My 1983 Wagon (Eaglerod)

[thereverendbill]

Torque convertor only lines up one way

We are now aware of that, after all of the problems we decided to pull out the chilton's manual and then read about marking the flex plate/torque converter .... we're still fighting with it

Did ya put the new ( used) tranny in while you were at it ?? Or is it the one that was in there and just not lineing up ?

we where thinking about it, but the new oil pan is kicking us right in the rear ...... i will live with slip for a few more weeks seeing how today i got laid off from work

[83Eagle!]

I am sorry to hear about the job.  That sucks. 

[thereverendbill]

I am sorry to hear about the job.  That sucks. 

all and all I got to put in 1 day this week (why do i even bother trying)


But good news is I got to take the eagle out last night against my wife's wishes   to explain, on our way home from work the van cut out and died.  We had to call my sister and get a ride home and i had to call work and have the tow driver haul the van home (freebie tow, I love it).  Once the van got here on the back of the rollback  it fired right up and idled for about 20 minutes.  this prompted my wife to finally force me into getting a non prepaid cell phone.  i wanted to take the eagle and she insisted on taking the van because it was running again.  We set off from the house and less than a mile down the road it just didn't feel right to me from the passenger seat so i mention it and got the usual "it's fine!  I don't drive my car like I'm mad at it like you drive it"  Less than 4 miles from the house the van pulled it's act and quit yet again (luckily we where about 500 feet from the town "watering" hole).  We stroll down the road and go inside to use the phone so that i could call my father and have him bring the eagle down.  While we waited I had 2 drinks in celebration of the van until my father pulled up. 
The eagle drove great and the only issue beside the higher than normal idle (we think we know what's going on, but won't be certain until tomarrow) was the oil leaking from the valve cover and smoke coming from under the hood when we parked. 
The van is still sitting on the side of the road to be pulled home tomarrow  afternoon, then it will get it's fuel pump like it wants.  if time allows i will have a chance to install the aluminum valve cover tomarrow as well and maybe get the grille reinstalled     

hopefully tomarrow I will remember to take some pictures of my eagle in the snow

[83Eagle!]

Progress.  That is a good thing.  Fuel pump for the Caravan shouldn't be too bad.

[thereverendbill]

Eagle is down again because of the transmission, going to be installing another trans and transfercase this comming saturday.  i also i just received the new HEI distributor that will replace another ford part, hopefully that too will be installed this weekend.  i will have pictures posted once the new dist is installed and i will let everyone know if this was a good 70 dollars or not     

[83Eagle!]

I will be curious to hear about the distributer.  I want to upgrade mine, which I should have done over a year ago when I replaced the distributer. 

[HW80EAGLE]

ALSO WOULD LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT THE HEI DIST.AM WANTING TO THAT ALSO..MUST  BA A VAN DAY TODAY, OUR TOWN & COUNTRY IS SITTING IN FRONT OF SUBWAY IN TARKIO MO.BACKED UP A FEW FEET LIGHTS & BLOWER WENT OUT & DIED .WILL HAVE TO FIND SOMEONE TO LOOK AT IT TOMORROWjavascript:void(0);

[thereverendbill]

My van turned out to be just what i thought, the fuel pump.  It was a real easy job because a few weeks prior we installed a new fuel filter that required us to drop the tank and tackle all of the gulded, rusted bolts.  We had the new fuel pump installed in about 40 min and the van has been going strong (about 1000 miles).  the only issue with it now is that it cranks for a little while before it finally catches and fires up (it is over due for a tune up). 

Back on topic with the eagle.  I figure i am going to run a set of V8 Chevrolet plug wires either 7 mm or 8 mm (recommended by the company i bought the distributor from) and replace the plugs with a set of champion low dollar plugs.  i have high expectations for this swap and I will be posting pictures once it is completed.

[ammachine390]

What advantages will the HEI distributor have?  Are you just putting in the distributor, or are you actually making it HEI with a new coil and HEI module as well?

[shaggimo]

Hey bill, just a suggestion, but chev wires no good, the have the 90 degree boots. Mopar 4.0 wires are 7mm and would work good, or Ones listed for an Olds V8 (straight boot), I like the accel super stock universal fit (8mm), never had a problem with them, and you can cut them down to the desired length.

Oh, and make sure that you new distributor has the correct gear on it, as far as materials go, *some* aftermarket units have too hard of gear and will cause havoc on the factory cam.

[83Eagle!]

Hey bill, just a suggestion, but chev wires no good, the have the 90 degree boots. Mopar 4.0 wires are 7mm and would work good, or Ones listed for an Olds V8 (straight boot), I like the accel super stock universal fit (8mm), never had a problem with them, and you can cut them down to the desired length.

Oh, and make sure that you new distributor has the correct gear on it, as far as materials go, *some* aftermarket units have too hard of gear and will cause havoc on the factory cam.

That is good to know.  I am looking into maybe doing this upgrade at the meet in Spetember.  Need to start saving my pennies.

[thereverendbill]

Hey bill, just a suggestion, but chev wires no good, the have the 90 degree boots. Mopar 4.0 wires are 7mm and would work good, or Ones listed for an Olds V8 (straight boot), I like the accel super stock universal fit (8mm), never had a problem with them, and you can cut them down to the desired length.

Oh, and make sure that you new distributor has the correct gear on it, as far as materials go, *some* aftermarket units have too hard of gear and will cause havoc on the factory cam.

would the straight boots work for my eagle, the stockers have 2 90 degree boots to fit under the A/C pump and bracket.

i would try and build my own wires but my last attempt was a complete failure so I have sworn to never even try that again   

[mudkicker715]

Bill you need the crimper. Guessing at your disaster

[thereverendbill]

Bill you need the crimper. Guessing at your disaster

i did end up buying a crimper when i attempted to make my own plug wires years ago, spent like an hour trying to get a 90 degree boot on the first wire (small block chevy truck with headers) I just gave up and got a set of big block chevy wires.  the crimping tool was donated to a friend of mine who builds and races dirt modified cars.     

[shaggimo]

I haven't had any problems running the straight boots behind the a/c compressor, it's a tight fit, but no arc issues. However, since there will be extra boots and terminals, one could make up a pair of 90 wires for those two, especially since #3 and #4 wires are only 6 inches long, they could be made entirely out of the scrap cut off, then you'll have four left over straight bootied wires, lol. The easiest way I have found to build wires, (I'm kinda OCD about fit, so pre made wires are out of the question for me, lol), is to crimp the terminal on the wire then slide the boot over the terminal (as opposed to the method on the directions). Dielectric grease works wonders for this. The crappo terminal crimper accel gives is garbage, when I bought my MSD wires for my Olds, they came with a nice crimp tool that works very well with a bench vise. You might be able to score one from the bay, or maybe msd sells them separate...