Just wanted to stop by and say hello and hopefully some of you guys will be able to answer some of my questions. I might have a chance to buy an eagle sx 4 sometime soon. There are a few questions i have about it. I dont know the model year of it but from what ive read it seems to be an early model, but maybe you guys can pinpoint what the exact year might be. its red with a black interior 2 door hatchback (it looks like the spirit) the badging says sx 4 sport on the side. from what ive seen (i cant open the doors and it was pitch black outside) its a 6 cylinder manual. what ive seen under the hood really surprises me. it says "Clifford" real big on the valve cover and the valve cover seems a whole lot taller than it should be. now i did some research and found out that Clifford high performance race products are pretty nice (and a pretty penny also...) i dont know what else Clifford it might have on it but the the distributor was a GM style HEI that seemed very out of place. I'm waiting on the kid to call me back so maybe i can get a better look at it. from what i know its been sitting for some time now (last titled in 06) and the kid wants to sell it. How much would something like this be worth? the body doesn't seem bad at all, will need some new paint and maybe a front drive fender and some outside trim. there is almost nothing left in place of the interior. the dash, seats, interior panels everything is sitting in boxes and laying allover the place inside the car. i wasn't thinking more than $250 for everything since it will need alot of work. is that about accurate or will i be experiencing sticker shock when he tells me what he wants for it? thanks for taking the time to help a guy out!
Josh
Welcome Josh. Hard to say what mods were done to it. The Clifford valve cover replaces the leak prone OE plastic cover, that is a good thing. The HEI distributor is also a good mod if done correctly. If there is no or minimal underbody rust/rot and it has a good drive train then with all the bits and pieces there I am thinking it should go for about twice what you are thinking. If there are drive train issues then the amount you are thinking is probably a good place to start. I would find out why the interior is not in place. The SX/4 was only produced for 3 model years, '81 - '83.
right now the car is sitting in an empty lot at a local indurstrial park. the owner of the industrial park said that the kid wants it gone. he took it apart to possibly restore it but the guy i talked to wasnt too sure. it looks like almost the whole dash is apart and laying in the back seat, but nothing seems proben or ripped. i too would like to know why he took it apart. i read somewhere that its was either an 82 or 83 because it has the black grille to match the fender flares and it has fog light holes on the bumper but not orginal fog lamps (cheap autozone brand ones) is there any other way to tell which year it is without looking at the inspection tag on the door? i cant get the driver door open.
With the VIN tag in the dash it will be hard to tell unless its visible. Black grill and flares indicates it might be a sport model -- but that is easily replicated with a rattle can. Are the bumpers coated in a black substance (not just paint)? If the black does not scratch off it probably is a sport model, especially if the sport logos are on the front fenders. If the emissions sticker is still on the passenger side of the fire wall it should have the year on it. There are not a whole lot of differences between the three years, and those that are are subtle. I am guessing most of the emissions stuff is missing so those spotting items are not there. If it should still have an air (smog) pump then its the first two years, in '83 AMC switched to pulse air and the pump is gone to begin with.
Quote from: PeterM on December 31, 2011, 10:46:28 PM
I believe some of the early '81's were AWD. They won't have the 2wd to 4wd shifter.
would it say "4 wheel drive" if it was AWD? I didnt notice if the shifter was there or not. i guess i should have been paying more attention to details instead of drooling allover myself :rotfl:
AWD would have the "automatic 4WD" logo instead of the plain 4WD logo.
Quote from: IowaEagle on December 31, 2011, 11:07:47 PM
AWD would have the "automatic 4WD" logo instead of the plain 4WD logo.
ok cool i now know that it is indeed a 4 wheel drive emblem. now does that mean that it has a low range gear, or am i just able to swtich from 4hi to 2 hi?
No low range, unless he put a jeep case in it.
just wanted to thank everyone for their input and help! hopefully ill be able to talk soon with the guy and maybe ill be able it to pick up another project!
Josh
Alright for thoes of you that have been reading this thread, i got a call back from the guy the other day. now according to him the whole unside of the car has been 'restored' and that he has all the pieces to it. he is asking $450 but that is alittle out of my price range. Now i have two more questions; it needs a front fender for sure so are all of the fenders interchangeable between all years? my next question is that didnt some of the wagons come with the 304 v8? everyone has been really helpful!
Josh
Never came with any size v8
I went and looked at the eagle in the daylight today and i snapped some pictures. Right now I have a Jeep Comanche that i have for sale for $300 so that was going to be my limit for this new project. I was able to look under the hood and there is A LOT of oil so im guessing the motor needs rebuilt. Now come the questions; How much work is it to make a 4.0l fit inside this eagle. There is already the 4.2l but if i recall the width of the 4.0l is alittle smaller. plus im not sure how it would bolt up in the rear. my goal would really be to build a carbureated 4.7l stroker motor. also im still not to clear with the whole fender thing. as you can see i need a driverside fender for sure and possibly the fender flare. also if anyone could pinpoint the year for me i forgot to check the inspection tags :banghead: enjoy the pictures and see what everyone thinks is a fair price for it! Thanks for all your help!
Josh
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4.0 is a direct same dimensional bolt in. its as as easy as popping a new 4.2 in
You could combine the 2 and get a stroker.
From your pics, the driver side fender looks repairable.
You won't find too many AMC products still in good shape in NE Ohio.
If you're able to do the work, I'd say go for it. Maybe you can work a partial trade???
$450 seems fair if the underside is OK.
I notice the rear marker light on the passenger side is out of the hole, water has been getting in there for sure, depending on how long there might be a rust problem underneath it where there's a basin like area that will hold the water. You should be able to tell by looking underneath the rear bumper at that area if the inner panel is rusty but the outer panel is covered by the bumper corner so you aren't going to see any rust there unless you remove it.
The aluminum sport wheels have a fair bit of value on their own so as other's have said if the underbody is solid I and there's no other significant rust it would be well worth $450. Keep in mind that you can't see beneath the plastic body cladding and it would be fairly common for there to be rust under them so unless you remove them its a bit of a gamble as to what you're going to ultimately end up with. I think a good indicator of how the body is under the plastic body cladding is the condition of the inner rockers, they're usually as bad as the rust on the rest of the car, if they're solid that might bode well for the rest of the body. You can check them from underneath the car, look where the floorboards join the outer edge of the car underneath the doors. Take a sharp object like a scratch awl, place it in various places on the inner rocker, bump it with the palm of your hand and see if it goes through anywhere. If not the inner rockers are probably in pretty good condition and maybe you're not taking so much of a gamble with what's under the plastic body cladding.
$450 is pretty fair, basically he is asking right around scrap price. Like priya says, crawl around undernieth this thing and have a good look. The car looks like a well optioned one though, worth a good bit as a parts car even.
when i snapped those pictures i was able to crawl around on the ground alittle the crossmember will need replaced for sure because its rusty and flaking pretty badly. from what else i could see it was pretty solid, no giant holes but im sure when i tear up the carpet i will need to patch in some places. as for the rear i never looked closly at the water basin area by the rear marker light but if i go back i will check it out for sure. i was able to push my thumb through the driver side rocker panel and im pretty nervious about looking at the passenger side. what else are common rust places to look for on the SX/4?
Josh
Where the upper control arms bolt to the body (speaking front suspension), the salt and garbage builds up there and tends to be a problem area. Look around the area of the strut rods too (rod that runs from the lower control arm back to the body).
i will check out these areas for sure before i make him a final offer. another thing that is really bothering me is that im not going to be able to find all the little odds and ends its needs. like for instince i need the rocker panel plastic cladding on the driver side only. and i need all the windshield trim. and one sport wheel lug nut cover. little odds like that. im not too sure how hard it is going to be to find these parts and thats why ive been kinda hesitant about buying this project. also if you look at one of the interior pictures you can see that the whole cowl on the inside is rusty and needs replaced.
Josh