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April 16, 2006
It's been a long time since I've written and I've again done something crazy...
I've bought another Eagle!!!!!!!
My friend Mark Fisher e-Mailed me the other day about an '82 AMC SX/4 Sport that
was listed on
Craig's List and it was only about 30 miles from my house in Hammond
Wisconsin. Went to look at it a few days ago and the owner, Luke and his
young son showed it off to me. He only wanted $300 for it. Seems
like it needs a head gasket and a few other things but all in all it is in good
shape. A bit of rust, a few things that don't work but it did have a black
interior which I'd love to have in my Black SX/4. My original intention
was to buy it and take a few parts off and then part it out on e-Bay but after
seeing it there is no way I could do that. Instead I'm going to swap the
black interior for the caramel colored one from my black eagle and with that
black interior in mine it will be rocking...
My friend Mark, and possibly another friend or two are going
to come by on April 29th and 30th and we will do some swapping. Mark has
been a good friend and when Patti and I moved to Houlton Wisconsin from Hudson
he was the only one to come out and help and in my physical condition that
pretty much meant that he did much of the move himself. So I owe him big
time. Mark is into Jeeps and has admired my SX/4 so he seems to be happier
than heck to come help me work on it and in return I believe I'm just going to
give him the red one, assuming he wants it. Will be fun having
another friend with an SX/4 and we will probably be the nucleus of a new area
Eagle club. Here are some photos:
May 11, 2006
A flock of folk showed up a couple of weekends ago. We decided that
because this Eagle had the sunroof, no a/c, the automatic console and some other
differences, as well as we it seems to have some broken bits inside the seats we
wouldn't be swapping interiors. So Mark and Kevin attacked the dashboard
in the '83 and put in a new heater core. No simple matter with these
rascals. Then a compression check was done on the '82 which I had been
told had overheated and been diagnosed with a blown head gasket by the previous
owner's garage. We couldn't find a thing wrong, 149-150 in all six
cylinders. Bought a new battery
for the '83 and got it running, then swapped the battery into the '82 and it
started right up. Kevin and Mark took it for a test ride and no
over-heating and it ran perfectly. I may have fallen into this one.
One has to wonder what might have caused it to overheat for the PO. No
signs of water or foam in the oil or valve cover. Mark is coming over this
weekend and we will fire them both up and take them out for an extended test
drive and see if we can get them to fail. Might have to find some dirt
worthy of putting them in 4X4 mode.
May 15, 2005
Silly me, paying $300 for the '82 SX/4 Sport with a blown head gasket.
Sunday Mark came by and he checked everything over again, looked for signs of
water in oil, (none!) and checked the thing out completely. No signs at all of
the "blown head gasket, and overheating" that caused the previous owner to park
it. Ran it up to temp on the highway and still no signs. Could have had a stuck
thermostat and there is a noisy lifter and maybe the PO thought that meant
something major but this car is pretty sweet and I'm feeling really guilty for
taking it at such a low price. It does need brakes, has the usual valve cover
leak and a few other things that might need attention but no big deal. I'm a
thief for taking this thing... <grin> If Luke, the previous owner, is
reading this: I'm sorry man!!!
I've committed to give it to my friend Mark for all the work he's done for me
the last few years and the fact that he's been working on my '83 SX/4 Sport so
now I think he's on the
AMC_Eagle list and I've gotten him hooked big time. Another convert,
although his mother owned an Eagle 4-door back in the day so he isn't without
experience. Plus he's owned some Military Jeeps and is a well-established and
certified aircraft mechanic so a very good fellow to have around. And as I'm
letting him keep the '82 here so my '83 won't be lonely he has a reason to come
out often to work on them. Life is good indeed...
Today I took the head gasket set I had purchased back to Checker Auto and
picked up a fuel pump for the '83. When we were checking them out there
was a bit of a leak from the old one so just figured I may as well just swap in
a new one for the $22 it cost. I've been buying up all the Manuals ever
made for Eagles on e-Bay, plus very hard to find parts like the thick rubber
used mud flaps, rebuilt carburetor, hood release cable and handle, door handles,
NOS name plates, door handle gaskets, and all kinds of other little things.
I suspect I've bought about $600 in just little parts like that, plus the new
tires and such. I'd estimate that I now have just about $3,000 into it,
which isn't bad for a very rare and desirable fun car.
October 27, 2006
An update: Over the summer Mark made a bunch of changes to the carb and
the emissions system and the thing actually starts and idles now. Added
K&N Filter, the new fuel pump and last week I took it to a local welder who
welded both sides of the frame. The guy was a bit of a perfectionist and
really did a great job, replacing the metal using 3/8 inch stock. Charged
me $120 but well worth it for the peace of mind that the frame isn't going to
break in two. Took almost a year but in May I finally got my title from
the state of Wisconsin. The "SX4" license plates look great on it.
Along the way I bought another fun car. Check out:
http://www.sheldonaubut.com/slk
I'll only be using the SLK on sunny days with dry roads this winter so the Eagle
will get most of the duty. Can't wait till I get a chance to take it out
in the first blizzard.
February 1, 2007
We have hardly had any snow this winter so I really haven't had much of a chance
to play with the Eagle in the snow but I did take it out a couple of days ago
and went off road. Climbed some pretty steep snow-covered hills on nothing
more than deer trails and had a blast. This thing has incredible traction.
Here are a few more photos:
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