Priya's SX/4 project

[priya]

My SX/4 just got appraised at $18,000.  Its now officially the most valuable car I've ever owned.  It even appraised for more than my 79 Corvette which is in great original condition.   At least now I can get it insured for something closer to what has actually gone into the car. 
 

[Prafeston]

WOW!!! That's impressive! I guess it helps that you saved all your receipts. I wonder how much mine would be appraised for. I'm driving TQ with just liability. They wouldn't even let me do full coverage because of how old it was. I should probably have it appraised though. How much did it cost you to have it appraised?

[priya]

It was $169, more than I was expecting but I think its well worth it.  Your's is in great original condition, I'd certainly get it appraised, you don't want to total it off and then get nothing for it.

[priya]

I can't wait to get it on the road either, but we're kind of strapped for cash right now so it might have to wait a bit until we can pay for the insurance.  Also, I tried to put in a universal speedometer cable yesterday and it slid into the sheath farther than I thought it should so I might have cut it too short and will need to get another one.  I'm going to go out later today and check it.

[shaggimo]

$169 is a bargain for the added protection, and 18k  Awesome! Maybe the vette should be the winter comuter  lol. Your hard work has definitely paid off, congrats  .

[priya]

Maybe the vette should be the winter comuter

LOL,  I thought the same thing when I got the appraisal back,  now I'm having second thoughts about this being my winter car.

[priya]

I took the SX/4 for its first real drive a few days ago.  To my dismay the speedometer is ticking as I drive and the needle jumping so I've got to take the instrument cluster out yet again, its already been in and out several times and to my further dismay I noticed one of those times I scratched the steering column and my carefully painted "brushed aluminum" insert on the instrument cluster.  The car ran super nice until I got into the parking lot at the dentists office and then it started idling rough and stalling in drive.  45 minutes later I got in and drove to my husband's work to show it to his boss.  It ran perfectly there and back home, so I'm scratching my head about that one.  Same thing when I went back to the dentist yesterday.

We took it to my husband's work and he put it up on the hoist to check the front end and do a wheel alignment.  He replaced the strut rod bushings and got most of the readings in spec except one which he couldn't improve upon for reasons he explained to me but went in one ear and out the other.  I know he pointed out the camber cam bushings were partially seized up or something and I don't think he's been able to find replacements new yet but he's pretty sure he can make replacments on his lathe and milling machine.  The rear springs are sagging so that affected how much he was able to do on the alignment.

So, I'll be replacing the rear springs soon.  Although the car handles nicely on the highway when making turns around town the wheel turns lightly then gets stiff and then turns lightly and so on.  Its kind of disconcerting because you're not sure you're turning as fast as necessary, or maybe too fast depending on how you compensate.  We discussed it and Ward says we should just replace every steering piece (bushings, tie rods, ball joints, etc.) rather than him trying to track down which piece(s) are causing the binding.  We don't have a cost for all these parts yet, we may order them today, but I'm getting kind of anxious as I watch the funds I set aside to modify my Corvette dwindle significantly.

[68AMXGOPAC]

I would concur with Casper on the cable.Unless the connection at either end isn't seated in all the way.
Priya , I forgot if you are in the US or Canada ?? ( I should know this right ) lol

[priya]

with the speedo cable, alot of times when they bounce and tick, its the cable itself having some sort of drag on it. look all along the cable housing for any sharp kinks, or a clamp that may be to tight. good luck with that. great to hear its driving now. i bet it turned lots of heads!

I pulled the cluster yesterday and had a closer look at the cable.  The universal cable I put in has a drive end that you stake on with the "tool" they include.  It didn't work particularly well and the speedometer drive end is tilted to one side and also does a bit of a zig zag (because I think I hit it too hard with the staking tool) so I'm pretty sure that's why its ticking, the drive part of the cable core is crooked and it binds on every turn.

Yes, the Eagle turns a lot of heads.  We had it behind the garage yesterday so we could install a heater on the roof and a couple of young guys came down the alley, slammed on the brakes and exclaimed "Wow!  Nice!"  They asked "What kind of car is that?" and I said "AMC Eagle".  The driver said "Oh, that's a chrysler then.".  I said "Well, chrysler now, but they were a seperate company back then.".  He replied "Oh, well, its the same thing then, its a Chrysler, I could tell because it looks just like one of those Daytonas or Lasers."

I would concur with Casper on the cable.Unless the connection at either end isn't seated in all the way.
Priya , I forgot if you are in the US or Canada ?? ( I should know this right ) lol

I also think the universal cable may have been slightly too long, I'm not sure if that contributed to the binding but I made sure the replacement was the same length as the original.  Ward's going to make some sort of staking tool on the lathe so we can get the drive end of the new cable on straight.  He says the one they include with the cable is crap and its common that the drive end ends up on crooked.

I'm in Canada in the prairie provinces.

[68AMXGOPAC]

I "should" of rememebred because I shipped you a part , and I "could" of just looked at your sig.
You know I think I have a brand new cluster in KPH or whatever it's called with 0 miles.

[priya]

I "should" of rememebred because I shipped you a part , and I "could" of just looked at your sig.
You know I think I have a brand new cluster in KPH or whatever it's called with 0 miles.

Cool!   Could you send me a picture of it, front and back?

[priya]

Hubby finished making the tool to crimp on the drive to the universal speedometer cable, its quite the piece of work.  On the upper left is the universal speedometer drive shaft and the staking/crimping "tool" that comes with it and which worked poorly for me.  The blocks of steel are the two halfs of the advanced tool.  It took Ward a couple of hours on the lathe to make.


Here's how the advanced tool looks assembled:


The universal speedometer drive shaft fits in between the two halves and hopefully one smack of the hammer will put it on straight.  I'm leaving this one for hubby to do, lol.

[68AMXGOPAC]

That is some nice work !!Hats of to the Ward.
 I have a few lathes in the shop that I use occasionally, and a bridgeport milling machine that still isn't set up yet.
I will send you a pic of the cluster - not even sure why I bought it - except it was available 

[Hawk258]

Priya, MORE PICTURES!? Pleeeeeeeeease? full interior, exterior, motor, ect?

[priya]

Priya, MORE PICTURES!? Pleeeeeeeeease? full interior, exterior, motor, ect?

I've got some exterior pictures, but I've been waiting to get some interior pictures before I post them.