I must be f#@!*^& crazy... (Now known as The Camelot '87 sedan)

[philotomy]

I use 92 octane minimum (i also have fuel injection) may want to check your timing if that persists.

[djvanyel]

I use 92 octane minimum (i also have fuel injection) may want to check your timing if that persists.

Thanks Phil, your Eagle looks a lot like mine, minus the rust of course    And yeah, I've noted that a few members have advised running a minimum of 89 octane so that's my next step once I've burned through the rest of this tank (I've currently got a 50/50 mix of 87 and 89 in it).  My timing was recently checked and set to spec before it hit the road; I believe it was 8 BTDC but since this car has a "Juice Box" ignition modification, I was unsure if the stock numbers were still valid.  I know at one point IE mentioned that cars with modified ignitions may require timing as far back as 12 BTDC but we're thinking retarding the timing any more will worsen the pinging.  Trying higher octane gas is the first step, so we'll see if that doesn't help before trying more invasive fixes.

I also just clocked my first 100 miles on it (we're now just past 56300) and I think I'm finally getting the hang of it.  It's a lot different than the V8 powered, fuel injected Crown Victorias I'm used to for sure. 

[djvanyel]

I tried opening the hood today to check the fluids and do a regular inspection and *snap* the hood release cable breaks.  I sat there for a minute with the handle in my hand and didn't know whether to scream or cry.  I've placed a wanted ad in the appropriate section for anyone who might happen to have an extra one of these lying around somewhere.

 

edit: For my own reference and anyone else who might end up in this predicament, there's a workaround in case you're "locked out" of your engine compartment by this unfortunate happenstance:

http://forums.amceaglenest.com/index.php?topic=25127.0

[philotomy]

 Well ,worst case scenario you could do what I had in place when I bought the car,my cable is about 8" long with a ball of tape on the end

[brentsydlik]

Don, i honestly think that the vermonster is by far my fav eagle on the planet. just wanted you to know that!

[djvanyel]

Well, now we return to the "good, bad, and ugly" vein of posts for my latest update:

The good:

A healthy dose of 93 octane totally cleared up the pinging problem.  Clearly these cars like to eat well.  So now hopefully I can step it down a grade or two and maintain these results.  Sadly that's going to have to wait...

The bad:
She died last night at a stoplight and wouldn't start again.  Once we got her looked at it was determined she has no spark.  The cause is likely the "Juice Box" module fitted to the front passenger wheel well.  We're not sure what the module contains, but it clearly has some form of coil.  Whether or not it has an ignition module in it also is yet to be determined (check out my related post in the Engine Electrical Systems thread here: http://forums.amceaglenest.com/index.php?topic=35914.0 )

The ugly:
The original maker of the "Juice Box" is defunct (their domain name is no longer valid and is now a placeholder/advertisment) so finding a replacement is likely impossible.  Since we don't know what function(s) it provides, we can't really do anything until we figure out what the heck it does (if anything) beyond functioning as the ignition coil.


So she's once again laid up in the garage and off the road.  It was a fun week with a decidedly crappy ending.  And my post from my '83 seems to have vanished as well, so now I have to try and track down all the reference material it had in the thread.

 

[68AMXGOPAC]

I have been running mine on 93 octane , and watching the vaccumm gauge on steep pulls uphill.Seems when it gets down around 5 , it starts pinging.I just back off the gas a wee bit, and stay in the slow lane. ( wich really isn't slow, people still do 65 in a 55 in it ) : ).It used to ping and sometimes even smoke on 87 octane and really getting into it uphill at higher speeds, greater loads.I suspect it could use rings or a valve job , but it gets it by for now.

[djvanyel]

Well to first clear up some things left over from my last post, I managed to figure out that The Brain in the car had died (ECM) and that was the reason the car abruptly went dead. Also thankfully, they're widely available! So a quick trip to m local parts store and she's back on the road again.

The bittersweet part is that I've moved to Florida and had to leave both of my birds in storage back in CT. I'm hoping at some point soon I'll have the funds to ship at least one down here and continue to work on them since I now have the possibility of learning DuPont paint! So I'll keep updating as I go here. Hopefully I'll be doing the body repairs on both of them before too long.

Wish me luck!

[shanebo]

Best of luck to ya!! Youll have alot better weather to work on them for sure.

[djvanyel]

Well, so far I've spent 6 hours a day for the past three weeks learning how to properly MIG weld on a vehicle (and giving myself a few burns in the process).  But for now I'd say: so far so good.  My instructor is also a restorer of older cars so I'm trying to pick his brain as much as possible on the tricks of the trade. Hopefully I'll be at the point soon where I'll have my birds back in my garage and on its way to being restored.

Now if only I still had the post about the wagon, I'd be all set... 

[djvanyel]

In a week or so I triumphantly return to this old bird to continue with her restoration. And now I'm armed with the ability to rebuild carburetors and use a MIG welder (which are going to be invaluable I'm sure lol). Now if only we could figure out how to tighten up the steering so lessen the terrible dead spot it has.  Well, more updates to come shortly on this and the other project bird (who's thread went bye-bye inexplicably :-( ).. Stay tuned...

[djvanyel]

So, after about a month of putting this old black bird into service as my daily driver, I've filled the gas tank once and averaged 18mpg under mixed conditions.  On the whole, the car has performed admirably and continues to amaze me.  No, the a/c didn't spontaneously come back to life, however the left turn signal indicator did, which made me endlessly grateful that I don't have to try to replace it. 

Today marked its first return to the shop to correct a minor brake line leak at the rear passenger wheel cylinder, tightening of the front driver side suspension, and replacement of the power steering and fan belts.  During driving, I noticed that the power steering would occasionally start to hiccup or stutter which caused us to check it.  We found that the power steering belt had over 3" worth of flex to it.  After discovering that there was no adjustment that could be made to tighten the power steering belt, we opted to replace the belt since I had almost two spare belt sets lying around.  After removing the old belt, we discovered that it still bore the original AMC logo and markings, with a date code of 1186:12!    This leads me to believe that this old Dayco belt survived intact for 26 years and was still (somewhat) viable when it was removed! Amazing!. I'll attach a photo of it once I get it uploaded.  Guess they just don't make them like they used to haha.

[eaglefreek]

Wow! That crazy about the original belt. Glad the car is working good for you.

[amcinstaller]

on one of my spirits i had a similar belt. still had the amc logo on it. but with the new alternator (175 amps) and the new battery, and then the huge stereo draw the belt gave way and was thrown into the corner of the engine bay.

[jim]

It's isn't easy to find how to do it but there is a way to adjust the power steering belt.  I think there may be a write up in the 'pedia.
Of course, yours need replacing anyway.  Are you having your old belt mounted so you can  hang it on the wall?