At 03:16 PM 7/3/97 -0400, GodlyKrew@aol.com wrote:
>Hi. I am a Bricklin fan living in soutrhern CA, and am in the process of
>purchasing Bricklin # 17?? (1975, safety orange, 27K miles, all original).
>the price is $7500, and I want to know if there is any chance of this
>particular Bricklin overheating..the last thing I want to do Is replace the
>head gasket, especially since thats what happened to my 1986 Dodge
>Conquest.
Riley,
Don't know what to say about the over heating problem. If you haven't
joined the mailing list yet, you should. We've been having an ongoing
discussion about the overheating problem for the last week or so.
Unfortunately, no definitave answers. Yes! the car can overheat. So far
no one has reported having to replace the head gaskets as a result.
So of the items that have come out of the discussion are:
1. get some of the exhaust manifold heat sheilding tape and wrap the
manifolds.
2. look into adding an electric fan
3. Remove the rubber seal from the firewall that seals to the hood.
4. Add and additional oil cooler.
> I will be driving the car everyday,so what should I do to make sure its
>reliable? If the original Hydrolic doors fail before I can upgrade to the
>air door system, can I open them manually?
Yes, but it is a pain if you aren't inside the car and the windows are NOT
rolled down. You have to enter via the rear hatch. There is a pin that
hold the rams to the top of the door. Pull this pin and the doors can be
lifted manually. Be careful, especially if you don't have the additional
helper struts on the front edge of the doors. The doors weigh about 95#.
I suggest doing the air conversion as soon as possible! There are several
problems with the hydrolic door system. If you haven't check out the FAQ
on the Web page under the "Tech" section.
>The engine is a Ford 351 Windsor V8 small block, and sounds alot like a
>late 80's to early 90's camaro or firebird. in other words the engine
>sounds noisy. does this indicate a problem, or is it just normal for this
>type of car?
On this I can't be of much help, as I've never driven my car. However,
the engine shouldn't be too noisy. The 351W was a good engine. What
type of noise? Does it make a loud clanking sound when 1st fired up?
My car has been sitting for over 10 years after being stripped in a chop
shop. I'm slowly restoring it. It has about 35K mi. on it. The only
thing I've done to the engine is clean it (sandblasted & painted it),
dropped the pan and clean it out, replace the oil pump, and rebuild the
carb. I did start it about 4 years ago before I pulled it down. Didn't
make too much noise. Haven't started it since I put it back in the chassis.
I need a new radiator first.
Glad to have you aboard!!!
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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