My eagle

[Hawk258]

Most of you have seen my "Wishlist". Now for the rest of the story and issues plaguing me from having it on the road.
She is A 1981 Eagle SX/4 sport. Black with red trim and a Eagle wagon Grill and hood trim.
I bought it in September of 1999, It ran and moved I paid $175 off a car lot in Hermiston Oregon.
I had the engine rebuilt and a new clutch installed.

Then ended up replacing the rear axle cause the main gear decided to lose a half a dozen teeth.
Then I ended up, losing the ability to shift while the engine was running, For a while I could shift from a standing start from first to reverse, however even that was no longer available. I replaced the slave and master cylinders for the clutch. that didn't change anything. I "Think" I have one of 2 issues, either the fork to disengage the clutch is wrong or worn, OR the synco's are shot.

THEN, one of the starter bolt holes is cracked and is missing about 1/2 an inch of the arch.
The flooring needs replaced, and the head liner fabric sags in the rear, and the sunroof leaks.
the front window trim is missing as it appears the window as replaced haphazardly and not by a professional shop.
The rear hatch release needs rewired as the wiring grounded out under the door frame cover.
and the brake lights seem to work in reverse when the lights are on.

other than the bumper cap end on the passenger side and the fender flare, and maybe the valance, the body is straight and thanks to being in desert oregon, it is free of major Rust.

I will update pictures asap. I intend to start working on her again, as I will have a few bucks more a month to work with.

[shanebo]

Sounds like your in the same boat i was/still am in. I paid 300 for one and 100 for the other. The plus side of it for us is we didnt spend much on the car so a few grand fixing them up isnt as painful as when you buy it for a few grand then have to sink a few grand in it. Congradulations and best of luck! I look foward to following your progress on this car.

[priya]

Big bonus to have a mostly rust free car, good luck.

[Hawk258]

Thanks, Now I just need to sell my kidneys and see if I can get her back on the road first, then work on my custom build sheet (See "New member has crazy idea). I hope tomorrow morning I can have some pictures posted some time soon, I will see what my sister and her BF can do to send them to me. ;-; I miss my bird.

[captspillane]

Then I ended up, losing the ability to shift while the engine was running, For a while I could shift from a standing start from first to reverse, however even that was no longer available. I replaced the slave and master cylinders for the clutch. that didn't change anything. I "Think" I have one of 2 issues, either the fork to disengage the clutch is wrong or worn, OR the synco's are shot.

I was incredulous that you needed a new shift fork and bellhousing. Now I'm totally confident. The chances of the shift fork being worn out, damaged, or even installed improperly when you did the clutch is extremely low. There is a slight possibility the pressure plate bolts came loose, which I had happen to me once, but thats also very unlikely.

You sir, have a broken SR4 shift lever. Remove that chunk of scrap metal and put a T5 in. I've broken 6 of those levers. They break because of the heavy notch in the fork that is used to seperate first gear and reverse.

The last Jeep T5 I bought came with the bellhousing, shift fork, and cost 150 dollars. It is a cheap upgrade and the single most important upgrade you'll ever make to the car. As long as you have an SR4 in it, you will never be able to say with confidence that you will arrive to your destination. It is minutes away from breaking and leaving you stranded at all times.

When synchros wear out, you can still shift into gear but the teeth mesh and audibly rub together. Giving the clutch pedal a stab out gets the gears spinning and slight pressure on the shift lever still gets it into gear. In a sense it makes you need to double clutch like the old transmissions that didn't have them. Synchros do not prevent you from being able to drive.

By the way, a cracked bellhousing is annoying but doesn't much matter. As long as your starter is secure in the right spot its fine. If the car starts, don't worry about it. Most of my cars have a piece or two missing from the bottom of the bellhousing.

[Hawk258]

it's not a cracked, the whole lower arch of the bolt hole is GONE. No support for the starter bolt, Only thing I can think is to make a C shaped bracket to run behind the bellhousing to give the lower stud some structure to bolt do, otherwise I have to use a pry bar to hold the starter down so someone can turn it over. OR turn the key on and jump the starter from under the engine compartment. Not very good on the starter either.