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Manxmann
01-14-2012, 06:40 PM
Hey Folks,

I've decided that 17152 looks awful lonely by herself in my garage and needs company. Call me mad, and I'm sure many will, but I'm drawn to getting an SV-1 :D

I've spent several nights on and off Googling and now know a decent amount of the cars history. However one vital thing is missing, I have yet to find anything even slightly resembling an Owners forum. Sorry this isn't strictly true there's bricklin.org but the forum links on this site simply don't work for me.

Can anyone point me in the right direction, I'm looking for info on Vendors/Cars for sale/Failure points etc. etc.

Cheers

Dangermouse
01-14-2012, 06:50 PM
Iirc, there was a discussion on the old forum about this and the fact that there really wasn't an active forum.

DMCTalk member "Dracula" aka Chad has an SV1 so perhaps you two could start an active forum

DMCVegas
01-15-2012, 01:10 AM
Not really my cup-o-tea in stock form. The seats don't recline, and the door sills are way too high. Felt like I was in a coffin. I've toyed with the idea of owning one, but if I ever did, I'd have to swap out the seats and graft in some arm rests on those doors. It definitely a curiosity and one of those itches that you've got to scratch if you get one. But don't go into buying a Bricklin thinking that it's going to be like a DeLorean.

Bricklin International Owners Club has a forum, but I've no idea how often it's updated. Although the for sale area does have some pretty recent posts.
http://www.bricklin.org/forum/

Manxmann
01-15-2012, 12:10 PM
Thanks for the info, I'd already found the Int forum trouble is clicking on that link takes me to the website running on my firewall, very odd :S

Dracula
01-15-2012, 01:32 PM
I've found the Bricklin forum to be slower in posting and updates than the DML prior to Bill Robertson's resurgence there. Otherwise, I'd be happy to share my thoughts on the Bricklin here. With this title, it could easily be a dedicated thread. There are downsides and upsides; the kit-car feel is apparent and the build quality is lacking, but the parts availability for the Ford drivetrain is excellent. Power doors are my favorite feature, though, and when controlled by a remote, they can be opened and closed on command.

dvonk
01-15-2012, 11:31 PM
Power doors are my favorite feature, though, and when controlled by a remote, they can be opened and closed on command.

definitely a badass feature. :headbang:

deloreanz
01-16-2012, 03:08 AM
I liked them more as I started looking into them. It's funny how many parallels can be draw between it and the DeLorean, the non-traditional body panel material being one. I don't know if I could ever be proud driving one and I'm sure I'd flip out if people were to yell 'DeLorean!' upon seeing the doors open.

Chris Burns
01-16-2012, 08:53 AM
In my opinion the best things about the Bricklin are:

1.The outside looks, including the turbine style wheels.

2.The drive train and engine (they sound good and are easy to fix)

3.The power doors and the crazy colors they come in.

The interiors needed to be updated on those. Not my cup of Joe.

pezzonovante88
01-16-2012, 10:02 AM
In my opinion the best things about the Bricklin are:

1.The outside looks, including the turbine style wheels.

2.The drive train and engine (they sound good and are easy to fix)

3.The power doors and the crazy colors they come in.

The interiors needed to be updated on those. Not my cup of Joe.

+1
They are pretty cool and very obscure/unique, but they just have a "kit car" or "prototype" feel about them as if they were never really production cars. Although, those may be attractive characteristics to some people.
It would be pretty cool to have both a DeLorean and a Bricklin. The first D I ever saw was at a cruise night, a red one, and the owner had a white Bricklin parked next to it. Pretty mind-blowing for a 12 year old that had never seen either car in person before.

vin6635
01-16-2012, 02:21 PM
They've got a nice forum over there...I'm active on it. Keep in mind, there are only about 1500 Bricklins left so the pool of forum goers is much smaller than here.

They're odd cars from the 70s. For each thing someone hates, others like.

While the power doors (most air now) are kinda cool, they are a total PITA to keep running well!

All said, I'd love to have one. My dad had a B prior to buying our D.

Bruce Johnson
01-16-2012, 03:05 PM
Funny this subject should come up as I just bought one. It's an early VIN with the AMC 360 engine and Chrysler automatic transmission. There were some engine upgrades done including an improved Holly 4 barrel carb, electronic igniton, and Edelbrock cylinder heads. It's a loud and fast car, but as some of you have already said it does have that kit car look and feel and for me, having left leg issues, nearly impossible to get out of. I'm seriously thinking of getting rid of it. I know that parts are readily available through some of the Bricklin vendors and the air door lift kit is a must to replace the slow hydraulic system if you should find one that still has it. The interior for my '74 crosses with the '74 Gremlin. Parts for both the AMC and Ford engines and both transmissions are available as well. They have had all kinds of problems with the fit of the acrylic on fiberglass panels and stress fractures as well. Make sure you look into that. Other than that, the Bricklin is a good looking car and at 220bhp faster than my Delorean but for my money it's the D for me!

Bruce 1420

Manxmann
01-16-2012, 05:20 PM
Thanks folks, really appreciate the info.

I've managed to get onto the Bricklin forum, using a remote proxy server to bounce my connection off but its not ideal.

Anyhow back to the car, my main 'interests' at the moment, for want of a better word are the chassis, body panels and proliferation of metal body parts.

So far during my search I've found lots of reference regarding rusty chassis but have yet to see anyone go the galv/powder coat route. How bad is chassis rot? What protection was in place from the factory? How much of a mountain are they to remove and repair?

The acrylic body panels intrigue and alarm. Do _All_ B's crack? I've seen reference to fibreglass replacement panels, whats the general opinion on these and are all panels available? How much does filling/painting de-value and does this solution provide a more permanent fix?

There appears to be many more bonded in steel panels and box sections in a B compared to a D (This is gonna get confusing) How big a problem is rot and replacement of these 'other' bits? I've had to replace the roof box section on the D and it wasn't pretty.

Now for the million dollar question (well I hope not) how much are 'good' cars going for i.e. good chassis, no cracks in body + un-painted, sound running gear and tidy complete interior, sensible upgrades e.g. the newer Air instead of hydraulic solution?

Does anyone have any experience dealing with Bricklin Autosport (http://bricklinautosport.com/index.html) ? I've mailed them but so far have had no response.

Cheers

Simon

vin6635
01-16-2012, 06:00 PM
Go crazy with this link...lots of good reference material here.

http://bricklinpartsva.com/index.html

The other link is a high end Bricklin guy...he keeps the pricing up and only has mint cars. Not sure he does service. Bob's Brickyard in MI is the other "vendor."

All of the cars crack unless they're fiberglass. Frames rust badly. Doors bend if not reinforced and require roof rebuild. The door systems break or leak air. Engines run hot. AC isn't very good. Really, there are tons of problems with these things. I keep telling myself this everytime I get the urge. They won't stop me, but will drive me crazy (at some point in the future).

Good news is they're relatively cheap to acquire and I guess relatively easy to fix. And that I alredy have a great D to keep me happy.

Bruce Johnson
01-16-2012, 06:50 PM
Yep, as in the previous post those guys are high and their cars run in the 22-25K range. It's hard to find a car without any of the common stress cracks, they may be out there but at a price. Repair is pretty straight forward though. Small cracks and gouges can be sanded or filled if they are not too deep. The color in the acrylic goes all the way through the material until you hit the fiberglass. Keep in mind though that after the repair they can reappear. The air door conversion kit can get pricey and usually runs around $1500 to $1800. Mine has the conversion and gas struts to assist. I've seen prices for these cars run as low as 5K for a car in need of restoration to 15K for a nice driver. I'm no expert, although I'd been looking for awhile, to summarize, non-running resto 4-5K, good daily driver 10-15K, mint (I'll use the term loosely) 22-25K. Mine's for sale. PM if you're interested.

Bruce 1420

DMCVegas
01-17-2012, 02:18 AM
Another thing to keep an eye out for are painted cars. The impregnated acrylic body panels are a great idea, but they were a bit too far ahead of their time. Warping and cracking can be a bit common. That's mostly why you see people installing hood pins on SV-1s. It's nothing at all to do with safety, they're just keeping the warped hoods bent down.

Getting back to the paint however, if the body panels are original and it's been repainted (very likely because the body panels and color-keyed bumpers fade at different rates), you need to make sure that they used water-based primer/sealer. Otherwise petroleum-based primers will cause a chemical reaction that will crack and destroy the body panels. And if that happens you'd need to plan on reskinning the whole car. I've seen it happen in person, and it's NOT pretty.

In any case your best bet is to start hitting up the Bricklin FAQs (http://www.bricklin.org/TechCentral/TCFAQ.htm) and other resources. Start from there, and if you're serious give one of the parts distributors a call and order up a Workshop Manual and related materials to study up on. Just like with a DeLorean (or any other car) it'll go a long way to help you make an informed decision on both ownership as well as selecting a car to purchase.

Dracula
01-17-2012, 03:05 AM
I replied earlier in this thread but, in the interim time, I was recovering from laser-eye surgery and, by now, any advice I had to offer has already been said. There are more individual-specific pros and cons, but the best advice is to drive one first and form your own opinion. This goes for ANY car out there, even more so for any classic.

If thoughts or opinions are wanted, those I still have, but those aren't the mettle by which the car should be judged.

Andy
01-17-2012, 03:48 AM
Nice car!

There is one for sale a few miles from my home (in Belgium!!), but it doesn't get sold. No one knows what it is (except the real petrolheads!) and people are afraid of the unknown, I guess ... I think it will be there for a long time.

Manxmann
01-17-2012, 02:27 PM
Thanks Folks, very much appreciated.

I'd love to have the opportunity to drive one, sadly from what I can tell there are none in the UK, let alone where I actually live. So like my original D purchase I'll be doing it blind and that didn't turn out too badly :mecry:

I've spent a couple of nights going over the FAQ and previous posts on the B forum. I'm assuming that after a panel has had its cracks repaired, via filling, that a respray is required? Is the situation then quite common that a B will have some painted panels and some not or does one panel repair require an entire body paint?

Is there any preference over the AMC or Ford running gear? I've seen mention of later 4 speed auto upgrades being offered for early 3 speed cars or have I got that wrong.

From experience would you guys recommend a manual (stick shift) or an auto? I've heard that the clutch is somewhat heavy.

dvonk
01-17-2012, 04:18 PM
From experience would you guys recommend a manual (stick shift) or an auto?

you might have a little trouble finding a manual, apparently there were only 137 of them made. i suppose some are still out there though...

DMCVegas
01-17-2012, 04:35 PM
Manuals are very rare cars, having only been built in '74, and because Bricklin himself was not fond of stick shifts. I've no idea what it would take to convert a car over.

I've had a couple of chances to buy Bricklins in the past, but past them up. Found a beautiful Safety Suntan (my favorite color) with a manual transmission at the same time as my DeLorean, but opted for the DMC-12 instead and spent the extra cash elsewhere. Found another later on in the Recycler in Los Angeles. Guy wanted $600 because it had an engine swap for a turbo V6 from a Thunderbird, and was in pieces. Didn't have the place to store it at the time thanks to moving into my own apartment, so I passed it up. I don't regret it though. I would however have regretted not buying a DeLorean. That's an itch I HAD to scratch.

Your best bet for finding a Brickling is either Classic Car Trader, or Craigslist.

If you're curious about what the bent doors and body panel separation looks like, this video should be a decent enough start.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubrBbQRohds&feature=related

Dracula
01-17-2012, 04:46 PM
Thanks Folks, very much appreciated.

I'd love to have the opportunity to drive one, sadly from what I can tell there are none in the UK, let alone where I actually live. So like my original D purchase I'll be doing it blind and that didn't turn out too badly :mecry:

I've spent a couple of nights going over the FAQ and previous posts on the B forum. I'm assuming that after a panel has had its cracks repaired, via filling, that a respray is required? Is the situation then quite common that a B will have some painted panels and some not or does one panel repair require an entire body paint?

Is there any preference over the AMC or Ford running gear? I've seen mention of later 4 speed auto upgrades being offered for early 3 speed cars or have I got that wrong.

From experience would you guys recommend a manual (stick shift) or an auto? I've heard that the clutch is somewhat heavy.

The issue of painting the panels is a concern about resale, mostly, and has very minimal effect on the price, FOR NOW, because the panels have a tendency to fade at different rates. Another reason that the paint doesn't seem to hurt the cars value is the limited number produced in even such a smaller array of colors, which were polarizing from the beginning. That comes down to an individual preference for originality and if you want a different color, then buying a car that's already been painted is a good choice.

For the drivetrain, that also comes down to personal preference. the AMC 360 has more horsepower and is faster than the Ford 351 Windsor motor, but the Ford motor is the same one as used in the Mustang and has a far wider array of aftermarket performance parts and is cheaper to maintain and restore. I like the 351 better, but my opinion and a quarter will get you five nickels change.

The AT is the most common and prices are higher, naturally, for a 4-speed, but it's not bad having an auto. The car has nice acceleration, though I'd call the overall ride quality lacking and the general feeling is that there are numerous places that could stand some refinement.

Manxmann
01-17-2012, 04:49 PM
Ahh yes that rings a bell, lucky I want an auto then :)

Manxmann
01-18-2012, 02:04 PM
Ok managed to register on the Bricklin forum and have had some great replys to my initial introduction.

Lots of interesting info already, one suggestion that's cropped up a couple of times is to find a car that's been retro fitted with fibreglass body panels. Thus eliminating fit/finish and cracking problems.

I've also been told about a couple of 'un-registered' cars in Canada that are for sale. Both have done only a few hundred miles and are 100% original, right down to the plastic seat covers still in place.

What are the thoughts on the NOS (lol) cars?

pezzonovante88
01-18-2012, 04:28 PM
Here are a few for sale you may or may not have seen:

This one is being restored by a very reputable company near where I live:
http://www.legendarymotorcar.com/site/Bricklin_SV1


http://www.schmitt.com/viewimage.asp?ID=4546
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1975-BRICKLIN-SV-1-/300628239395?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item45fed6e423

vin6635
01-19-2012, 01:05 PM
Even if an NOS car has been stored properly and is in good shape, you still need to go through the air door/reinforcement process. $1000s of dollars to do this including removing both door skins. You can't (or at least shouldn't) run the hydraulic system any longer. It will damange the car at some point and is slow/troublesome.