News: Putting FUN and FRIENDLINESS, FIRST into owning and learning about AMC small bodied cars, primarily Eagles, Spirits and Concords as well as vehicles built in AMC's Mexican subsidiary, VAM.

The AMC Eaglepedia can now be accessed using the buttons found below  This is a comprehensive ever growing archive of information, tips, diagrams, manuals, etc. for the AMC Eagle and other small bodied AMC cars. 

Also a button is now available for our Face Book Group page.


Welcome to the AMC Eagles Nest.  A new site under "old" management -- so welcome to your new home for everything related to AMC Eagles, Spirits and Concords along with opportunities to interact with other AMC'ers.  This site will soon be evolving to look different than it has and we will be incorporating new features we hope you will find useful, entertaining and expand your AMC horizons.

You can now promote your topics at your favorite social media site by clicking on the appropriate icon (top upper right of the page) while viewing the topic you wish to promote.


  • March 28, 2024, 09:02:42 AM

Login with username, password and session length

Author Topic: Side & Rear Window Louvers  (Read 99390 times)

0 Members and 3 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline IowaEagle

  • AMC Eagle Archivist
  • Administrator
  • AMC Eagles Den Addicted
  • *****
  • Posts: 31968
  • Thumbs Up 476
Re: Side & Rear Window Louvers
« Reply #30 on: April 29, 2009, 08:37:44 PM »
I picked on you more than I did Brandon.  I envied Brandon's Rambler Mentality on how to save gas on the way back from Sonic.
Click for Toledo, IA Forecast" border="0" height="100" width="150   


Not a Jeep.  Not a Car.  Its an AMC Eagle!

1982 Eagle SX/4 Sport;
1980 Concord DL;
1970 Ambassador 2 Dr HT, SST
2002 Hyundai Santa Fe;
2008 Jeep Patriot Sport - Freedom Drive II

Offline JSK

  • Eagle DL
  • ***
  • Posts: 247
  • Thumbs Up 12
  • ...one day at a time...
Re: Side & Rear Window Louvers
« Reply #31 on: May 07, 2009, 07:33:07 PM »
I don't think I put in my "order" for a full set yet, so here it be!
Jerry Kane
Saint Louis, Missouri
1981 SX/4 Sport Dk Grey/black, 6cyl-4spd with a/c and LOUVERS!

Offline Mavericke

  • Event/Meet Coordinator
  • AMC Eagles Den Addicted
  • ********
  • Posts: 3150
  • Thumbs Up 77
  • Midwest AMC Eagle Sanctuary Game Warden
Re: Side & Rear Window Louvers
« Reply #32 on: May 07, 2009, 07:46:52 PM »
I was pricing different metals the other day and I actually found some interesting ways of using plastic as well. I'm thinking probably 0.24 in thickness... depending on the metal though it could get really expensive. I'm probably going to use the cheapest I can for the first set just to make sure I can do it first. BUT... they have some really nice stainless sheets... wouldn't that look wicked!?! Stainless louvers???? VERY expensive though. I would make them by custom order only and buyer would have to prepay before I made them.

The good news is, I have a pretty good idea on how to put them together. They will be a bit thick at the base, but it will only make them more sturdy.

Also, I did some research on plastics... I could make a foam molding from my plastic ones... or even of the metal prototype and then make a plaster moulding from that... You can by silicone/plastics at a reasonable price and they would last forever.................

ideas. creative juices are flowing.
Its got style... its got class...
It goes the extra mile... and still kicks @ss.
Strength. Intelligence. Beauty.
The AMC Eagle
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
81' AMC Eagle Sx4 (My very first car, The Millennium Eagle)
82' AMC Eagle Sx4 Sport (Custom General Lee Style)
85' AMC Eagle Wagon Sport (My Daily Driver)
00' Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (The Grocery Getter)
And a plethora of other parts cars, and future restoration projects:
80 Wagon, 82 Spirit, Two 83 SX4s, 84 Wagon, 85 Wagon and more!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Offline ericarmstrong

  • Eagle Sundaancer
  • ******
  • Posts: 1074
  • Thumbs Up 52
Re: Side & Rear Window Louvers
« Reply #33 on: May 07, 2009, 09:38:23 PM »
I would imagine that louvers undergo a good bit of drag from time to time. is silicone that strong? Personaly  I dont care if you use popsicle sticks as long as you can pull it off...  ;D      Good luck!
1982 AMC Eagle SX/4

Offline Route 66 Rambler

  • American Muscle Conspiracy #000001
  • Eagle Limited
  • *****
  • Posts: 740
  • Thumbs Up 47
  • Time Travel in the Sonoran Desert
    • Route 66 Rambler AMC
Re: Side & Rear Window Louvers
« Reply #34 on: May 07, 2009, 09:40:32 PM »
The silicone is for making the molds...
Nashin' and Thrashin'
1966 Rambler American 343 Convertible
1981 Eagle Kammback- Kactus Kammster

Offline Mavericke

  • Event/Meet Coordinator
  • AMC Eagles Den Addicted
  • ********
  • Posts: 3150
  • Thumbs Up 77
  • Midwest AMC Eagle Sanctuary Game Warden
Re: Side & Rear Window Louvers
« Reply #35 on: May 07, 2009, 09:46:11 PM »
I will find a way. Just wait.
Its got style... its got class...
It goes the extra mile... and still kicks @ss.
Strength. Intelligence. Beauty.
The AMC Eagle
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
81' AMC Eagle Sx4 (My very first car, The Millennium Eagle)
82' AMC Eagle Sx4 Sport (Custom General Lee Style)
85' AMC Eagle Wagon Sport (My Daily Driver)
00' Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (The Grocery Getter)
And a plethora of other parts cars, and future restoration projects:
80 Wagon, 82 Spirit, Two 83 SX4s, 84 Wagon, 85 Wagon and more!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Offline Mavericke

  • Event/Meet Coordinator
  • AMC Eagles Den Addicted
  • ********
  • Posts: 3150
  • Thumbs Up 77
  • Midwest AMC Eagle Sanctuary Game Warden
Re: Side & Rear Window Louvers
« Reply #36 on: May 09, 2009, 01:33:25 PM »
After my research into plastics for my own custom louvers, I think I have found a way to have them produced in large quantities. I mean, I doubt i would need to have alot of these produced, but if I can have a molding made and have 10 or 20 pressed right away, that should get us all by for the time being.

So I need pictures... every angle you can get. Metal. Plastic. One piece sets. Two piece sets. Broken, mended, perfect, whatever! Also, mounting brackets too! Whatever you got, post'em here please! Also if you have any measurements, that would be great. A nester sent me some measurements last summer that I have saved somewhere, but it can't hurt to have extras. Basically, I want to compare the different styles and see what pros and cons are... then deisgn on a new set using CAD and have them pressed out of a newer and much more durable kind of heavy duty plastic than they were using 25yrs ago.

I have found a place that will cast a molding for me and keep it preserved for as long as I want. It ain't cheap... but if we get enough serious buyers lined up, and maybe even a few guys to help me throw down on the cost of the casting and drafting... we could have brand new rear window louvers available. Maybe even then nest may be interested in teaming up and we could sell them directly from the store. Just a thought. My mind is racing 90m an hour right now out of shear excitment.

So... help me out, and post those pictures. I will have a deffinite answer on this within a few days after sending a draft into the company. If it doesn't work out... then I will start hand crafting aluminum and stainless louvers. However, if it does work out... I WILL branch out and have these guys make bumper corners, side louvers, and even wagon louvers.

You know me, I like to think big. So lets quit talking about it and DO it already! 
Its got style... its got class...
It goes the extra mile... and still kicks @ss.
Strength. Intelligence. Beauty.
The AMC Eagle
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
81' AMC Eagle Sx4 (My very first car, The Millennium Eagle)
82' AMC Eagle Sx4 Sport (Custom General Lee Style)
85' AMC Eagle Wagon Sport (My Daily Driver)
00' Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (The Grocery Getter)
And a plethora of other parts cars, and future restoration projects:
80 Wagon, 82 Spirit, Two 83 SX4s, 84 Wagon, 85 Wagon and more!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Offline IowaEagle

  • AMC Eagle Archivist
  • Administrator
  • AMC Eagles Den Addicted
  • *****
  • Posts: 31968
  • Thumbs Up 476
Re: Side & Rear Window Louvers
« Reply #37 on: May 09, 2009, 02:08:27 PM »
Can they cast bumper end caps?
Click for Toledo, IA Forecast" border="0" height="100" width="150   


Not a Jeep.  Not a Car.  Its an AMC Eagle!

1982 Eagle SX/4 Sport;
1980 Concord DL;
1970 Ambassador 2 Dr HT, SST
2002 Hyundai Santa Fe;
2008 Jeep Patriot Sport - Freedom Drive II

Offline Mavericke

  • Event/Meet Coordinator
  • AMC Eagles Den Addicted
  • ********
  • Posts: 3150
  • Thumbs Up 77
  • Midwest AMC Eagle Sanctuary Game Warden
Re: Side & Rear Window Louvers
« Reply #38 on: May 09, 2009, 02:11:10 PM »
Yep they sure can. They can do anything.

They just need a model to go from (or the specific dementions on CAD) and a check or credit card, lol!

I'm already ahead of you on that.... bumper caps, side and back louvers and any other misc plastic
Its got style... its got class...
It goes the extra mile... and still kicks @ss.
Strength. Intelligence. Beauty.
The AMC Eagle
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
81' AMC Eagle Sx4 (My very first car, The Millennium Eagle)
82' AMC Eagle Sx4 Sport (Custom General Lee Style)
85' AMC Eagle Wagon Sport (My Daily Driver)
00' Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (The Grocery Getter)
And a plethora of other parts cars, and future restoration projects:
80 Wagon, 82 Spirit, Two 83 SX4s, 84 Wagon, 85 Wagon and more!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Offline ericarmstrong

  • Eagle Sundaancer
  • ******
  • Posts: 1074
  • Thumbs Up 52
Re: Side & Rear Window Louvers
« Reply #39 on: May 11, 2009, 09:47:37 PM »
If your cad inclined you may care to look into milk scanning (yes milk )..... Its a gre at way to pull dimensions.. If I'm not mistaking theres freeware that will pull the milk scans into cad.  I considered making printable ring layers of a bumper end so everyone could print them, paised each layer on 1/4" cardboard, and "fill in the ridges", but I haven't yet found the time. 
1982 AMC Eagle SX/4

Offline Mavericke

  • Event/Meet Coordinator
  • AMC Eagles Den Addicted
  • ********
  • Posts: 3150
  • Thumbs Up 77
  • Midwest AMC Eagle Sanctuary Game Warden
Re: Side & Rear Window Louvers
« Reply #40 on: May 11, 2009, 11:00:18 PM »
I am not familiar with cad, but my mother did graduate a tech school on CAD... she is living in germany right now though and she doesnt have the program. But with the right deminsions she could do it for me. If I can get those dimensions on CAD, I can save ALOT of cash on the moulding.

The thing is... it's not benefical to have the molding made unless you have alot of people interested in buying the finished product right away. With the louvers.... yes, because even after cost you could still sell them cheaper than what you would pay on a bidding site. But your looking at at least 1500$ for each bumper cap. Not including the actual cost of the finished product. So yeah... bumper caps can be made, but is it cost effective? If a bunch of guys got together to do so... sure. But for one poor schmuck like me... 3k for one of each side is a bit much for me. To make your money back on the moulding... you'd have to sell 30 of them at 100$ a pop. Are there 30 people that need them that would actually be willing to spend 200$ for brand new rear caps? And if they were willing... would they actually have the cash to spend... and lastly... if they are willing and they do have the cash available... is the wifey going to allow it? You'll end up with about 30 guys saying they will and maybe 10 following through with it. Unless, I can find a cheaper company to roll with... the bumper caps probably won't happen.

The rear louvers will probably cost about 250$ for the back windshield. And thats reasonable for a brand new set imo. Again... it depends on the cost of the finished product and the total cost of the moulding. These would cost more probably, but they would be exact replica's and they could be ordered, shipped and recieved in a week. Whereas if I make the metal ones... cost will probably be 100$ in materials for each one. No telling how long they will take to make. The first set will take the longest of course until I find a simpler way to do things, but I'll bet each set would take a weekend to make. Not sure.
Its got style... its got class...
It goes the extra mile... and still kicks @ss.
Strength. Intelligence. Beauty.
The AMC Eagle
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
81' AMC Eagle Sx4 (My very first car, The Millennium Eagle)
82' AMC Eagle Sx4 Sport (Custom General Lee Style)
85' AMC Eagle Wagon Sport (My Daily Driver)
00' Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (The Grocery Getter)
And a plethora of other parts cars, and future restoration projects:
80 Wagon, 82 Spirit, Two 83 SX4s, 84 Wagon, 85 Wagon and more!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Offline CSLFiero

  • Eagle
  • **
  • Posts: 19
  • Thumbs Up 3
Re: Side & Rear Window Louvers
« Reply #41 on: May 20, 2009, 08:03:49 PM »
I'm trying to get my hands on a set of good louvres. if you can fab a set of rear and side ones and ship for 450, you can count me in for a set (assuming the guy I'm talking to now won't sell me his set for 450).

in any case, I suspect I'll want to talk to you about mounting hardware when you've got that figured out. I salute you for this effort. it's a labor of love and I'm sure for some people on this site wishing for louvres, you're a hero.
86 Fiero GT
81 Eagle SX/4

Offline Mavericke

  • Event/Meet Coordinator
  • AMC Eagles Den Addicted
  • ********
  • Posts: 3150
  • Thumbs Up 77
  • Midwest AMC Eagle Sanctuary Game Warden
Re: Side & Rear Window Louvers
« Reply #42 on: June 03, 2009, 03:24:10 AM »
Update - We've got an idea for mounting thats going to be different than any other louver. Out of all the louvers I've seen NONE of them are prefectly flush with the window. I don't knwo why it bothers me... but it does, so we're going to fix that. In fact I think we've come up with a way to make the louvers actually stretch to the outside of the trim and cover everything. You won't even see the mounting hardware because it will be underneath connected with a screw... so it will still be easy to get off. Probably easier than NOS to be honest.

Here's the kicker of course. I thought I could do it without welding, but it looks like Im going to have to weld to do it right. That would be fine, but the problem is I don't have a welder and I can't afford to buy one yet... *sigh* Also... it looks like the metal alone is going to run about 125$ from Lowes. I could get it cheaper online... however, I would have to have it shipped so it wouldnt save me much.

Thats not including the mounting brackets and the huge amounts of time it will take to finish them.

Also, i will probably won't "treat" them dude to cost... the buyer will have to treat and paint them themselves. If I can keep costs low and find a fluid method to crafting them, I will try to have them treated and primered black. Either way I can do so, but it just may cost extra.

Thats just the rear louver... time will tell. I'm finally taking the plunge this weekend to buy the materials needed and I will be cutting and grinding everything out. The welds will have to wait. I'll be sure to post plenty of pictures as the job gets closer to completion.

PS - They will be REALLY heavy, so expect shipping to be outrageous as wel... sorry! But I want to make them last forever and I want them to be durable in a hail storm or if a branch falls out of your tree in the winter. I'm going with 1/4 thick steel. Once they are done, you wont be able to break them. I tried bending a piece with my bare hands... couldnt do it. barely got it to flex. My only concern is too much weight on the hatch supports. I'll make sure I factor that all in... I'll buy some fresh new shock supports and test how much weight I can put on my hatch before they start to give.

Just an update... anyone drooling yet?
Its got style... its got class...
It goes the extra mile... and still kicks @ss.
Strength. Intelligence. Beauty.
The AMC Eagle
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
81' AMC Eagle Sx4 (My very first car, The Millennium Eagle)
82' AMC Eagle Sx4 Sport (Custom General Lee Style)
85' AMC Eagle Wagon Sport (My Daily Driver)
00' Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (The Grocery Getter)
And a plethora of other parts cars, and future restoration projects:
80 Wagon, 82 Spirit, Two 83 SX4s, 84 Wagon, 85 Wagon and more!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Offline ericarmstrong

  • Eagle Sundaancer
  • ******
  • Posts: 1074
  • Thumbs Up 52
Re: Side & Rear Window Louvers
« Reply #43 on: June 03, 2009, 10:24:57 AM »
I've been drooling since last year... lol .. I'm not sure if you've consideredit, bu tyou might consider making each part, giving dimensions, and selling a how to guide. A step by step of sorts... That may be a way for you to make some $$ back as well as get some lovers on a few cars. It also gives us poor folks on the other end of the country a chance at a set.    Keep up the good work!
1982 AMC Eagle SX/4

Offline Pack Rat

  • AMC Eagles Den Addicted
  • ********
  • Posts: 3888
  • Thumbs Up 152
Re: Side & Rear Window Louvers
« Reply #44 on: June 03, 2009, 10:56:30 AM »
You're seriously considering 1/4" plate steel?  ???

 

SMF spam blocked by CleanTalk