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joat mon posted:They goofed even further and hooked the motor up to an AMC TF 727 too, rather than GM's TH 400, as God intended. That's actually not a horrible sin, AMC/Jeep was already using TF727s behind that exact motor in various offerings so it was something they could simply bolt in instead of spending engineering time on it. No surprise that they changed to a different auto when they went to the 351W for later year SVs, either... too bad they stopped offering a manual when they went to Ford power 
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Jul 22, 2012 22:15
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I've never wanted a Bricklin until your unloading pictures. I'm legit excited for you!
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Jul 23, 2012 02:07
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echoplex posted:I've never wanted a Bricklin until your unloading pictures. I'm legit excited for you! Same here, I don't know why I want it but I WANT IT!
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Jul 23, 2012 14:53
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Minor hijack: Considering restoring a 1970's Lotus Elite i can get for $200 in similar condition. They look like they share some kind of resemblance, are they related at all? edit: It might be an Eclat Flesh Croissant fucked around with this message at 17:42 on Jul 23, 2012 |
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Jul 23, 2012 17:38
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I just moved this week and don't have internet at my new place yet, so I'll answer a bunch of questions all at once from the weekend:InitialDave posted:Do these run a ladder, backbone or spaceframe chassis, or are they monocoque? It's sort of hybrid between a ladder and perimeter frame. The integrated roll cage, or bird cage as they call it, is attached to the frame rails and fully encloses the passenger compartment. Here is an illustration:  It was actually a pretty darn safe car for the time. Here is a crash test video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHNVH6Wo4mo The plastic body panels fly all over the place, but the passenger compartment is left completely intact. machinegunmessiah posted:So, this might be me just being stupid/blind, but this car looks like DeLorean. Not exactly, but it, uh, captures the spirit. How come? Malcolm Bricklin says the Delorean is the exact car that was the pre-production concept for the SV-1, and that John Delorean copied it for his car, with permission. Well, Malcolm says it better: http://youtu.be/_NosbiOsjO4?t=57s echoplex posted:In terms of proportions, I think there's a lot to be said for the DeLorean having real Italian design heritage, and the Bricklin... not. It is fascinating how similar they are, though, and how alike Bricklin and DeLorean (the men) were, and how they both ended up. I mean all the press on the DMC at the time said "They're not making the same mistake as Bricklin!" and in the end, no, they made all new ones, but the end result was the same. It's funny. The SV-1 was designed after the Maserati cars at the time. You can see it pretty clearly when you look at pictures of them both. They straight up stole the tail lights, as well as the flat hatch design and the slightly down turned. Hell, the silver Maserati to the right of the red one in this picture looks like a Bricklin when you glance at it.  If you blow up this image, you can see that Bricklin "borrowed" the front end design quite a bit, between the 3 slats between the headlights, the pop-up style headlights themselves that sit flush to the very flat hood, and the way the bumper looks like a smaller chrome version of the SV-1's that also seems to be mounted in a way that it can be pushed into the body in the name of safety.  More Bricklin design inspiration:  echoplex posted:OP, have you delved much into the world of the Bricklin community? I've seen a lot of animosity towards the DeLorean crowd which has always been funny since they're both pretty terrible cars. Is that still going? Are there crazy purists or is it pretty laid back? I haven't delved into the Bricklin community much yet, but mostly because it doesn't really exist. At least not online from what I've found. There is a forum at the Bricklin website, but it's mostly a ghost town. I think animosity between Bricklin and Delorean owners would be ridiculous. They are both quirky, terrible cars that have a lot in common in many, many ways. I do want to try to find other Bricklin owners out there to join the community, but it wouldn't surprise me if they hear what I plan on doing with my Bricklin engine wise and banning me from their meets. 
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Jul 23, 2012 20:44
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Standing outside of work yesterday, having a smoke, a car that looked liked the bastard love child of a C3 Corvette and a Bricklin drove by. It was bright blue and had the injection-molded look of a kit car to it, and the tail-lights looked rather like an old Monte Carlo, of all things. Any ideas as to what this was??? And regarding the above comments about it being a safe car for its day, well, "SV-1" stand for "Safety Vehicle 1", which is a less than inspiring name for a sports car, but it was definitely designed with safety in mind.
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Jul 23, 2012 21:46
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Red_October_7000 posted:Standing outside of work yesterday, having a smoke, a car that looked liked the bastard love child of a C3 Corvette and a Bricklin drove by. It was bright blue and had the injection-molded look of a kit car to it, and the tail-lights looked rather like an old Monte Carlo, of all things. Any ideas as to what this was??? Did it look something like this?  It could be any number of kit cars out there. Some examples listed by country: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kit_car
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Jul 23, 2012 22:33
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Ah, yes, those were called the Nova in the UK. Also, there was the Eagle SS (how much more  can we make that name?) which actually had gullwings. I think at one point it was the only car available with them.
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Jul 23, 2012 23:53
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This is for sale 1 province over from me. If a guy really wanted a Bricklin in babby turd brown, would probably be worth it. It think. http://saskatchewan.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-classic-cars-1975-BRICKLIN-SV-1-W0QQAdIdZ397808552 quote:1975 BRICKLIN SV-1 Also, I remember a documentary about the Bricklin and they were talking about quality control, and how ex-employees said Malcolms Bricklins' dad was employed with the purpose to whack various body parts with a rubber mallet to ensure the acrylic didn't separate. Malcolm himself corroborated this.
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Jul 24, 2012 00:33
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A local $10,000 Bricklin.
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Jul 24, 2012 00:46
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quote:
       
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Jul 24, 2012 00:53
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BoostCreep posted:Like so: (click for terrible quality video) Sometimes these threads hit a little close to home, I don't know the guy in the video but that one happens to be for sale about 3 blocks away.
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Jul 24, 2012 01:30
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That's probably about as good of a deal as you can get I bet. I'm always a little leary of 6+ year old photos, but that's a decent price for it's apparent shape.
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Jul 24, 2012 02:30
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Now that I have internet at work, I can upload some pics of the cool stuff that came with the car. Original owner's manual:  Two vintage iron-on Bricklin Decals (only showing the green one, but there's an orange one as well):  Two vintage Bricklin posters, again one green and one orange. I'm going to frame them both. The Orange one is one sided and lists the car's features in the top left corner.  The back side of the green poster, which will be the side framed:  This is amazing:  I have a stack of original letters to the Bricklin owners that went out right after the company went backrupt. Here is one for example, on General Vehicles Inc. official letterhead.  Pages from a magazine featuring the Bricklin after it went bankrupt. I think this might be from Playboy, because there are nudy photos on the other side. (nothing big, don't get too excited)  A vintage 1970's Recycler, featuring the SV-1 on the cover.  An article in (I think) Motor Trend about the soon-to-launch Bricklin. It's a great read. I can scan the full article if there's any interest. So much hope in the article, and so much foreseeing.  Best quote from the article: "It's easy, therefore, to see why the locals are a bit nervous: if the Bricklin adventure collapsed, they would get The Sting to the tune of 4.5 million, maybe more." Hah, they had the right to be nervous, and what a Sting it was. Another article linking the Bricklin to the Tucker, featuring an interview with Alexander Tremulis, the designer for the Tucker '48. He basically wishes Malcolm Bricklin well, but talks about how hard it is to go up against the Big 3 and it's an uphill climb, etc. Again, I can scan this article if there's interest.  And this is pretty cool. Every Bricklin entered the US through New England and was sent to Pennsylvania before being shipped out to dealers across the country. This means they were all issued at one point "Transfer tags" that allowed them to be moved around and driven from the trucks to the various dealers and whatnot before shipping out to other states. This particular Bricklin managed to retain it's Transfer tag that was issued when new. Now I don't know why it's a '76 tag since it is a '74 model year. I can only assume that the car wasn't delivered until '75 and possibly got issued the '76 tag early due to the Bicentennial plates. Either way, the fact that it's a Bicentennial plate for '76 AND has the T at the top right for the Transfer designation makes this an extremely rare plate. It's a pretty amazing thing to have, and in like new condition!  So that's about most of it. There's a bunch of other stuff like an order form to join the California Bricklin Car Owner's Club, as well as TSB style sheets from '76 about how to fix the doors, care for the acrylic, and other data, and a bunch of documents such as the original owner's registration card that expired in 1981. All really cool stuff. BoostCreep fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Jul 24, 2012 |
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Jul 24, 2012 03:21
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BoostCreep posted:And this is pretty cool. Every Bricklin entered the US through New England and was sent to Pennsylvania before being shipped out to dealers across the country. This means they were all issued at one point "Transfer tags" that allowed them to be moved around and driven from the trucks to the various dealers and whatnot before shipping out to other states. That's unbelievable. You have something extremely special there. 
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Jul 24, 2012 03:26
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MiniFoo posted:That's unbelievable. You have something extremely special there. I think so too. If nothing else, it will be a great display piece for classic car shows and meets. Unrelated, I'm going to need some help soon with figuring out some of the mechanical requirements for the car. Specifically upgrading to disc brakes at the rear which I assume will necessitate changing to a Ford rear end or something similar. I'm a little out of my element when it comes to vintage Canadian iron. No rush though, since I still have a long way ahead. I'm already pricing C3 or C4 Corvette seats, new carpet, and a way to remount the rear glass. Still no luck on finding a driver side window either. The research continues...
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Jul 24, 2012 03:56
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Looks like an AMC 20 rear end to me. I've got one in my Rambler that I'm currently (and slowly) converting to disks. I'll get around to making a thread about it. There is a pre-fab kit sold here but really it's Suzuki Samurai rotors, Nissan calipers, and a simple flat bracket easily made with a cardboard template. Read up on the home-brew solution here. Edit; A better looking job at this link. stone soup fucked around with this message at 04:17 on Jul 24, 2012 |
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Jul 24, 2012 04:08
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Bookmarked. This car was manufactured less the 2 hours from my place. Gotta keep up to speed on this.
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Jul 24, 2012 04:16
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BoostCreep posted:And this is pretty cool. Every Bricklin entered the US through New England and was sent to Pennsylvania before being shipped out to dealers across the country. This means they were all issued at one point "Transfer tags" that allowed them to be moved around and driven from the trucks to the various dealers and whatnot before shipping out to other states. Is Pennsylvania like Massachusetts, in that they only issued every other year for year-of-manufacture plates at some times, which resulted in both 57 and 58 getting '57 year of manufacture plates, for instance? It took me forever to find out about that, I'd spent a long time at swap meets pawing through plate vendors stacks looking for '58 plates before I ran into someone who happened to tell me that there was no such thing, and that I needed '57 plates and a tag to stick to the top center of the windshield listing it as a '58. I'm not sure how a '74 could end up with '76 this way but it's another possible explanation perhaps. E: you're welcome, and ever so much smarter than me, clearly! vvv kastein fucked around with this message at 09:41 on Jul 24, 2012 |
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Jul 24, 2012 04:33
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kastein posted:Fuckton of pictures. Thanks, missed those the first time around.
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Jul 24, 2012 05:25
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Abominable! posted:Looks like an AMC 20 rear end to me. I've got one in my Rambler that I'm currently (and slowly) converting to disks. I'll get around to making a thread about it. There is a pre-fab kit sold here but really it's Suzuki Samurai rotors, Nissan calipers, and a simple flat bracket easily made with a cardboard template. Read up on the home-brew solution here. That's a fantastic link, thanks! That seems a lot easier than swapping axles. I knew I'd need a plasma cutter eventually. From what I've been reading, I'll most likely need to upgrade to a one piece axle if I stick with the AMC 20 to handle as much power as I plan on running.
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Jul 24, 2012 20:21
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For what it's worth, one of today's curbside classic entries is on a junkyard with a Bricklin in it http://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/junkyard-cruising-east-texas-style/. It's got the rear glass but I can't tell if the driver's side door window is there.
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Jul 24, 2012 21:10
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This is awesome and I can't wait to see what you end up doing with the car.
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Jul 24, 2012 22:57
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For framing a two sided poster I'd suggest sandwiching it between two sheets of glass, and there's some kind of special frame you can use to hold them together, so you can flip to one side or the other. Two sheets of Perspex and some bolts give you the same thing but with a more industrial look.
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Jul 24, 2012 23:20
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Vindolanda posted:For framing a two sided poster I'd suggest sandwiching it between two sheets of glass, and there's some kind of special frame you can use to hold them together, so you can flip to one side or the other. Two sheets of Perspex and some bolts give you the same thing but with a more industrial look. Great idea, thanks. Maybe if I hang it on the wall from a single cord I can flip the poster over like an OPEN/CLOSED sign in shop windows.
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Jul 25, 2012 03:13
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BoostCreep posted:Did it look something like this? Didn't look especially like that. It had the distinct rear quarter of the Bricklin, which that lacks. I can't honestly say if it really had gullwing doors or not; the only real outstanding things about it were its bright screaming blue paint job and its Monte Carlo looking tail lights, along with its general resemblance to a C3 'Vette and a Bricklin. Given the nature of Kit Cars it could be anything, really.
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Jul 25, 2012 17:28
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I spent a lot of time this week emailing back and forth with the head of Bricklin International, which is basically the only club or organization that exists for these cars. The person I was emailing keeps a record of all the Bricklins that are known to still exist in the world, and my #0578 was not on his list. He was pretty excited about finding a new one as it's a very rare occurrence these days. He has also spent a long time working on Bricklins and has written a bunch of articles on how to maintain them over the years. He said the first thing I should do is repair the doors and convert them to the air system. This was my plan in the first place, so I'm glad to see I'm heading in the right direction. He was nice enough to send along an article he wrote about restoring the doors, which is 17 pages long. The doors need to be de-laminated (separate the fiberglass from the steel), stripped down to the bare metal, sand blasted, and then have boomerang shaped metal supports welded to the doors where they go from vertical to horizontal in order to give them the proper support they never had from the factory. That's page 1. Realizing exactly what I have in store for me, I noticed I am pitifully under equipped for this project. So I finally slapped down the old credit card and bought Babby's first welder! Amazon has the Hobart Handler 140 MIG for $499, so I picked that up along with an auto darkening helmet and accessories. It all gets here Tuesday and I'm excited to start learning to weld. I'm still debating on engine choices, so practicing welding will give me plenty of time to make a decision there. The V8 route is getting more and more tempting (mostly due to packaging constraints for cooling). LSx engines are pretty expensive around me, so I started looking at other options and noticed that the 5.7 Hemi engines out of Chrysler 300s and Dodge Magnums are fairly abundant and quite a bit cheaper. But none of those come with manual transmissions, so I'm still researching...
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Jul 28, 2012 11:37
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BoostCreep posted:Great idea, thanks. Maybe if I hang it on the wall from a single cord I can flip the poster over like an OPEN/CLOSED sign in shop windows. An album frame should make this easier.
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Jul 28, 2012 11:55
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That's one of the perks of an oddball like this - you get people really passionate about it, and that makes for great community support. Have you got a timeframe on this project, or just it'll be done when it's done?
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Jul 28, 2012 11:57
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echoplex posted:That's one of the perks of an oddball like this - you get people really passionate about it, and that makes for great community support.
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Jul 28, 2012 15:34
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echoplex posted:That's one of the perks of an oddball like this - you get people really passionate about it, and that makes for great community support. No real timeframe yet, but I do plan on making it driveable a priority. I want to take care of the doors so I can get in and get out for starters, and then focus on any rust issues immediately after that. I don't see any rust from glancing under the car, but these cars tend to rust in certain places even in the dry SoCal climate and I want to make sure I'm not going to fall through the floor the first time I sit in it. Then I'm focusing on getting the new engine/transmission swap installed and driving the thing. Ideally it will be a rolling restoration so I don't get all bogged down in making it "perfect" and ending up having it sit on jack stands for 3 years.
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Jul 28, 2012 18:13
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I didn't get a whole lot of time to devote to the car this weekend, but I did get to make some measurements and get some more pictures. I took this picture to show how the body panels are made. The orange outer layer is the acrylic, and you can see how the color is baked into the material. Then the gray/light tan material is the fiberglass inner layer. The black fiberglass is the structural support for the hood. I put my hand there just to block the sunlight.  Better shot of the cracked door panel. It's a mess. I think I can fix the fiberglass just fine, but I don't think the acrylic has a chance in hell. My plan is to take the door off, separate the skin, and try to fix the fiberglass from the underside. Maybe that will let me glue the acrylic crack back together from the outside. I don't know. I'll probably try really hard to save the door skin, fail, and just order the fiberglass replacement.  The top of the door where the fiberglass meets (or used to meet) the steel door frame. There's some minor rust repair to make, but I don't see any serious rot. We'll see how it looks once I remove the skin.  I just think this is cool.  The hilarious fit and finish. This is where the fender meets the A pillar and door.  Shocked these tires hold air.  The rear window as it sits in the hatch.  So this is how the rear window locks into the hatch. The fiberglass hatch slips in one side of the seal, the glass in the other, and then the solid rubber tube seems to prevent the seal from sagging and letting the glass fall out. I thought I was going to need a new seal, but the entire thing is completely intact and feels new. No cracks or wear, so I think I can reuse it if I maybe replace the solid tube with some slightly thicker metal. I'm going to need to play with this a bit. That glass is heavy and rare as hell, and I don't want it falling and breaking.  HORNS!  This is kinda funny. I was fiddling with the ignition and moving some cables around in the engine bay to take measurements, and afterwards noticed that somehow one of the headlights popped up. I don't know if it's vacuum operated or what, but I thought it was hilarious. It's like the car is letting me know how happy it is to be worked on after sitting for over 20 years. Only problem is I can't get it to go back down now...  This was in the hatch. New in box, from 1976. I almost want to use it just because, but I think I'll put it on the shelf with the rest of the stuff that came with the car.  As for the measurements, I have 35" from the firewall to the radiator, and about 29" of width between the frame rails. I didn't get a good measurement for height, but the foil heat shield on the under side of the hood has an indentation on it from the air cleaner, so whatever engine I go with just needs to be shorter than the 360 and I should be ok, depending on how low I can mount it. AMC 360 dimensions, not including exhaust manifolds. L = 28.75" (including water pump pulley) W = 21.50" H = 29.50" (oil pan to top of air cleaner) Weight = ~600 lbs (long block, not including exhaust manifolds or accessories) 4G63, including stock intake and exhaust manifolds. L = 20" (plus possibly 2" for pulleys and belts, haven't confirmed yet) W = 22" (outer edge of intake mani to edge of stock exhaust manifold) H = 25" (oil pan to cam gear cover) Weight = ~300 lbs (long block, not including accessories) So a 4G63 will easily fit, and shave some considerable weight. The SV-1 weighs 3,470lbs according to Wikipedia, so losing around 300lbs from the nose will probably do wonders for handling. I can't for the life of me find external dimensions for the Jeep 4.0, but I'm pretty sure it will be too long. Plus it weighs 515lbs, and the idea of shedding so much weight from stock is pushing me in the direction of a 4 banger. Maybe an aluminum V8 if I can find one for a decent price.
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Jul 30, 2012 09:01
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THOSE WHEELS. What are they? I think I have a very similar set in 4x4.5, and I've never seen them on anything else. Awesome Bricklin.
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Jul 30, 2012 10:36
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Rear Admiral BOOYA posted:THOSE WHEELS. What are they? I think I have a very similar set in 4x4.5, and I've never seen them on anything else. I think they're usually called 'turbine' wheels/rims. GIS turns up a bunch of results for them, and yeah, they either look great on a car, or like poo poo. In this case, they look awesome. Good luck with the project, OP!
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Jul 30, 2012 22:08
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BoostCreep posted:
Your bought a transformer. Way to go, man! It is most likely vacuum. My Lincoln's headlights are vacuum and when it's cold out, or it sits for a long time, the headlights will creep up.
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Jul 31, 2012 00:40
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You can get the Vortec 5.3s for not too much money. On the aluminum ones you need to replace half the lifters because of displacement on demand.
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Jul 31, 2012 18:08
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Rear Admiral BOOYA posted:THOSE WHEELS. What are they? I think I have a very similar set in 4x4.5, and I've never seen them on anything else. Thanks! The Delorean went with similar style wheels too. 
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Jul 31, 2012 20:25
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Not letting this thread drop this far off. Any progress?
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Aug 11, 2012 06:06
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Rear Admiral BOOYA posted:THOSE WHEELS. What are they? I think I have a very similar set in 4x4.5, and I've never seen them on anything else. Captain McAllister posted:I think they're usually called 'turbine' wheels/rims. GIS turns up a bunch of results for them, and yeah, they either look great on a car, or like poo poo.  Unless the caps have been swapped out, they're Cragars. Dunno the model.
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Aug 11, 2012 06:18
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Wrar posted:You can get the Vortec 5.3s for not too much money. On the aluminum ones you need to replace half the lifters because of displacement on demand.
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Aug 11, 2012 07:14
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