1979 AMC Spirit GT from North America - Comments

I blew the original 232 in line six at about 150,000 miles. That was seven years ago, and I have completely restored the car since then. The quarter panels had rust, so I cut good sections out of another car and welded them in. I also changed the interior to one from a 1980 Spirit DL and added a floor console and floor shifter at that time. I just blew out the rear end - not the original, it was from a 1974 Gremlin X - and plan to put a Ford 9-inch in it soon.

In stock condition this is a horrible car to drive. It weighs around 3,000lbs,and has only 90 HP! The interior is roomy for front seat passengers, but useless for backseat passengers. It is nose heavy and brakes and handles poorly because of it.

Mine has been extensively modified in the 13 years I have owned it. It now has a 1973 AMC 360 V8 making approximately 350 - 400 HP. The battery has been relocated to the trunk, the air conditioning has been removed, the cast iron intake manifold has been replaced with one of aluminium, and the cast iron exhaust manifolds have been replaced with steel-tube headers. This was all done to remove weight from the front of the car, and along with a switch to wider tires on 15 inch rims has vastly improved handling.

It's all true!every word of it!Excellently written review.

Good report, I would go with the 12 bolt-posi rear end, not the Ford.

WOW: He complains about the car being nose heavy with the 6-cylinder engine in it; then he installs a much heavier V8 engine. Yeah, relocating the battery will help (about a 1% change), and yeah, tripling the horsepower certainly will help the performance, but then he is surprised that the rear end died? Remember the theme from the 1979 sales brochures? "The Economy Experts"!

Fantasy Land!

The original six cylinder died with 150,000 miles on it. I can't decide if he is complaining, or not.

I own a 79 spirit GT. The original 304 was scrapped out after 175,000 hard miles. This was originally a 304 4speed car. After 10 years of sitting in my garage I decided to change the drivetrain. I purchased a 1970 360 and found it to be a factory 295 hp 395 ft lb motor. I replaced the 4-speed with a mustang 5-speed tranny. The car is completey restored, runs great and handles great. Since the suspension was a factory v8 setup with large front and rear sway bars the car really sticks well. The rearend is the amc factory installed 8-9/16 rear with 3:55 posi. Great all around car ahead of its time.

I can't figure weather I like this car or not. Bought a 82 spirit which is in pretty good shape. The inline six is a pretty gutless engine, but VERY fuel efficient. Figure rather then butchering the beast just put some staight pipe and a header on it. After taking off all the emissions hoses (mind you this car is all orignal) may get a whopping 130hp.

I'm the writer of the original review, and figured I would add an update. The rear end turned out to not be the problem I thought it was, and is still in the car. It's a $75 AMC model 20 from a 304 3 speed Gremlin. I never got the 9 inch, but am planning on a Fox body 8.8 Mustang rear instead as the model 20's open diff is very expensive to upgrade with a new posi, and the 2 piece axles are less than strong (I find traction lock 8.8's at the local U pull it yard for under $100 on rare occasion). I also wounded the 360 in it due to the lousy aluminum timing cover's inability to be properly rebuilt for good oil pressure (it's got 5 psi at Idle right now!). I have a fresh 360 that's from another AMC project I owned that will soon replace it while I rebuild the other 360. I plan on oiling upgrades (ALL of them!) so that the problem does not return. I also have a T-5 trans that I may use in the future, but will likely use a low 1st gear set 80 or later 904 trans for the time being. The suspension on the car was also upgraded to Spirit AMX springs and sway bar up front at the time of the original swap, but I never put the rear sway bar in it (but plan to soon).Aluminum Edelbrock heads will replace the original Dogleg heads to reduce frontal weight and give more power/better combustion efficiency. I also plan on a Fiberglass hood for weight reduction and better ventilation of the engine bay. I stand by my original comments. After 17 years of ownership, I know about this car's flaws, but have also tried to fix them. It was not a well engineered vehicle; it was designed to try and get as much mileage out of the old Gremlin chassis as they could and try to stave off creditors. That being said, it can be made to look decent and perform well - if you wish to do some work. That's what all of my road tests from 1979 say, and that's what I have to say.

I'm not familiar with car talk, but I have had my 1979 ACM Spirit for about half a year now. I bought it with 36,000 miles on it with very few problems. It's still going strong minus the brakes. As far as I'm concerned it has been easy to work on and a decent car for a young driver. But if there is something I should know about the vehicle, feel free to enlighten me.

I have had my 79 amc spirit for almost 9 months now, I love it. It has a 304 V8 with an aluminum Edelbrock Torker intake and a mild cam. I love the car mainly because I have been an AMC fan my whole life and where I live no one else has one. It has the four speed in it. My only problem is the four speed is not stout enough. My future plans involve rebuilding the 304 and putting my side mount Paxton supercharger on backed by a T5 transmission. I drive the car daily due to an accident I had in my truck. My future wife hates the car she said it is one of the ugliest cars she has ever seen, which is probably the reason why I love the car so much. Performance wise it runs great, it will go 0-60 in almost 6 seconds with slicks, and I have done 120 mph in it twice. It is not the fastest thing by all means, but does okay.

I want to swap motors in my 1981 amc spirit gt it has a 4sp trany in it I like to keep it that way, but I want to go chevy power can you help me?

Why go with Chevy power when an AMC V8 will give you more than you need, and be a MUCH easier swap?

In reference to the addition of a Chevy V8. Try using the bell housing off of a four cylinder AMC 151. The motor is a Buick iron duke and has the same bolt configuration as SB Chevy. You'll still have to fabricate mounts, but your stock four speed (or T-5 Ford) will bolt right up.

I have a '79 AMX Spirit 6cyl. The car runs pretty good and handles great. Sure if you compare it to a car made in the last few years, you might say it's not all that, but terrible?

Front disc brakes, and front and rear anti sway bars with stout stock springs seem to disagree, more power? Sure I would like more, but who wouldn't? You got it pretty close on the seating. I wonder how many big three econo-cars will be around in 28 or so years?

I am looking at an AMC Spirit as a street/strip car. What rear do they have and how strong is it? What rear suspension do they have? Is there a rear that would be an easy swap?

The guy who posted about the Iron Duke doesn't have his facts straight. The Iron Duke was a Pontiac motor not an Buick as stated. The bellhousing bolt pattern is the Chevy V6 pattern, not the Chevy Small block I believe.

The Spirit rear depends on if it's a factory 6 or 8 cyl. If 8 cyl it's an amc20, 6 cyl is amc15. I can't remember if it's dana 20 and dana 15? But they are in the dana family. The 20's can be built for a bit of $, the 15's are only good for very mild street use.

I'll be building my amc20 in my 79 Spirit soon. One piece axles and a locker. No Ford parts here.