Mav's Lifted 1985 Eagle Wagon Limited/Sport Stroker - Picture Heavy! - 04/09/10

[IowaEagle]

Its never easy, is it?

[83Eagle!]

Here's a couple shots of me scraping the random residue left over from the carpet and the padding.  Giving Chas' the thumbs up in one of them. 

Here are some shots of the empty interior of the 84 Eagle...





I learned a lot taking out the carpet, interior pans and the back seats.  Chas' did you get your mouse collection removed?

Here's a shot of Chas putting away some of the final stuff from the big organization project that we did.



Talk about an organized garage.  We set up shelves to organize all the different parts that Chas had from the 2 wagons.  I think it turned out great.  If we can do that with odds and ends shelving in his garage, can you imagine what he'll do with this machine shed when he gets to it?

More to come...

[IowaEagle]

You two need to come to my place and organize the Nest HQ

[83Eagle!]

Now for the intellectual shot of the bunch.  Here are Chas and Dusty pondering the predicament about getting the engine out.




I think the decision was made that Chas would just grab the chains and muscle the darn thing out himself.  Attempt one...


Here's Chas running his media blaster...



Here's another shot of another corner of the garage.  He's got a box of chrome trim, a box of interior trim and a variety of fasteners.  We also hung those shevles on the wall.

[83Eagle!]

Here's a shot of the tailight I replaced.  Interestingly I became an idiot replacing it.  I took the old one out and grabbed a replacement.  Then I had Chas dust it with the compressor and took it over.  (Little did I know I was holding it upsidedown) But it didn't fit right.  So I went and grabbed the other one; Mav dusted it with the compressor and I took it over to the Eagle. Lo and Behold I finally noticed I had the correct one the first time. 


Other random shots...




Here's a shot of me playing solitaire in the van on the way out there.  I got stuck in Des Moines, basically not moving for 45 minutes as my GPS unit's batteries were dying (forgot my car charger).  Sitting there I was bored.


When I stopped for gas on the way home I noticed the dirty back window and I decided to decorate for the rest of the trip rather than clean it.

[83Eagle!]

I think that is all the shots I got.  Hope you all enjoy them.

[IowaEagle]

Great shots and write up Brandon.  I see you had a little helper.

[Mavericke]

Its never easy, is it?

My god man... there is always something, ya know? I only make plans these days to look organized, but deep down I know nothing ever goes to plan. It's fun - I just wash I didnt feel so rushed. Either way, I'm not going to skip steps and say "I'll do finish/fix that later" anymore. I mean, the SX4 came out great... but it wasn't finished and it could have been soooo much better. I'm doing everything except paint on this one... I'll paint in the spring.

Great shots and write up Brandon.  I see you had a little helper.

Yeah, we brought the girls out a couple times... they like playing in daddy's garage. Everytime they come out, they have to remind me about "daddy's truck fell." and how I shouldn't do that again. Yeah.

Hey Brandon, thanks for those pics... I was totally going to lift that engine out myself, but I really wanted you and Dusty to get the experience of doing it with a hoist... I mean, I may not always be there to sling the engine over my shoulder for you.

[83Eagle!]

Its never easy, is it?

My god man... there is always something, ya know? I only make plans these days to look organized, but deep down I know nothing ever goes to plan. It's fun - I just wash I didnt feel so rushed. I'm doing everything except paint on this one... I'll paint in the spring.

Great shots and write up Brandon.  I see you had a little helper.

Yeah, we brought the girls out a couple times... they like playing in daddy's garage. Everytime they come out, they have to remind me about "daddy's truck fell." and how I shouldn't do that again. Yeah.

Hey Brandon, thanks for those pics... I was totally going to lift that engine out myself, but I really wanted you and Dusty to get the experience of doing it with a hoist... I mean, I may not always be there to sling the engine over my shoulder for you.

You are going to primer it though right? 

The girls really did have fun in the garage.  Abby didn't like the compressor though.  I wish I would have gotten a shot of her falling asleep on that Eagle seat.  It was so cute.

I do believe that had we had another day or two we would have had that engine out and the stroker in.  I like the updated pictures.  Thanks for those too.

[Mavericke]

Nah, I pobably won't even prime it. I'll paint the inside of the cabin an the door jams for now so that I don't have to do it later, but I won't touch the outside yet. The weather just isn't right yet.

I will prime all of the spots I work on though and I will prime and hurculine the underbody as well. I'm even going to shoot a clear coat on the silver stuff just to help protect it.

[83Eagle!]

Okay I was just curious about protection from the elements.  Thanks.

[Mavericke]

Dusty-Spider strikes again!!!
Because Spider-man was already taken, Spider-Dusty didn't sound right, and Dusty-Man jsut didn't make sense for a super hero name.



Yep, the engine is finally out THANK GOD! Gah, that was just ridiculous. We kept tugging and dropping and tugging and dropping and it kept lifting the entire car... Mudkicker even told us about this specific plate and still we missed it... anyways, we were getting hung up on the two bolts that connect to the front differential. We figured we'd have to disconnect the exhaust to get to the bolts on the plate, but getting the exhaust off seemed more of a daunting task than just weasling our way into those bolts.... the bolts on the exhaust were rusted and fused to the manifold. Not to mention that the nut was so far down the bolt that it needed a deep-well socket to be reached, yet with the clearance down there - a deep-well was impossible. I was digging for a blade for the sawzaw when Dusty finally broke the final bolt lose... I was going to just start chopping away, lol!




I played around with the sandblaster again today... having fun with it, althought I think it's something better used outside, lol! Black sand is everywhere! I forgot to take pictures of the sand blasting job - but it's actually working pretty good. I sandblasted a rear wiper motor for a fellow nester and it looks great! Then I shot it with a thick coat of black rubberized rust resistant paint. It looks brand new! Which by the way... that freaking motor was a pain to get out. The motor was easy, but the wiper arm was a bear... it was rusted and fuzed with the motor arm... what a pain! I tried everything to get it off of there and when I was ready to give up I finally just grabbed a prybar and yanked a few good times and it popped off... the hatch is trashed from it, LOL! Don't fret though... the hatch was rotted out anyways. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

[Mavericke]

Updated the original thread with all the new info and organized the photos and information and also changed the project thread from the 80 to the 85.... enjoy all the pics, but be warned - the first post has ALOT of pics, LOL!

[Mavericke]

Wow, no comments? Man... I was really anxious to see what you guys had to say about the most recent progress. Must be sleeping? Lol! Ok so several days ago I tried typing up my shopping list for what I've bought (and or aquired through trade) for the Eagle and the few things I still need to get. Then I acidentaly deleted the text before I could post it. So anyways... here it is again.... 20 min later, LOL!

Already purchased and waiting to be installed:

• Holley 2300 Carb with new jets, adaptor plate and rebuild kit
• Espo front coil springs
• eBay Sway bar links
• 99 Grand Cherokee Projector/Halo Headlights
• 99 Dodge Ram Projector/Halo Foglights
• 99 Grand Cherokee Headlight wiring harness
• Jurjen's MUI ignition upgrade kit - I got the Pertronix 3.0 ohm coil off of ebay, the adaptor plate at the EN store, and the rest at Autozone - http://forums.amceaglenest.com/index.php?topic=13269.msg228088#msg228088
• Carpet molded for my Eagle Made by Auto Custom Carpets ACC
• 1983 AMC I6 4.2 stroked and bored .60 over with new oil pan, water pump, oil pump, and motor mounts.
• A new aluminum valve cover from Collin's Brothers, Black powder coated with 4.2 logo - this is the best place to buy them on the web for quality and cost. Period.
• Lund Windshield Sunvisor for an 02 Chevy Blazer - near perfect fit
• LED flexible underglow lights with wireless remote, multiple presets and multiple colors - from Sharperglow
• All LED bulbs throughout the car (brake lights, turn signals, interior lights) with relays to prevent rapid flashing and/or no flashing - from HyperLEDsInc
• ebay Used 4.0 exhaust manifold to run true dual exhaust
• Inline radiator flush kit
• New rebuilt tranny and transfer case
• New refurbished gas tank
• NOS guage cluster with 0 miles on the odometer!

• Front coil 3" donut spacer and rear leaf 3' lift
• Orion 6" front speakers and Orion 5x9" rear 3-way speakers
• Two MASSIVE 12" subwoofers in a slot ported box with a 1000W MASSIVE amp, cap, and monster cables.

Items that I still need to pick up:

• Rear leaf springs - leaning towards 1985 XJ springs
• Shocks front and rear
• Entire front end kit - ball joints upper and lower, tie rods, etc etc etc
• Re-apohlstered seats (almost $1000, woah! That'll be something that waits awhile, LOL!)
• Wheels & tires
• Brakes front and rear along with new brake lines
• Mustang Rear tailight housings with LED's - not sure if I will do this one or not
• New mirrors with turn signals - not sure if I will do this one or not
• New vinly headliner
• New CD/MP3/DVD/GPS player with 7" screen in the front - I had a 3.5" Jensen deck, but returned it for something different. Still looking.
• Rear headrest DVD screens for back seat viewing.
• Rear window louvers posibbly even the side windows. Will have to fabricate them.
• Power moon roof
• High powered alternator for all the eletronics on board.
• New AC compressor & Condensor

Not bad eh? Still got a loooong ways to go. Budget is maxed at this point... nothing I can do but work with what I have for now and upgrade the rest as I can. Most if which will come with tax money... just as soon as I get all my forms, gah![/list]

[Bosgarage57]

Wow Mav, you are gonna have a bangin wagon, question on the louvers, how do they go onto the windows and rear windshield?  Do they just glue on?  If so has anyone looked into using mustang ones?  I have no clue about any of this I was just throwing it out there.  I really like you using LED's and getting under car lights, it is going to look VERY nice when you get it all done.  Keep us posted please.