Ginger the 83 wagon

[shanebo]

is there any way to  convert that to a manual ingauged t-casd and not have to mess with the vaccumes

[tougeagle]

is there any way to  convert that to a manual ingauged t-casd and not have to mess with the vaccumes

yeah. from what I understand, Grand cherokee transfer case linkage works, just have to do a little bending, etc, and be creative with it. You can also just use a 9/16" box wrench to turn the bolt on the lever of the t-case.

[shanebo]

I got the t-case out today. Im not sure if that vaccume cam that ingages and disingages the case is locked up or what its stuck in the ingaged position and even when I got it out I couldnt budge it. I could ingage the case manually with a wrench just fine though The plug in the side where the speedo goes into was removed and there was about an inch of very thick sledge in there and the fluid that drained out, was like choclate suryp...I think Id best give it a good goin through and cleaning before reuniting it with the new transmission.

[shanebo]

Still working on getting the tranny out down to a few bolts now ...I found that the vaccume lines to  the transfer case were broke in several places..they are very brittle and have no flexibility left at all...I would love to put a manual mode of ingaging the 4x4...but if it proves to be too hard I can replace the vaccum lines too.

Ill tell ya'll one thing for sure though....Im gonna take her somewhere with a lift to put this tranny and T-case back in!! Tryin to do this stuff with only the extra foot of room my ramps give me is for the birds...and I dont mean Eagles

[shanebo]

Tranny is out!!! not as bad as i had anticipated...I thought the bell housing bolts would give me more trouble but i used a ratchet with 3 extensions from the back of the tranny and i reached them quite easily...it did get hungup a bit on the dipstick tube and then hung a bit on the torque converter...it bent the back of the torque converter a bit but thats ok cuz its on my list of stff to replace anyway...its tuff pullin these things when you only got 2 ramps and trolly jack at your disposal.

[shanebo]

Noticed fly wheel teeth are a bit chewed up. Looks like the edges on the starter side of it are all chipped off. The starter looks to be original but seems to be in good working order..i wonder if the fly wheel is warped or somthing cuz its only tore up about a 1/4 of the wa around...Noticed something interesting on the starter as well...It has the AMC badge on the side but the inside is stamped Ford.

[tougeagle]

they are Ford manufactured starters, if you listen to an 80s or 70s Ford start up, they sound exactly the same It's normal for the corners of the teeth to be missing at times, as long as the tooth is still mostly intact. If you're missing entire teeth or large portions of teeth, you have a problem..

The joys of working with automatics x_x Struggled for a while to get the dipstick tube back into the tranny of a 2000s suburban I've been in the process of replacing the engine in... After pulling the tube out a quart of fluid came with it and it took three sheets of cardboard to keep from getting soaked in the stuff.

You can just leave the transfer case in 4x4 all the time, because it's really awd, just with the option to go to 2 wheel drive. it can be driven indefinitely, at any speed, in full time without a problem, and won't really hurt your mileage much. Considering the time of year, I'd just leave it in 4 wheel... Though, you'll have to lock the front axle in place, which is very easy to do...

[IowaEagle]

Congratulations.  Yup, AMC used Motorcraft starters for many years.

[shanebo]

Man Im learning something new everyday!!! Ive had several Eagles in the past but Ive never done such in depth work to them before...I always had the money in the past to just pay someone else. I think that is what makes ginger special...I think her and I are going to be together for a long long time.

[tougeagle]

Man Im learning something new everyday!!! Ive had several Eagles in the past but Ive never done such in depth work to them before...I always had the money in the past to just pay someone else. I think that is what makes ginger special...I think her and I are going to be together for a long long time.

It's one thing to own a car you really like and keep it maintained. It's another to own a car you love and maintain it yourself....

[shanebo]

Ya couldnt have said it better...Its no fun laying under that thing for hours on end but when its all said and done theres no better feeling in the world!

[tougeagle]

That night I started my Eagle for the first time in over a year, with the first run of the fuel injection (before upgrading fuel pump, injectors, exhaust, etc...) is one I will never forget... Cranked right over and sounded like a beast awakening from a slumber, nice deep rumble...

[shanebo]

Hit pay dirt today at the junk yard!! found to intact headlight buckets!!! and the chrome fender trim ive been needing....very fruitful dayalso fuound the missing rubber bumper moulding rubber in real good shape but chrome stip need a little love

[IowaEagle]

Great finds!

[shanebo]

Thus far in my project these headlight buckets are my most expensive purchace....51 bucks. I have been able to keep all my costs to a minimum by doing the work myself. I found a shop to rebuild my tranny for 300 bucks...would have been over a grand if they had to do the pullin...If I look at this project as a whole I get pretty overwealmed. My method for keeping my sanity during this project is to set small daily goals....and bit by bit this things comin together...I cant wait to get the drivetrain back together and get into fixin up the interior and doin the body work...as that is what I like to do.