On Fri, 24 Mar 2017 23:09:23 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 23:53:04 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 22:24:42 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 22:18:24 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 22:11:26 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 21:50:05 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 21:09:35 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 14:46:41 -0700, Electric Comet
wrote:

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 17:42:47 -0400
wrote:

Yep - the bullet holes were put there by the owner.
and he saved one for himself.

haha

apparently and believe or not they are sought after

in good condition they even get a pretty good price

That's because one in good condition has always been exceedingly rare,
even when they were new (owned a '71 Gremlin - the most appropriately
named car in history).

I worked for a short time for an AMC dealer back in '72, and they were
actually pretty good cars when compared to products from GM. Ford, and
Chrysler at the same time. One big problem with the gremy and hornet
was the latch pins breaking out of the doorposts after the hinge pins
wore out or sagged.. They had pretty well solved the rocker arm oiling
issue on the 232 by that time. The 258 was a better motor for the car
- and the 340 was AWSOME. There was a dealer in Mesa Arizona that put
the 401 AMX engine in the Grem. - Randall Motors XR401.
There were quite a few 360s transplanted into Grems too -
They were HAIRY!!!!

Ours was a 232 but the engine was the only part of the car that didn't
have a problem. Everything from the alternator to the window frames
broke in the first few months. The dash was warped so badly that the
glove box door wouldn't close properly. The brakes were crap, as was
the clutch, drive shaft, and pretty much everything else. The only
thing worse than the car was the dealer and the manufacturer. Pure
junk.
I'd say your dealer was your biggest problem. The ones that had the
prestolite alternators did have some regulator problems. AMC actually
made some pretty good stuff.

The original electrical problem was in the brushes. One was sheared
clean off somehow. It took everything else with it. The dealer
blamed it on someone shorting a spark plug, of all asinine arguments
to not fix it. Oh, and I forgot the extra nut in the front brake
*drum*. It really chewed the crap out of the brake when it broke
loose. Of course the dealer AND AMC wouldn't believe the nut did the
damage. It didn't. All the rest of the stuff it knocked loose (self
adjusting stuff) did the damage. Yes, the dealer sucked but AMC
wasn't any better and the car was absolute crap. It didn't last three
years and the problem wasn't rust.
Your problem was your dealer - pure and simple. Yes, thewre were some
assembly problem issues (due to labour problems) but a properly done
pre-delivery service solved the vast majority of them - and the dealer
was paid to perform that inspection/service. It was not out of the
ordinary to spend over 2 hours on a PDI - and the dealer was paid for
something like 3 hours.
Ford and Chrysler had every bit as many problems in those years - and
GM? They've ALWAYS had issues.. Toyota and Honda had their issues back
then too.(as did Datsun - and VW.

The dealer was crap, for sure, but the company behind them wasn't any
better (and the workers, probably not up to that level)...

When they say "they don't make 'em like they used to" i say "THANK
GOD!!!"

+(can't count that high)
Well, I worked for an AMC dealer in '72, and American Motors Canada
went the extra mile for their dealers to satisfy the customers. Labour
problems affected build quality - mostly in fit and finish - things
like ball bearings or bolts welded into closed body chanels (the fix I
devised was to drill a hole and shoot the channel full of undercoating
to glue the nut or bearing in place) and beer cans inside tires. AMC
paid what was required to fix those problems.