Father and Son 1983 SX/4 Project

[kevindpm61]

Thanks for the input amcfool. I ordered the Mopar pan and gasket today. The carpet install went well considering I've never installed carpet before. I used a electric wood burning tool to melt holes through the padding and carpet to assist in dropping the seat mounting studs in place. It worked great! New carpeting made a big difference. The original carpet and padding was dry rotted and in shreds.

[kevindpm61]

Finished the carpet install today. Got the shift linkage, console and shifter bezel installed. All brakes bled. Skid plates bolted up and tires installed.The engine fired up with the help of some starter fluid. The engine sounded good. Thought we could drive the car around to the corner gas station but the front end alignment is waaaay off.  Looks like I need to dial it in a little better so that we can at least get the car to the inspection station for inspection and front end alignment

[vangremlin]

Great to hear that you got it started, that had to be pretty exciting!

[kevindpm61]

Inside is now finished. My son spent the day cleaning up the interior and sent me this photo. I'm happy with how it looks. The outside of the car looks rougher than the inside. I'm not going to worry about that for now. I need to get the toe alignment dialed in enough to get it off for inspection. Door hinges need new bushings.

[kevindpm61]

Yesterday, I got the upper A arms torqued to spec and roughly set the toe. Checked the timing and tried to adjust the Weber carb. The car idels fine but it seems sluggish when I took it for a spin around the block. I tried to adjust the carb as per instructions on the Weber Redline web page.
Turning the mixture screw until it bottomed out didn't result in any change in the car's idle. No stumbling at all. Looks like I will need to do some carb trouble shooting. The car doesn't appear to be that old. I will check to make sure there isn't any air leak at the base of the carb. I'll pull the mixture scre and jet and check for issues.

[AMC1]

What did you use for the rear exhaust pipe & did you feel you had any problem lining it up with the muffler & tail pipe?

[kevindpm61]

I ordered my exhaust and tail pipe off of Ebay. I didn't have any problem with alignment. I did need to purchase a reducer pipe in order to fit the Thrush pipe to the exhaust pipe.

[vangremlin]

Can you get me the seller info for your tailpipe?  I need one for my Kammback and nobody in the country seems to have one.  Thanks.

[kevindpm61]

Looks like the seller on Ebay isn't listing any more tail pipes. I googled Walker 44674 and found this like that lists one for sale:

http://www.carid.com/walker/tail-pipe-mpn-44674.html

[vangremlin]

Looks like the seller on Ebay isn't listing any more tail pipes. I googled Walker 44674 and found this like that lists one for sale:

http://www.carid.com/walker/tail-pipe-mpn-44674.html

Thanks for the link.  I had tried to order the tailpipe from them earlier this spring and it turned out to be on perpetual backorder.  Got the same story from NAPA.   I think I'll just ending up going to a local muffler shop and have them bend one.

[kevindpm61]

I haven't worked on the SX/4 in some time. I decided that I wasn't going to work on the car unless my son is there to help. After all, it is his car so he needs to invest the time. He recently passed his driver's test and now he wants the car on the road ASAP.
We fixed the sagging driver's door. Installed NAPA hinge pins and bushings It's nice to have the door swinging as it should. . I forgot to bring the outside door handle that I had at home. Once that is installed, the door work is finished.
I installed new sun visors. As you all know, the original plastic hinges just don't hold up well. I decided to try sun visors from a Mopar A body (Duster, Demon, Valiant, Dart, Scamp etc.). These sun visors are readily available at a reasonable price. A big plus is that the hinges are metal and will not break. Slight modification is needed to make them work but they look great and should be much more durable than the original pieces.
The car ran like a top today. I tracked down an elusive vacuum leak that was affecting idle. The car bolts were not tight. Once they were snugged down she sounded good. The engine has a slight lifter tap but I'm not going to worry about that. I don't feel like tearing into the engine internals.

[kevindpm61]

We're coming down the home stretch for when the Eagle will be ready for PA inspection. I replaced the broken driver's outside door handle along with the passenger handle with Wrangler half door handles today. I was able to purchase a pair of the black handles for $32!! I believe that the black handles look much better on the car with the rest of the black out treatments. I forgot to take pics but will do that later. Got the reverse lights working. The neutral safety switch connector is cracked and doesn't stay in place very well. I managed to get it positioned that the lights work, but I suspect that I will be splicing in a new connector in the near future.
The car needs a new battery and cables to finish it up. I believe that she should be in good mechanical order. The interior looks great except for the headliner. The exterior could use some dent repair and a fresh coat of paint. That's not my worry at this time......my son can save up his pennies if he wants her to wear a new coat of red.

[vangremlin]

Good luck on passing the inspection!  You've come a long way with that car, and its great that you cared enough to get it back in good working order and soon to be back on the road!  Hopefully you've had some fun along the way and some good bonding time with your son.

[mudkicker715]

This oustanding. Also thanks for sharing

[kevindpm61]

Thanks for the compliments guys. I don't think that the Eagle will have any issues passing inspection. I always have fun working on cars. This little AMC gave me an opportunity to hone some fabrication and welding skills. My son has done some work on the car with me but he's not as "into" wrenching as I am. I hope that he has had enjoyment and learned some mechanical skills at the same time.