the flight of kiyreagle

[tougeagle]

Rebuilt calipers are inexpensive and new rotors are inexpensive too.  Eagles are one of the least expensive cars to do complete brake job on.   Also strongly consider getting new brake hoses for the front.  Don't be surprised as you add new parts that the next weakest part of the brake system will fail.  Brake systems on any make or model of older car typically will need extensive work after the first couple of decades.
[/quote

Totally agree. With anything directly involving the safety of the vehicle, replace all of it if it's old and involves part failure.

[pradtf]

thx toug and iowa eagles!
we're getting new calipers, pads and rotors on thursday.
i hadn't thought of the brake hoses, so we'll look into that tomorrow as well.

[68AMXGOPAC]

Hopefully you have picked up a repair manual for it.If so replacing the rotors and calipers and pads really isn't a tough job as in technicality, the tough part may be getting the old parts freed up and off.(even tougher is to understand my spelling).I did mine with a few simple tools and it was time well spent,and like those above said, inexpensive if you do it yourself.
I recently looked at an old quote for doing 1 side of my brakes from a well advertised brake shop,they said 1 side was bad when they put on new tires. I laughed at the cost of over $600 , especially when " who would do just one side" I asked,and got blank stares. I have now just this last 2 weeks replaced,all my rotors,calipers,pads,front wheel bearings, inner and outer tie rod ends, and struts for under that $600 !!

Good luck with all the work you are doing, it is an adventure,but gratifying !!

[pradtf]

Good luck with all the work you are doing, it is an adventure,but gratifying !!

thx 68AMXGOPAC! we're going to try it tomorrow and will let you know.

[pradtf]

we've been trying to figure out why the headlights wouldn't come on and fortunately my son found la guardia's howto about this:
http://forums.amceaglenest.com/index.php?topic=15611.msg226145#msg226145
it was the exact same problem we were experiencing

we picked up the switch from napa and it's all working!

the most difficult part of the exercise was to get to the switch, tilting the instrument cluster after removing the instrument bezel and a few other things (which the tsm instructs you on doing).

[pradtf]

also, the shoe lining is touching the rotor:



does the rusty, marked up rotor require replacing or can it be cleaned up?

recommendations?

regarding aspects of this earlier post, what we have discovered is the following.

1. the rotor and the pads are supposed to touch, but gently

2. the concentric circles on the rotor is going to make braking difficult. what happened was that we were got new calipers, rotors and pads. however, the first store gave us the wrong pads, so we put in the calipers with the old rotor and pads. then we bled the system, but the brakes felt and acted just the same. since the calipers were new, we thought either the hoses had gone 'funny' and weren't carrying sufficient pressure or there was really something wrong with the rotor/pad combo. a helpful and knowledgeable person (monique) at lordco told us that when rotors get those concentric circles the pads can't generate sufficient friction, so we got the correct pads from her and used the new rotors. the front brakes work really well now!

rotors can apparently be machined and there is considerable thickness in the old pads so may be the former (and possibly the latter) will be of use in the future.

[68AMXGOPAC]

Looks like you are doing great with it, there allways seems to be a trip or two back to the parts store no matter what. Yes you can get the rotors turned down on a lathe,they do have a minimum thickness specified for turning, that most machine shops will not go past.Old pads could be used in a pinch, but tend to have wear patterns on them to match the old rotor/caliper combo.

[pradtf]

thx 68amxgopac.

we setup to do the windshield replacement tonight (in my mother-in-law's garage since we don't have one), but couldn't get past the wiper removal which feels rather embarrassing.

the tsm says in step 2 of windshield removal (p3n-3 1981):
remove windshild wiper arms ...

so we go to p3t-2 and find:
wiper arm replacement
the wiper arms are set on serrated pivot shafts and held securely by spring tension.
(1) to remove arm, lift arm against spring tension and with screwdriver, slide cap away from serrated pivot shaft.

ok so lifting the arm was no problem, but the rest of it didn't happen. the cap, i presume, is the cylindrical thing that the arm attaches to and it goes onto a metal piece which rotates to move the wiper assembly. this metal piece is serrated, i guess, and should hold the wiper assembly in place. so when you lift the arm something should give so that the cap doesn't grip the serrations and so you can slide the whole thing off?

however, we couldn't get the thing to budge on either wiper. we don't want to force anything, so we thought we'd better ask.

are we doing something wrong? should the wipers come off easily?

[Eagleearl]

There should be a small latch that slides under the serrated post to prevent it From coming off. That should have a tab sticking up that you can pry out on to open. The base of the wiper arm should then pull straight off. Some do but after 20 some years most are a little corroded and need some persuasion. A 90 degree pry bar or two with something to protect the body and winshield and some penetrating  oil will probably get it off but when The aluminum base is corroded to badly I have had to saw them off along side of the serrations to get them loose. Remember to put a little grease on when putting them back together to make it easier to get back apart next time.

[pradtf]

There should be a small latch that slides under the serrated post to prevent it From coming off. That should have a tab sticking up that you can pry out on to open ... Remember to put a little grease on when putting them back together to make it easier to get back apart next time.

we found the tab, but didn't quite know what to do with it other than move it up and down. thx for these tips! we'll give it another go in the morning.

[68AMXGOPAC]

They are tough, and like said, they do corrode on.
 I would think if all else fails, that you might be able to hold them up and out of the way with a rig up of string or bungie cord,tied off to something? Like on the cieling of the garage? I think the windshield will certainly come out without them actually bieng removed.......my opinion is it is just to get them out of the way and make it easier.But if the chance of the wiper posts and arms getting damaged or broken trying to get them off is unavoidable I would work around them.
Does the TSM tell of the trick of using piano wire or fishing line to cut through the winshield sealer?

[pradtf]

thx 68amxgopac. we thought we'd try working around them too if it required too much force to dislodge them. the tsm doesn't mention wire because it uses the amc tools including their hotknife.  the idea certainly seems like a good one, though we saw one guy using wire on youtube and he certainly struggled with it more than people using knives or that cutting gizmo we bought. i wonder whether piano wire would give an even cut too since we are trying the short method.

in any case, we're headed out shortly to give it another try and will report back.

[mojobean]

piano wire would probably work pretty good. along with the cornstarch, i used picture wire. once i got the wire thru the sealer i tied it to big washers on the end to give me something to hold. regular picture wire will not last too long though, and will keep breaking. piano wire or something sturdy would do better. I have that cutting gizmo as well ,.. go with the wire. and cornstarch (i'm sure your mother-in-law will have some if you don't).

[WV Hillbilly]

Guitar strings work well for cutting out windshields .

[pradtf]

wv, we were thinking of using guitar string, but ended up using the gizmo - it was pretty tough work though. however, the bottom isn't completely done so we'll give the guitar string a try tonight.
[update: ok we broke the guitar string]

i remember mojobean's cornstarch/toothbrush idea on the other thread and we'll try that for the clean-up part tonight as well.
[update: we left the cornstarch at home]

the stuff isn't urethane as far as we can tell. it seems to behave like butyl all stretchy and gummy, but a store owner told me over the phone that it was something called sarcol (don't know how to spell it).
[update: we got the windshield off and are cleaning all the stuff left behind out]

no way for the short method though. the whole thing is a mess and requires a major clean-up. even part of the trim has been secured with this gum because one of the clips is missing.