On 97-07-05 13:28:16 Mike wrote:
>
>...I am a Bricklin owner for the past four years. I bought one at an
> auction and haven't really done much with it since. It has been garaged
> for about four years now and I am now ready to try and do some work on it.
>
> The original engine I believe was blown, and has been replaced with a 6
> cylindar (if you can believe that). At some point I would like to drop a
> 356 Cleveland back in as I understand that was the original engine. In
> the mean time I just want to get it up and running and have some work
> done.
Mike, a 6 cyl. Interesting! You didn't tell us what year the car is or
the VIN, but I'll assume that you have a 75. The 74s had AMC 360s and
the 75s had 351 Windsor engines. The 351Ws are easy to find. You'll face
2 problems when you put the 351W back in.
1) The exhaust manifolds, especially the drivers side are very hard to
find and NOT the common manifold. You might want to check some of the Brick
vendors (listed in the TECH section of the web page) to see if they have any
manifolds laying around. A lot of cars were converted to headers and this
might be the best way to go.
2) The motor mounts are also pretty unique and are getting hard to find.
(Currently Bob Hoffman - of Bob's Brickyard has the best price on them.)
>
>First a little background. As I told you, it does not have the original
>engine. In addition, it is a burgandy color, so I assume that the color is
>not original either. Is that right?
That is right - it is NOT original. In fact the car is NOT supposed to be
painted. However, today many of them are. Check out the FAQ in the TECH
section of the Web page for more on the body.
> Also, the person I bought it from had the hydrolic system totally replaced
> as I think he had some problems with it. The system he put in does not
> seem to be too bad, but the air compressor he had burned out shortly after
> I bought it. I have bought and installed no less than 12 other
> compressors, and they have lasted anywhere from 1 minute to maybe a month
> at most before they burnt out. Do you have any suggestions as to where I
> could find a compressor that would last a bit longer? I understand
> that since it's not the original hydrolic system it may be hard for you to
> comment, but any suggestions would be appreciated.
The conversion from hydrolics to pneumatic is very common and prefered.
However, was this done with one of the "good" kits or by someone in their
back yard. You don't mention what type of compressor you are purchasing.
Terry Tanner (Brick. Parts & Service of VA) and Bob Hoffman both sell air
systems. The compressor that comes with the kit is a vaccumn operated
compressor. There is an add on electric compressor also available. Again
this information is covered in the FAQ.
>Also, I am not a terribly mechanical person, and will not be doing much of
>the work myself. I have the car right now at my personal mechanic who is
>trying to get it up and running.....
>
>Any other tid bits you could pass along to help me get it up and running or
>restored would be appreciated.
Mike, I'm not trying to be curt, but we have put a lot of work into the Web
page and it contains a lot of info on parts, suppliers, etc. that you are
asking about. Keep checking it out as we put new info up every now and
then. It's still in its infency. In addition to the Web page, we have a
mailing list (also mentioned on the Web page) with over 50 members. You
can almost always get a question answered.
Mike, please email me after you read this. The info Scott forwarded me
didn't contain you email address.
John
John T. Blair WA4OHZ email: jblair@exis.net
Va. Beach, Va Phone: (757) 495-8229
48 TR1800 48 #4 Midget 65 Morgan 4/4 Series V
75 Bricklin SV1 77 Spitfire
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