Finally posting some pics of my Eagle since i've been too preoccupied with my daily driver for the last few months...anticipating that the Eagle will be my new DD this winter due to the declining health of my poor little subaru :-\
So....bought this car for $750 in the summer and have been tinkering with it ever since! Love the full-time 4wd but hate the cost of driving it. Going to continue my quest for improving the fuel economy (although i'm already at 25mpg!!)
the goods:
-good 258, rebuilt auto tranny
-all fluids changed
-new front bearings, all brakes done, all new shocks
-new strut rod bushings (after a nasty death-wobble almost killed me!!!); they fixed it :)
-adjusting the carter BBD so i now get decent mileage and it drives great, even with a manual choke that i built
-body/frame have very minimal rust so it won't be much work to do before i paint her. not sure what colour....
the only things i really need are driver door hinge bushings, exhaust work and a heater core. other than that she's a great car! rides really nice on pavement at least.
some pics from the day i bought her...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90111332@N04/8189770222/in/photostream/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/90111332@N04/8189770222/in/photostream/)
Sweet looking ride :)
Very nice!!
Do I spy a rear window wiper? I do, I do! ...never seen one on a sedan before!
I'd be happier than a kid in a candy store, if my Eagle got even close to 25 MPG.
Quote from: eaglefreek on November 15, 2012, 10:21:57 PM
I'd be happier than a kid in a candy store, if my Eagle got even close to 25 MPG.
I used to get about 25 when my wagon ran stock tires, and had the 4.0 and the AX15. It is possible for sure!!
it's a beauty, but what year is it? Why the Concord grille? You hated the other style, or was it like that when you got it?
Sits a bit low for an eagle. I thought it was a concord at first.
Its an '81 but yes you are right, has an '83? concord grille. I bought it from two brothers who'd owned it since new, purchased in Victoria BC, on Vancouver Island. They only had a few Eagles to pick from at the wreckers! so whatever fit was what went on it. And yeah she sits a bit low due to sagging leafs (already have helpers on them too!!) but is actually better now, after all the shocks and some bushings were changed out, a few weeks after those pics were taken. I've just removed all the plastic trim to check out potential rust problems so i'll be taking some more pics soon
Wow, that thing is decked out. I've never seen that rear wiper option on a Sedan before, plus it has a sunroof!!!
I'd love to see what kind of options that beauty has on the inside. Appears to be a limited which most always decked out to the max with options.
The only thing I would do to it would be to put the AMC badge back on the decklid, which are easy to find nowadays.
Quote from: bigKlittlecar on November 17, 2012, 03:38:09 PM
They only had a few Eagles to pick from at the wreckers!
Which wrecker was this? If a yard here in Calgary gets even one Eagle these days, it's a minor miracle. The last time I saw "a few" Eagles in a local yard was probably about seven years ago. Earlier this year, Whuntmore and I drove all the way from Calgary to Kelowna just to hit the Pick-n-Pull there because they had five of them.
I think that actually is an Eagle grille, just with the horizontal parts blacked out.
I'd love to know the story on that rear wiper. That's gotta be a custom job. I've never seen one on a Concord or Eagle sedan before, nor have I ever seen documentation to indicate that it was even available. Some close up pictures of that installation would be much appreciated. It looks like it swipes the opposite way of how a wagon rear wiper does.
Quote from: El Matador on November 22, 2012, 05:41:22 PM
Quote from: bigKlittlecar on November 17, 2012, 03:38:09 PM
They only had a few Eagles to pick from at the wreckers!
Which wrecker was this? If a yard here in Calgary gets even one Eagle these days, it's a minor miracle. The last time I saw "a few" Eagles in a local yard was probably about seven years ago. Earlier this year, Whuntmore and I drove all the way from Calgary to Kelowna just to hit the Pick-n-Pull there because they had five of them.
I think that actually is an Eagle grille, just with the horizontal parts blacked out.
I'd love to know the story on that rear wiper. That's gotta be a custom job. I've never seen one on a Concord or Eagle sedan before, nor have I ever seen documentation to indicate that it was even available. Some close up pictures of that installation would be much appreciated. It looks like it swipes the opposite way of how a wagon rear wiper does.
Agreed, and it looks to be a beautiful car.
As for the junk yard cars, the fellow I bought the car from lived on Vancouver Island and a friend of his owned a junk yard so would give him a heads up whenever an Eagle came in! Lucky for him. My car was bought new from a dealership in Victoria so i'm sure over the years a lot of the cars stayed in the area. Also not a lot of salt used over there so there should be a few still around, although I haven't looked for any yet. I'll get some pics of the rear wiper today so you can see what its all about....I actually met a guy who used to work at the dealership and he said the rear wipers were a dealership option although not a factory option! It was due to the fact that we're in a rain forest out here so it was silly not having one;) Apparently. Mine doesn't work tho and i still have to check the wiring and such.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90111332@N04/sets/72157632469863526/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/90111332@N04/sets/72157632469863526/)Been about 6 months but she's coming along!! New paint almost done...finally getting rid of 3 of the multitude of shades of brown on this car. Dont like brown anymore since having two boys ;) The vinyl roof was hiding a ton of rust so off it came, a few days of metal repair after scraping all that old glue off (not fun) and I used primer where needed before the gloss black and cardinal red paint went on! Decided to go with rubberized rocker-guard coating for the roof, hence the texture :) Just a few more days to finish painting it all then i'll buff it and clear-coat the whole car.
still no name for her.....any ideas??
Been there done that with my sedan. same sort of idea for the rubberized coating.
how did your roof hold up with the coating on it? hoping to get a few good years without having to redo it!!
Itsvworking fine. only thing i hate is washing it. have to switch from sponge to brush. never tried to have someone else do it.
damnit, can't upload pics at all it seems.....
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/90111332@N04/8722663028/)
Picked the apt name of "Sheila" for this bird:) paint is almost done and she's soon ready to get back on the road!!
I (and maybe others) am wondering why the rattlecan paint job? The original paint looked awesome from the photos.
Both my wife and I are not fans of the many shades of brown...although you are right, the original paint was very good but it had a number of spray paint repairs done by po:( so new paint job won the day!! And I can't afford to do it properly either so spray cans it was
Also I HAD to fix the rear opera windows which were pretty damaged by rust under the cracked vinyl roof... Man that was a tedious job scraping glue and old vinyl but needed to be done!! It stopped the leaks I had of water getting in, which of course has destroyed the headliner( project for another day;)
I had a '73 Buick LeSabre with a messed up vinyl roof (which was really the least of it's problems as it was green and I had not yet figured out they were unlucky for me) I tore the old roof off and fiberglassed the rust holes underneath then used sundeck coating (which was like bedliner now) with added traction bits for a rough texture. Looked sharp when it was done (I bought the car for $75, fixed the roof and spray lubed the driveshaft double cardan) I sold it for $2000 (paid off my student loan) then the guy couldn't afford the gas so he bought a Toyota I had just fixed for $500 plus the Buick.
A week later I was parked in a school parking lot and a Bronco slammed into me, bending the frame 18" to the right (I used a tractor to straighten it out). Insurance company found me guilty of the accident (because my license had expired and the guy who hit me had police and politicians in his family) and I was denied my day in court to boot. If I knew then what I know now, I would've won. I was forced into bankruptcy just so I could get my license back. (that was 30 years ago)
Very nice looking sedan...especially for the price!