My 2nd SX/4 project

[68AMXGOPAC]

Well if you consider that a train wreck of a shop , I'll buy a ticket to ride. NICE shop , super nice Gold gem next to the new addition.Gives me insperation.

[txjeeptx]

Today I got the trans and t-case degreased, and unfortunately found a crack in the bellhousing near the upper starter bolt hole. I'm looking into having it repaired professionally. I wish I had a TIG welder, but even if I did, I'd need practice to be able to do it right. If the machine shop wants more than a new or salvaged bellhousing will cost, then this one is scrap. This is what happens when some moron with a wrench works on something at a level of complexity way above his abilities, and he reassembles everything with incorrect bolts and leaves most of them out. The poor mechanical work done to this car could have turned it into a parts car or landed it a spot in a salvage yard.

Update - Dropped the bellhousing of at my trusted local engine builder to have him TIG the crack, so it'll be repaired properly. Also dropped the flywheel for resurfacing and a new starter ring gear, since the one on it is pretty chewed up from being started so many times with the bellhousing barely attached to the engine and the starter barely attached to the bell. Got all my replacement bolts cleaned up and painted.

Gonna have to switch gears into fixing the interior up and swapping out the busted door handles with some black Jeep handles. The gauges in the center pod have butchered wiring that needs attention.

Probably going to skip the Renix EFI idea and keep it simple. I'll put the bell and flywhl back on the engine and test run the engine before I proceed to do any more modifications. Gotta see if the engine is any good, it looks like its been rebuilt, haven't found a rebuild tag anywhere, though. Its painted a non-correct light blue, even the oilpan is painted, so it was out of the car at some point. Have to figure out where all the oil its leaking is coming from - my guess is the valvecover needs resealed. I'll go out and pull the spark plugs for a quick diagnostic when the temp drops below 100 again.

Updated update - I degreased the engine by pressure washing - wore a lot of black crud, still have to clean the driveway before the wife can see the mess I made. Looks like there are no big leaks, all the crud was just from a weeping 710 cap and neglect. Waiting for parts to arrive(welded bellhousing, machined flywheel, carb), can't wait to install the trans and GRONK's MC 2100 kit and go for a spin. Still have to weld up the exhaust about 6" down from the manifold where some previous mechanic monkey cut it and never properly got it back together. I was, amazingly, able to unbolt the collector from the manifold, a first for me with an Eagle. Started wetsanding the paint, looks like it will polish out decent.

[txjeeptx]

Got the bellhousing and flywheel with new starter ring gear and resurfaced back from the machine shop. Welding repair looks perfect, total cost $175(welding + machining + new starter ring gear), but doing things the right way can be expensive. The machinists/owners of the shop are off to Bonneville to run their Corvette, going for a land speed record. Way cool, Here's to them!

Going to start reassembly this evening, but I still need a new clutch throwout fork boot, and also need a new clutch master reservoir. Pegasus Racing has the right part, an exact correct replacement Girling remote reservoir, just under $40. Also can't wait to install GRONK's MC2100 kit.

Just have to wait for it to cool off outside.

[txjeeptx]

Just got off the phone with the owner before the guy I bought the car from. I have had some trouble at the tax office tryin to get the title transferred. They need a particular form signed by the same person as the current title, and the guy I bought the car from didn't bother to transfer the title to his name. Turns out the previous-previous owner still has an Eagle wagon(and a Javelin) and is a member here. I'll let him come on in and introduce himself if he feels like doin that. Great resource of information about service history/past life of the car. Don't worry, man, the car's in good hands, now. Someone is going to get a fully functional daily driveable Eagle once I get this thing thrown back together with ALL the correct bolts in the correct places, torqued properly.

Diggin through all my old Heep crap, I found an old Jacobs Pro-Street ignition box and coil that I had at one time used on my YJ. That will be going onto the car, if I can figure out a couple of things with the wiring/triggering of the thing. Jacobs Electronics was bought up by Mr Gasket ten years er so ago, and many of Dr. Jacobs' innovations have supposedly made their way into Accel and Mallory ignition stuff, but Jacobs Electronics is history, and will be forgotten and washed over like AMC and the Eagle. Jacobs was based out of Midland, TX, while MSD came out of Autotronics, of El Paso. Texas was really strong on tryin to develop ignition systems that didn't burn up, short out, or corrode up like points did. Anyway, history lesson aside, the Jacobs box is cool blue, and will look good under the hood of the car while lightin off the fumes from GRONK's 2100.

[Gil-SX4]

We got spark over here in West Texas.
You need the:
1.- Title
2.- Application For Texas Certificate Of Title
3.- Owner Transfer
4.- Out Of State Identification Certificate.

I got the Jacobs book that explains the ignition system.

[txjeeptx]

Gil, I have Dr. Jacobs' book, and I highly recommend it to anyone trying to figure out ignition system dynamics.

All I got from the guy I bought the car from was a TX title signed by the guy he bought it from. I'm sending the forms to the previous-previous owner to get them signed, and I'll get the car titled in my name soon enough.

Also got the real story behind the car. It is not originally a TX car. It has the high altitude emissions/fuel settings sticker, and was from Colorado er somethin like that. It was driven hard and run into the ground, and the prev-prev owner had a transmission shop he trusted rebuild the T-5 and reinstall it - that shop is likely the one that lost the bolts and did such a poor installation job. The prev-prev owner rebuilt the engine himself, and thinks it should be a good engine still. I told him about the parts-yard inventory writing on the rear axle, and he figures the guy I bought the car from probably broke something(attempting a burnout, probably), since it was sold with its original axle. I doubt the rear end gears match the 2.73 tagged front, so I'll be popping the cover off the back to check, and will probably be on the lookout for a 4cyl Eagle front axle for some 3.54 gears and will probably install an XJ D35 or Chrysler 8.25 with matching gears as an upgrade and to get the car geared correctly for 4wd again. All depends on what I find in the rear housing, and how much more scratch I feel like dumping into a project that I still intend to sell.

Its hard work saving these cars when they've suffered incompetent mechanics and a prev owner that had no business owning an Eagle - that guy is into Talons, which are somewhat cool cars, but in no way related to our cars.

Things I'm looking for right now: a tachometer(doesn't have to work, I'll fix it), possibly a 3.54 geared front axle(4cyl Eagle housing, needed if the car needs regearing), maybe a decent AMC DIN mount tape deck, maybe some black sport mirrors, and maybe a passenger side metal trim piece in black(one I have is bent, may be repairiable, also got no hardware to mount any of the trim, which isn't installed).

[Gil-SX4]

Check the cost of just re-gearing both diff., Since if you cant find any used ones locally or at a driving distance, the shipping gets expensive on differentials, for some reason they are heavy.
Big problem over here in El Paso is that there aren't any salvage yards that have any thing older then 10 years, so it a hassle. But I did find a 4x4 shop in Chaparral N.M. that the owner says he has some AMC Eagles for parts in his house. I posted a link in classifieds.

[txjeeptx]

Yep, I've had a 4cyl front axle shipped from Massachusetts. Shipping cost about what I paid for the axle, and when it arrived, the shipper had beat it up so badly that both axle shafts were bent at the flanges and not useable(I mean too bent up to press straight). I had to put several axle's parts together to make one good 3.54 axle.

Regearing the Eagle front diff is a challenge, since its a low&long pinion D30, which limits aftermarket gear selection/availability, and if your car came with 2.35 gears, there is NO other gear set that will fit the 2.35 carrier, so you'll need to get a different carrier . . which isn't available in the aftermarket . . so you call up junkyards, no one has Eagles . . you find one a couple thousand miles away(might as well get one that has the gear ratio you want already in it, too) . . and it eventually gets to you, just BEAT up. I could have just had them ship the carrier and gears, I suppose.

[txjeeptx]

Well, I'm stuck indoors with a nasty head cold and some good antibiotics, so I thought it might be time to dig up this thread for an update.

Before I got too busy with my enginerding classes, I managed to get the blue SX/4 legally titled in my name(thanks Marty), and got the transmission reinstalled, and installed GRONK's awesome MC2100 setup. The car runs and drives decently, but that's where I left off. It needs a lot, still. Also had a "DON'T do this" moment, when a jack slipped and left a nice dent in the oilpan(not bad enough to cause running problems, but unacceptable for a restoration project). Now I get to pull the oilpan, which is probably easier to do with the front diff out of the way, and hopefully doesn't require pulling the engine or trans(I know I'll have to raise the engine up /lower the trans crossmember down to angle the pan out - any other tips, anyone?). Still haven't gotten around to checking if the gear ratios match front to rear. That'll be the first thing I do to it once I get over this plague of slime in my lungs. Also gotta get the doors rekeyed - didn't get a set of door keys from the loser I bought it from(learned how to unlock AMC doors with a coathanger ).

I still plan on selling this car, so I is there any interest out there? I'll be asking more than the $800 I paid for it, plus the MC2100 kit, plus some in restoration work. I'll post a for sale ad officially tomorrow when I can take some update pictures and do some better ad-writing and estimate out a price that I can live with.

Also gonna post for-sale ad for my MJ Comanche and my Kawi KLR. Too many projects, not enough time with enginerding school. I'll be happier with fewer projects, so I can focus on school and the remaining projects I'll never part with(unless yer made of money )

So, anyone interested in more info on these projects that you can take over - PM me. I'll git the ads written tonight.

[Sunny]

Also had a "DON'T do this" moment, when a jack slipped and left a nice dent in the oilpan(not bad enough to cause running problems, but unacceptable for a restoration project).

Better than a dent in your head  . I've seen a lot of accidents where people don't use jack stands and the jack slips.

[txjeeptx]

Ha, Sunny, the jack slipped as I was removing jackstands after a long time spent up on them for the bellhousing repair. It was a small slip as I was lowering the car, since the rear wheels were chocked, and the jack decided to stick in the concrete instead of roll on its wheels like its supposed to. Sucks that I (or anyone who buys it from me before I can get to the job) have to pull the pan to fix the dent, since this car is getting a proper restoration, whether I do it all or the next guy does.

Gotta go take pics to make an ad.

[txjeeptx]

Lengthy ad posted. Price good for at least a week, then I'll be back in good health and might be working on the car again, which will alter the price.