My 1983 Wagon (Eaglerod)

[thereverendbill]

i sure hope these pictures load.  Here it is my 1983 AMC Eagle wagon.  so far i have put a new (to me) power steering pump and a set of jeep cherokee rims with slightly oversized tires.  Yet to be done are brakes, belts, fluids, gas tank then it'll be street legal and ready for wherever we wanna go ..... enjoy

[Mechanic]

Looks like you got a good head start on things.

Dosen't look like it needs all that much work either. Kudos to you for saving an eagle!

[thereverendbill]

i am amazed how good of shape it is in ..... lots of surprises came with it in the form of new cap, rotor, plugs (first thing i checked out), battery cables, starter, and air cleaner.  The car is virtually rust free with less than 100,000 miles on the clock (from compairing the title to the the current milage).  The greatest thing about the car is all of the free advertising the owner of the dump truck got from us hauling it home (he said he got 10 calls from people who noticed his truck hauling the eagle)

[thereverendbill]

Today has been frustrating and has put me to the stress limit.  I decided to go to the local NAPA and buy all new belts, get some fluids, and of course a can of PB Blaster.  First trip: Got all 3 belts come home to install, alternator belt too long, power steering belt not near long enough, A/C belt perfect total cost at napa $71.00.  Second trip: 2 belts Alternator belt PERFECT Power steering belt still too short (47 inches) so i wrap a piece of trimmer line around the pulleys to get a "rough" measurement price difference +$5.00. Third trip: 48 inch belt too long cost +$1.00 they decided to not use a belt gauge but to use a tape measure. Forth trip: they tell me that there is no such thing as a 47.5 inch 3/8 belt they send me out with another 47 inch belt was thinking i would get money back but no, I get home and low and behold still too short, I could force it on by cranking the engine but if the belt damages then no warranty no new belt.  At this point I am seriously thinking of calling the scrap man and having him come get this foul beast, but then the moment of clearity 1 call to autozone and my 47.5 inch 3/8 belt ( that dosn't exist) will be delivered to me tomarrow at work ..... cost of that belt $6.00.  So tomarrow i will continue the saga of my 83 eagle and hopefully get it started and charging so i can move on to the next hurdle in road worthyness   

[Pat]

I personally try to avoid NAPA as their prices always seem to be flying higher than Eagles. Usually go to The Zone. Have had good luck so far.

[jim]

Parts stores are as good as their personnel.  I've had both good and bad experiences at the same store,
depending on the attitude of the people.
Lately NAPA has been leaning more toward bad, Advance OK, O'Reilly improved.

[thereverendbill]

the only reason i went to napa today was cause i thought i would deal with a knowledgeable person.  When i go to the closest autozone to me and tell them that i am working on my 83 eagle I tend to get the stupid pierced out kid that only replies "those cars are crap" then once asked what he drives it's always "the honda out front with the rims and exaust".  Drives me nuts but I think from now on i am just gonna have to make the 45 minute round trip to the other autozone.    

[Pat]

Did he even know what an Eagle was? Was he thinking of what they called Eagle after AMC went out of business?

[Mechanic]

I usualy try and avoid napa to. unless one of the old guys are working the till. auto value(store's been around since dinosars roamed the earth, same with the personel) is my favorite place. mostly becase of the personel though.

[amkfken]

My .02c------I would not go to Autozone if they were giving away parts for free!!!!
10 years ago------>

Based on looking for spark plug wires for my 71 jeep (225 V6). Checker had none in stock, but would order, went to Autozone (2 blocks away), asked for the wires, was told--WITHOUT EVEN CHECKIING their computer "WE DON'T CARRY JEEP PARTS"******
Went another 3 blocks to NAPA, in stock,got them etc.

Presently live 17 miles from ANY parts store in one direction, 46 miles the other way, both stores are CARQUEST, both have replaced NAPA stores and do know what Eagles (and Jeeps) are!!

If you are not in a hurry--use Rock Auto!!!!

[IowaEagle]

Parts stores are only as good as the folks who work in them.  Most get there stuff fromn the same places.

[Jurjen]

These are the ones I have. Same as the originals that were on there and acc. to what Rockauto advises for 1983 with A/C.
http://forums.amceaglenest.com/index.php?topic=18165.0

[83Eagle!]

I have had good and bad experiences with Napa, O'Reilly's and Auto Zone.  Except with NApa the experiences have all been bad.  I had a guy argue with me about what remote start to get for my wife's Geo when we had it.  He kept trying to sell me one that had the ability to open electronic locks and I didn't need that as the Geo had manual locks and doors.  He says, "Well with this unit you'd have them (electronic locks)." 

Somehow I couldn't convince him that a remote system wouldn't magically install lock motors in my Geo doors.  He was really rude about it too.

[thereverendbill]

47.5 inch belt SUCCESS!!!! ended up having to get a battery cable as well today.  But I finally took it for a drive the brakes are SHOT, tranny lines are leaking and the trans works only if you manually change the gears, fuel tank is like a GPS (leaves a trail so you can always make it home ) but it started and moved under it's own power.  i am super stoked but the bummer is that with the work that  needs to be done I doubt that i will be able to use it to drive to Utah next month to pick up my oldest son.  I am gonna try and thrash to get it there but we'll just have to see what time and the eagle are gonna allow me to do   

[milliard431]

When my heater core blew I ran to the Zone for a 5/8 x 3/4 sleeve to bypass it. They did not have it but had it delivered in 30 minutes while I waited. I shop for countermen, not stores although Napa has good quality. i avoid 20 year olds when possible No offense but nothing takes the place of experience.