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Author Topic: Eric & Pamela's '83 SX4  (Read 11605 times)

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Offline BaldEagle

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Eric & Pamela's '83 SX4
« on: July 16, 2012, 01:23:53 AM »
Hello All:
I just recently purchased a red '83 Eagle SX4 automatic from Casper here on the board.
My wife's handle is Euphonical, so that you know she's also an owner when she posts here.
We're very excited to have purchased this car to replace our totaled '84 wagon, and hope to someday have it restored to "show condition"!
Casper has done much work to it already:
TFI upgrade, aluminum valve covers, MC2150, power door locks, and a lot mechanically. It still has some mech. bugs to work out, such as running too warm, and an apparent lack of power compared to our previous wagon. That is what I'm starting on first, then making her pretty again.
 
I won't bore you all with every little thing that this car needs, but the pictures will show most of the body and interior work needed. Casper rescued this car from a kid that was going to mud-bog it, so there is hardly a strait panel on it, but it is very rust free. Despite the extensive body work needed, we want to restore this car and show it partly because of some of the rare options that it has:
Rear wiper, factory alloys, skidplate, block heater, and center gauge pod. It was the PO's theory, and I agree, that it was an Alaskan car hence the rear wiper, skidplate, and block heater. I've seen a few others online with the rear wiper, but they do seem few and far between. Any insight or history would be greatly appreciated!



http://s387.photobucket.com/albums/oo319/ericget/1983%20AMC%20Eagle%20SX4/

Offline eaglefreek

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Re: Eric & Pamela's '83 SX4
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2012, 09:03:26 AM »
Looks like you got some work ahead of you, I look forward to the progress.
1986 AMC Eagle Wagon 4.2L/4.0L head, AW4,NP242, Chrysler 8.25" rear.
1981 AMC Eagle Wagon As Seen On TV  Lost In Transmission


 

"I know he'd be a poorer man, if he never saw an eagle fly,
Rocky mountain high"  John Denver
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Offline Pat

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Re: Eric & Pamela's '83 SX4
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2012, 09:38:21 AM »
I see another rare option in that pic - an intact hood release handle!!!
1995 Jeep Cherokee "Bleep"



No pic here - BlackBird - My '86 AMC Eagle wagon

R.I.P Old Rusty - My '91 F150

Offline BaldEagle

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Re: Eric & Pamela's '83 SX4
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2012, 10:17:01 AM »
Sorry to hear about the job, Casper. At least the sale of your car may help to pay some bills, although I'm sure you would have rather put the money into another rig. I've yet to look through the paperwork much, but the rear wiper being an Alaskan thing does make sense.

Yes, as far as I can tell the hood release handle is the rarest of the factory options!  ;)
We thought that would be a good one to post, since there's no good "complete car" pics yet. The photos are mainly just close-ups of the damage, so they really make it look worse than it is. The thought did cross my mind that all of those options bolt-on, but I'd say that being rust-free qualifies it for being saved, and prob 90% of the body damage is also bolt-on.
~E

Offline captspillane

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Re: Eric & Pamela's '83 SX4
« Reply #4 on: July 16, 2012, 11:17:35 AM »
Nice purchase! The red and black sport SX4 is iconic. Most of us gained an interest in Eagles because of that exact image.

The skid plate is precious, those are very hard to find. I think they were bolted on by the dealer as an option at purchase. I'm refering to a shaped thick slab of metal bridging the two supports in front of the crossmember, held on by Ubolts.

The rear wiper is actually very common. Having the plastic cover plate intact is not common at all. You're rather fortunate if that hasn't broken already. It's fragile.

The block heater is rare here in Pennsylvania, but not as rare as that skidplate. They're common in the Northeast region. The block heater is still readily available to purchase seperately from the car, so that might not be original.

Do you have a rear sway bar? That is rare to find on an SX4 but relatively common in Station Wagons with the towing packages.
Currently Inspected and Insured as of Jan 2013:
-1985 Eagle Station Wagon 258 T5 Stickshift
-1980 Eagle Station Wagon 258 Auto Fuel-injected with GM TBI

Minor Repairs Underway:
-1982 Eagle SX4 258 T5
-1981 Kammback 2.5L Iron Duke T5

Restoration Efforts Near Completion:
-1982 SX4- 401 NV3550
-1983 SX4- 4.5 MPI NSG370 (6 Speed)

Restoration Efforts Underway:
-1985 SW- 4.0 MPI AX15
-1982 SX4- 4.0 AW4
-1981 SX4- SD33T NV4500 (Turbodiesel 5 speed)

Future Rescue Efforts- '85 Maroon SW, '87 Limited SW, '84 Limited SW, '87 4 door Sedan, '81 2 door Sedan, '88 White SW, '77 4 door Hornet, '74 2 door Hornet, '79 Spirit AMX, '81 Kammback.

RIP- Red '81 SX4, '84 4dr Sedan, '84 SW, '81 SW, '80 Spirit, '83 SW, '83 4dr Sedan

Offline priya

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Re: Eric & Pamela's '83 SX4
« Reply #5 on: July 16, 2012, 11:36:54 AM »
What you've shown of the body damage is relatively minor - looks like you've got a good one there!

Offline BaldEagle

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Re: Eric & Pamela's '83 SX4
« Reply #6 on: July 16, 2012, 11:48:24 AM »
Nice purchase! The red and black sport SX4 is iconic. Most of us gained an interest in Eagles because of that exact image.
It's funny that you mention that, because prior to owning one, I had only known of and loved the wagons. Hopefully we'll have another project wagon next week!

The skid plate is precious, those are very hard to find. I think they were bolted on by the dealer as an option at purchase. I'm refering to a shaped thick slab of metal bridging the two supports in front of the crossmember, held on by Ubolts.
Especially precious to us here, where 3+ ft of snow is commonplace.

The rear wiper is actually very common. Having the plastic cover plate intact is not common at all. You're rather fortunate if that hasn't broken already. It's fragile.
There can't be that many Alaskan SX4's, so maybe our theory is shot. Probably just an option that wasn't chosen a lot?

The block heater is rare here in Pennsylvania, but not as rare as that skidplate. They're common in the Northeast region. The block heater is still readily available to purchase seperately from the car, so that might not be original.
True that aftermarkets are readily available......I'll have to take pics to see what you guys think.

Do you have a rear sway bar? That is rare to find on an SX4 but relatively common in Station Wagons with the towing packages.
I haven't looked yet, but Casper did say there was one. I had forgotten about that one!

Thanks, Priya.........I hope it is minor. Fortunately, I have an old friend that's a shop foreman at J&M auto body. Even if he doesn't lay a hand on it, his advice and connections will be invaluable.

Offline Draekon

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Re: Eric & Pamela's '83 SX4
« Reply #7 on: July 16, 2012, 12:21:03 PM »
The skid plate and block heater combo is probably a good sign that it was an AK car.
My sx4 was originally an AK car, and also has the skid plate and block heater.

Offline BaldEagle

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Re: Eric & Pamela's '83 SX4
« Reply #8 on: July 16, 2012, 12:41:53 PM »
The skid plate and block heater combo is probably a good sign that it was an AK car.
My sx4 was originally an AK car, and also has the skid plate and block heater.

Rear wiper???

Offline Euphonical

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Re: Eric & Pamela's '83 SX4
« Reply #9 on: July 16, 2012, 02:27:30 PM »
rear wiper on sx4 is something i havent seen even in any pictures other than on this car. the station wagon the wiper is common. not sx4. i was told that in '82 ak law mandated that cars have a rear wiper. this being an 83, it has it. in the paperwork it does show where it was purchased in ak. and last winter, i DID have it plugged in, and the block heater did work. nice warm air coming out as soon as it was fired up!!
I've been using Facebook too much apparently, I was looking for the "Like" button  ;D

Having a toasty heater in the winter at start-up with a carbureted car will be amazing!

Offline Draekon

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Re: Eric & Pamela's '83 SX4
« Reply #10 on: July 16, 2012, 07:31:26 PM »
The skid plate and block heater combo is probably a good sign that it was an AK car.
My sx4 was originally an AK car, and also has the skid plate and block heater.

Rear wiper???
rear wiper on sx4 is something i havent seen even in any pictures other than on this car. the station wagon the wiper is common. not sx4. i was told that in '82 ak law mandated that cars have a rear wiper. this being an 83, it has it. in the paperwork it does show where it was purchased in ak. and last winter, i DID have it plugged in, and the block heater did work. nice warm air coming out as soon as it was fired up!!

Mine does not have the rear wiper, but it is an '81, so I guess no law required it at the time.

Offline captspillane

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Re: Eric & Pamela's '83 SX4
« Reply #11 on: July 16, 2012, 09:45:34 PM »
They are rare, but all three of the 258 SX4's I own came with the rear wiper. I have two other spare hatches with rear wipers. Both Iron Duke SX4's I own didn't have the wiper but that's not surprising. One of those didn't even have a mirror on the passenger side door. I've seen nearly two dozen in junkyards. I saw more wipers than I did center gauge consoles.

In contrast when I found my first skid plate they became my holy grail of junkyard finds. I searched and searched and yet I never once found a second one until recently buying my most recent SX4. Sun roofs are very rare, but I've got four cars with those and a couple spares from the junkyard but only one car with a skidplate and exactly one spare from the junkyard.

I own four station wagons with sway bars and I've seen about a dozen sway bars in the junkyard. All of those cars came with the factory bumper hitch. I have one '81 SX4 that came with a factory bumper hitch but no rear sway bar and a different '83 SX4 without the bumper hitch but a rear sway bar. I've never seen another SX4 with a rear sway bar.

I haven't compared them to see if the SX4 bumper hitch is exactly the same as the station wagon version, but I suspect the bolt tabs are angled slightly different. I've only ever seen one SX4 hitch. I've been looking for those because the front bumper of a station wagon is the same as the rear of an SX4. I'm going to use a frame mounted hitch on the rear and the factory SX4 hitch on the front bumper between my brushgaurd uprights. I consider an SX4 bumper hitch rather rare and desireable.
Currently Inspected and Insured as of Jan 2013:
-1985 Eagle Station Wagon 258 T5 Stickshift
-1980 Eagle Station Wagon 258 Auto Fuel-injected with GM TBI

Minor Repairs Underway:
-1982 Eagle SX4 258 T5
-1981 Kammback 2.5L Iron Duke T5

Restoration Efforts Near Completion:
-1982 SX4- 401 NV3550
-1983 SX4- 4.5 MPI NSG370 (6 Speed)

Restoration Efforts Underway:
-1985 SW- 4.0 MPI AX15
-1982 SX4- 4.0 AW4
-1981 SX4- SD33T NV4500 (Turbodiesel 5 speed)

Future Rescue Efforts- '85 Maroon SW, '87 Limited SW, '84 Limited SW, '87 4 door Sedan, '81 2 door Sedan, '88 White SW, '77 4 door Hornet, '74 2 door Hornet, '79 Spirit AMX, '81 Kammback.

RIP- Red '81 SX4, '84 4dr Sedan, '84 SW, '81 SW, '80 Spirit, '83 SW, '83 4dr Sedan

Offline Pat

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Re: Eric & Pamela's '83 SX4
« Reply #12 on: July 16, 2012, 10:58:42 PM »
Didn't know skid plates were rare. The first one I bought new (think someone said '81? Dealer told me leftover '80) Kamback had one from the factory. Was purchased in Pa.
1995 Jeep Cherokee "Bleep"



No pic here - BlackBird - My '86 AMC Eagle wagon

R.I.P Old Rusty - My '91 F150

Offline BaldEagle

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Re: Eric & Pamela's '83 SX4
« Reply #13 on: July 17, 2012, 12:43:54 AM »
Got a bunch of work done today......
Took off the carb and sealed a bad vacuum leak with a new gasket
Hooked up the PCV system
Put on door handles, and fixed the linkage so they won't break (soon).
Did the seat incline mod to raise the back.

I got some new JY parts from a '81 Spirit too.........
pics to follow.  ;D

Prafeston

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Re: Eric & Pamela's '83 SX4
« Reply #14 on: July 17, 2012, 12:49:50 AM »
Interested to see what you snagged from the Spirit!

 

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