Howdy! New member and First Eagle here.

[lowkiesEagle]

  Hi everyone. Been cruising the knowledge base here for a few days and a few user topics here and there. Really enjoying the site, must thank all who've gotten the site were it is. The TSM's and user experience post are invaluable. Hadn't planned to post, but it seems showing your new project is half the fun.

  Just purchased this 1981 Eagle coupe a few days ago. http://s725.photobucket.com/user/Tommy_/library/amc%20eagle  Ran across it while looking for a truck for an upcomming trip to Alaska to with my Grandfather. Once I saw the Eagle my quest for a truck ended as I dialed the number in the post. Although she cranked with no issue the poor Eagle looked like it had been slightly abused, rhino lined paint job, extreme lift job causing cv's to bind, missing cat back ect. Was able to talk owner into taking 1k although he wanted 2k. This is my first eagle but, my Grandfather has been with his XJ since 97 when he got it new; it has never skipped a beat through 3 trips cross country, 25ft travel trailer in tow. I've got a 96 XJ currently as well and have never had problems with it.   

  As I mentioned earlier, my Grandad and I plan to go to Alaska this coming march. He is a retired Firefighter from Anchorage and hasn't been back in Alaska since 85 when he broke his back on duty. I've got a few months to get the Eagle ready for the trip from Dallas to Anchorage. To do list so far includes: lowering the car to an acceptable height, repairing exhaust, replacing motor mounts, replacing many leaking gaskets, overall tune-up, and diagnosing issue causing transfer case to be inop. (vacuum or vc?) Looking forward to updating you guys with the progress of this undertaking, and hearing the tips and tricks from all you guys. Feel free to shoot any knowledge my way.

  Thanks to all those here now and before me. Thanks for taking time to check out my project! 

   

[MudPuppy]

Welcome to the Den! Nice looking bird you've got.
Love seeing fellow southerner's joining.
I remember seeing this one on CL and had hoped she'd end up in hands that would take proper care of her.

[eaglefreek]

Welcome. It looks like you've got a little work ahead of you fixing some of the stuff the PO did. A drive to Alaska in my Eagle is on my list of things to do. Good luck.

[lowkiesEagle]

  Thanks for the warm welcome. So far I've removed the spreaders from the front springs and took the extended shackles down to the lowest adjustment (don't have any stock shackles atm). Gained a little more than an each of drop.  Going to upload some pics showing the gain in a bit. Still need to remove the extenders from the front shocks. Big parts order from RockAuto due in by Tuesday. Uncle is trying to convince me to swap in the 4.0HO from the 96 Cherokee I have that doesn't get much more use than running around on the farm. Grandad thinks it ought to stay original. Still on the fence and reading as much as I can to help me decide.

[Amc1320]

Welcome to the den!

Keep us posted on your progress

[Prafeston]

Looks like a fun project!

[mudkicker715]

Nice project to start the new year with. 

[lowkiesEagle]

  Couple of updates on the car. Started looking it over and I noticed the right motor mount I assumed bad was actually a motor mount completely unbolted. 2 of the 3 bolts were not present and the there is one broke off in the block. Did a compression check on the 258. From front to back while motor was cold. 1-110 2-112 3-120 4-110 5-124 6-124. Let the motor warm up for about 10mins and checked again. 1&2 came up to 120, 4 didn't move stayed 110 psi. Looked around forums for the ideal compression range as I'm used to some higher numbers on the xj. Hard to tell whats right but the wiki shows that pre 83 was lower compression head.

  Decided to pull in the 96 xj and check it over. First 5 cylinders ran 160 psi and #6 was 165. I have been looking over a few swaps, such as this ( http://amceaglesden.com/guide/Joshpit%27s_4.0_Swap_Article ) for my references. I like the idea of a more modern, less used engine for this project Eagle as it's got quite a drive ahead of it and it needs to be reliable.The increased HP,  MPG's and availability of parts doesn't hurt either. The xj had a rebuilt motor put in 3 yrs ago and had 40k on it, at most I've put another 40 on it since installed.
 
  Before tearing into everything, I decided to see whats available at the local u-pull-it. I ended up finding a 94 4.0ho xj  with a manual trans. The harness is complete other than alternator and starter leads. Ended up taking the complete harness, ecm, pdc, coil, pickup, fuel rail, injectors, tb, sensors, ect. Pics updated. 70$ out the door.

  I guess the next few days consist of pulling out the motor in the the xj and overhauling the gaskets since I'm there; and acquiring the last few parts needed. Got to grab a 42RE flexplate, u-pull 20$ (wet,cold,muddy) or ~50 online. Water pump from a grand or wrangler to center mount the Eagles fan, not sure if I need the fan from the grand as well or if the Eagles will mount to the pump. Also plan to mount the cps in the Eagle TF998 Bell for sake of being cheap.
 
 Gramps doesn't like idea too much, but I think he's mainly put off by the wiring. In the end I feel its going to be fun modernizing this cool car.

[eaglefreek]

Your compression numbers aren't too far off. I believe AMC spec'd 120-150. They had pretty low compression from the factory.

[lowkiesEagle]

  Cool, thought so just wasn't 100%. Guess I'll have a decent spare sitting here or a replacement for someone doing an Eagle restore. Then again, could hang on to it if I ever plan to stroke the 4.0, 

  update 6pm:  xj motor is out.  Went ahead and pulled it with the trans to spend the least amount of time on the cold concrete barn floor. Jeep is pretty much a parts jeep now so out it came. Hopefully going back in is as smooth as coming out was. 2 hours with uncles help. Pics updated of the pull

[lowkiesEagle]

Been awhile figured I'd toss out an update. The eagle runs, a few more things to do before its road worthy but a test today shows the electrical all works as it should. Must say, my uncle who did all the electrical and fabrication is pretty awesome at what he does. Updated the photobucket with some pics and even a video of the 4.0's first crank in the eagle. Not too much longer now!

[Prafeston]

Wow, that was pretty quick! Congrats! I'm jealous, wish my swap would have gone smooth like that!

[IowaEagle]

Welcome to the Den.