlin to me. More like Big Truck.

By today's standards, it's actually quite a small truck.
But, I kinda had to get it together and in one piece before I could move onto other things. Finish my meat so I can have my pudding, so to speak.

It was also a bit of a challenge for yours truly for two reasons: 1) this is the first Dodge truck I've ever owned and 2) the first Dodge truck I've ever had to put back together. It's like putting a puzzle together but not having the box to know what the final result is. Add in the fact that this is a semi-modern vehicle that is fuel injected. That adds a certain level of difficulty to the puzzle.
 
That's awesome man! I've seriously been waiting for more Gremlin reports. I dig these older vehicles.....

I'm going to be insufferably pleased with myself for at least a couple days. This was quite a challenge. While I didn't expect it to be a roaring success right off the bat, I couldn't have asked for a better result. The next step is change a few sensors to make the Check Engine light go away but beyond that, yeah - she lives! This is gonna be a cool, little truck.

And it might go Quadraphonic!! A buddy of mine has an AM/FM/CB factory radio. If I put that in, I might put one of my little Motorola Quads under the dash. As much as I like the in-dash 8-track.... for the truck to go Quad would just be hilarious. :LOL:
 
Old pickups are great. My '94 Silverado I inherited from my dad still runs fine going on 250K miles. A little clickety-clackiety at idle but once it's revved with oil pressure back up - smooth.

Doug
 
Just for shitty giggles, if any of y'all watch that "Rust Valley Restorers" show, two episodes of season 4 so far feature the shop (Pacific Muscle Cars) and the dude (Patrick) who painted the Gremlin.

I'm considering calling upon Patrick again to paint the truck, too. But, we'll see how things go this year.
 
Been a while. A few things to report. Gremlin went into town (under her own power) for a front-end alignment.

Prior to today, I'd spent time blackening out the wheel wells, installing fender splash shields, the antenna, wipers - and oh mylanta is that a tale unto itself! Also cleaned and repacked the front wheel bearings and adjusted the front brakes. I've rebuilt the floor shifter and while it's better, it will still slip "between" gears.... I've ordered some parts for the shift rods that will hopefully prevent this. One drip rail was installed (passenger side) and much cursing was required. The driver side fought back to the point that I lost my temper, resorted to brute force and ignorance and was rewarded with a damaged driver side drip rail. They are next to impossible to find and ridiculously expensive when you do. Looks like I'm on the stick for $200 US for another pair.

The list to completion is small:
- repair the driver side door handle that broke today at the alignment shop 😭
- remove the rear window latch mechanism, adjust it and reinstall
- center the rear window in the opening
- reinstall all the rear cargo plastic when the above are finished
- find and install some rear speakers so I can have Quad in the car again
- install driver side drip rail molding when it arrives

My goal is to hit the last big car show of the season which is September 9th & 10th. Hope to bump into the guy who called the car a "piece of shit" 20 years ago and rub his nose in it. :LOL:

The fellas at the alignment shop couldn't believe the traffic they had today. They claimed that at least 50 people had to stop in, look at, or make a comment about the car. My new job is delivering auto parts and this shop is one of our customers - this afternoon while on a delivery they told me a gentleman had been coming back every hour wanting to speak to me. He explained he used to work for AMC at the Sarnia, Ontario engine plant from 1972 to 1979. Brother was on the ball, too. He knew it could only be a six since it's a premiere year car; he knew it was a Big Bad color, he identified the engine as a 232 and he even argued that it might be a Canadian-built car until we consulted the VIN. (I knew it was a Kenosha car, anyway)

Long story short, the fellow gave me his card and gimme me the old "if you ever want to sell..." speech. I asked him if he'd been keeping up on values and he said he had watched the recent Mecum auctions where several AMC's had recently brought some amazing prices. I told him the car would not be cheap explaining I've got tens of thousands into it (trying to scare him off but at the same time, I was fishing to see if he was really interested).

He asked for his card back, wrote down a number thanked me for my time and walked away.
When I turned the card over, Goddamn if it was not the EXACT number I had in my head and with the correct amount of zeros after it. :love:
Gremlin August Alignment 001.JPG
Gremlin August Alignment 002.JPG
Gremlin August Alignment 003.JPG
Gremlin August Alignment 004.JPG


I also hit the car wash on the way home, gave her a good scrub and at least 10 minutes on the "WAX" setting. :cool:
 
You actually let a car wash have at this beauty? You must have a lot of good faith in people...or personally supervised every step in the process.
I assume he means a manual car wash, which, at least in the midwest, are everwhere. Not one where you pay a premium and it goes through a tunnel with a bunch of humans running around, etc.
 
Been a while. A few things to report. Gremlin went into town (under her own power) for a front-end alignment.

Prior to today, I'd spent time blackening out the wheel wells, installing fender splash shields, the antenna, wipers - and oh mylanta is that a tale unto itself! Also cleaned and repacked the front wheel bearings and adjusted the front brakes. I've rebuilt the floor shifter and while it's better, it will still slip "between" gears.... I've ordered some parts for the shift rods that will hopefully prevent this. One drip rail was installed (passenger side) and much cursing was required. The driver side fought back to the point that I lost my temper, resorted to brute force and ignorance and was rewarded with a damaged driver side drip rail. They are next to impossible to find and ridiculously expensive when you do. Looks like I'm on the stick for $200 US for another pair.

The list to completion is small:
- repair the driver side door handle that broke today at the alignment shop 😭
- remove the rear window latch mechanism, adjust it and reinstall
- center the rear window in the opening
- reinstall all the rear cargo plastic when the above are finished
- find and install some rear speakers so I can have Quad in the car again
- install driver side drip rail molding when it arrives

My goal is to hit the last big car show of the season which is September 9th & 10th. Hope to bump into the guy who called the car a "piece of shit" 20 years ago and rub his nose in it. :LOL:

The fellas at the alignment shop couldn't believe the traffic they had today. They claimed that at least 50 people had to stop in, look at, or make a comment about the car. My new job is delivering auto parts and this shop is one of our customers - this afternoon while on a delivery they told me a gentleman had been coming back every hour wanting to speak to me. He explained he used to work for AMC at the Sarnia, Ontario engine plant from 1972 to 1979. Brother was on the ball, too. He knew it could only be a six since it's a premiere year car; he knew it was a Big Bad color, he identified the engine as a 232 and he even argued that it might be a Canadian-built car until we consulted the VIN. (I knew it was a Kenosha car, anyway)

Long story short, the fellow gave me his card and gimme me the old "if you ever want to sell..." speech. I asked him if he'd been keeping up on values and he said he had watched the recent Mecum auctions where several AMC's had recently brought some amazing prices. I told him the car would not be cheap explaining I've got tens of thousands into it (trying to scare him off but at the same time, I was fishing to see if he was really interested).

He asked for his card back, wrote down a number thanked me for my time and walked away.
When I turned the card over, Goddamn if it was not the EXACT number I had in my head and with the correct amount of zeros after it. :love:View attachment 82688View attachment 82689View attachment 82690View attachment 82691

I also hit the car wash on the way home, gave her a good scrub and at least 10 minutes on the "WAX" setting. :cool:
I can't believe you posted this update! I literally was thinking about your car about 6 hours before you posted this. Wondering what progress you were making......
 
Been a while. A few things to report. Gremlin went into town (under her own power) for a front-end alignment.

Prior to today, I'd spent time blackening out the wheel wells, installing fender splash shields, the antenna, wipers - and oh mylanta is that a tale unto itself! Also cleaned and repacked the front wheel bearings and adjusted the front brakes. I've rebuilt the floor shifter and while it's better, it will still slip "between" gears.... I've ordered some parts for the shift rods that will hopefully prevent this. One drip rail was installed (passenger side) and much cursing was required. The driver side fought back to the point that I lost my temper, resorted to brute force and ignorance and was rewarded with a damaged driver side drip rail. They are next to impossible to find and ridiculously expensive when you do. Looks like I'm on the stick for $200 US for another pair.

The list to completion is small:
- repair the driver side door handle that broke today at the alignment shop 😭
- remove the rear window latch mechanism, adjust it and reinstall
- center the rear window in the opening
- reinstall all the rear cargo plastic when the above are finished
- find and install some rear speakers so I can have Quad in the car again
- install driver side drip rail molding when it arrives

My goal is to hit the last big car show of the season which is September 9th & 10th. Hope to bump into the guy who called the car a "piece of shit" 20 years ago and rub his nose in it. :LOL:

The fellas at the alignment shop couldn't believe the traffic they had today. They claimed that at least 50 people had to stop in, look at, or make a comment about the car. My new job is delivering auto parts and this shop is one of our customers - this afternoon while on a delivery they told me a gentleman had been coming back every hour wanting to speak to me. He explained he used to work for AMC at the Sarnia, Ontario engine plant from 1972 to 1979. Brother was on the ball, too. He knew it could only be a six since it's a premiere year car; he knew it was a Big Bad color, he identified the engine as a 232 and he even argued that it might be a Canadian-built car until we consulted the VIN. (I knew it was a Kenosha car, anyway)

Long story short, the fellow gave me his card and gimme me the old "if you ever want to sell..." speech. I asked him if he'd been keeping up on values and he said he had watched the recent Mecum auctions where several AMC's had recently brought some amazing prices. I told him the car would not be cheap explaining I've got tens of thousands into it (trying to scare him off but at the same time, I was fishing to see if he was really interested).

He asked for his card back, wrote down a number thanked me for my time and walked away.
When I turned the card over, Goddamn if it was not the EXACT number I had in my head and with the correct amount of zeros after it. :love:View attachment 82688View attachment 82689View attachment 82690View attachment 82691

I also hit the car wash on the way home, gave her a good scrub and at least 10 minutes on the "WAX" setting. :cool:
I say bravo to you Sir. As a car guy myself, I appreciate the restorations. Never done any myself, but I follow a few that do on the Tube, and of course, yourself. I sort of "lived it at the time" so to speak, as I had several cars that would become classics, my fave being my prized '68 Chevelle. I rebuilt a '64 Corvette 327 and dropped into it after the engine failed. Put a close approximation to the old 30/30 Duntoff cam into it and man did I get heads turning when I fired that puppy up with that high lift/short duration cam.

I was rebuilding m/c engines at 15, my first Chevy 283 at 16....made every stupid mistake you could make but it ran. Had to push it to crank the first time, but those early cast iron Powerglides had a rear pump so if the driveshaft turned it would engage. lol. I still blame those chrome rings....and me not gapping them properly!

Please do keep us apprised of your project. No details too small!

Thanks!
 
Been a while. A few things to report. Gremlin went into town (under her own power) for a front-end alignment.

Prior to today, I'd spent time blackening out the wheel wells, installing fender splash shields, the antenna, wipers - and oh mylanta is that a tale unto itself! Also cleaned and repacked the front wheel bearings and adjusted the front brakes. I've rebuilt the floor shifter and while it's better, it will still slip "between" gears.... I've ordered some parts for the shift rods that will hopefully prevent this. One drip rail was installed (passenger side) and much cursing was required. The driver side fought back to the point that I lost my temper, resorted to brute force and ignorance and was rewarded with a damaged driver side drip rail. They are next to impossible to find and ridiculously expensive when you do. Looks like I'm on the stick for $200 US for another pair.

The list to completion is small:
- repair the driver side door handle that broke today at the alignment shop 😭
- remove the rear window latch mechanism, adjust it and reinstall
- center the rear window in the opening
- reinstall all the rear cargo plastic when the above are finished
- find and install some rear speakers so I can have Quad in the car again
- install driver side drip rail molding when it arrives

My goal is to hit the last big car show of the season which is September 9th & 10th. Hope to bump into the guy who called the car a "piece of shit" 20 years ago and rub his nose in it. :LOL:

The fellas at the alignment shop couldn't believe the traffic they had today. They claimed that at least 50 people had to stop in, look at, or make a comment about the car. My new job is delivering auto parts and this shop is one of our customers - this afternoon while on a delivery they told me a gentleman had been coming back every hour wanting to speak to me. He explained he used to work for AMC at the Sarnia, Ontario engine plant from 1972 to 1979. Brother was on the ball, too. He knew it could only be a six since it's a premiere year car; he knew it was a Big Bad color, he identified the engine as a 232 and he even argued that it might be a Canadian-built car until we consulted the VIN. (I knew it was a Kenosha car, anyway)

Long story short, the fellow gave me his card and gimme me the old "if you ever want to sell..." speech. I asked him if he'd been keeping up on values and he said he had watched the recent Mecum auctions where several AMC's had recently brought some amazing prices. I told him the car would not be cheap explaining I've got tens of thousands into it (trying to scare him off but at the same time, I was fishing to see if he was really interested).

He asked for his card back, wrote down a number thanked me for my time and walked away.
When I turned the card over, Goddamn if it was not the EXACT number I had in my head and with the correct amount of zeros after it. :love:View attachment 82688View attachment 82689View attachment 82690View attachment 82691

I also hit the car wash on the way home, gave her a good scrub and at least 10 minutes on the "WAX" setting. :cool:
Okay, that is just one bad a## ride. Nicely done! If I hadn't spent a zillion dollars on quad and stereo stuff over the decades, I'd get me one just like it...
 
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