Gremlin Track Rat – gutting doors and buying parts!

So I’ve been splitting time between the Javelin and the Gremlin. At this point I’ve completely removed the interior and pulled the engine/trans. I haven’t explained why the motor came out so let me tell that story. I had originally hoped to get the engine running but a little bit of time messing with it proved that was not going to be an option. First I tried to turn the engine over with a breaker bar. Nope. At that point I decided to drain the oil. YUCH!!! When I removed the drain plug FIRST I got a TON of water. Next I got a lot of white sludge. I *think* that means this motor was run with water in the oil… anyway, it was clear this motor was going to need some major attention if it’s ever going to run again. I don’t know why I didn’t start by pulling the valve cover but I finally did (wasn’t even bolted down. more carnage. Both cylinder #5 rockers/pushrods were missing. also, one of the pushrods for cylinder #6 was bent badly. So that’s why this motor got pulled. The auto trans was pulled because it was an auto and the track rat needs a stick…

I’d been watching craigslist for a while and over time I scored an engine and a Mustang T5 trans (separate purchases). Both were close by. I got the engine for $400 bucks and was told that it came out of a 1980 Jeep. Story is it had been rebuilt and then run for less than a 1000 miles before being pulled and swapped for a v8. In the pics below it’s the red one (the motor on the stand is a 1972 258 I got for $50). The red motor is already set up for a T5 and came with the flywheel, bellhousing, etc. Hopefully the story about the rebuild is true. The T5 was $170. Guy said he bought it for a project that never happened and that it’s supposed to not have any problems. Fingers crossed.

So, a good chunk of the drive train is coming together. I’ve been looking for a Mustang 8.8 rear but haven’t found anything yet. I’m considering welding the spider gears in the stock rear I have and just running that.

Next up I wanted to gut the doors AND try to lighten the hood. I started with the driver’s side. In addition to cutting out the inner door panel I also wanted to remove the window frame. It was a bit of a job but after drilling about 6 spot welds out and bending the frame back and forth I got it out cleanly. On the hood I just started cutting away the inner frame. I left most of the structure around the studs though. Next up I need to gut the passenger door and then I need to start working on the rusty floors!