My 2nd SX/4 project

[txjeeptx]

I recently picked up this car from a local seller found on someone's list. Its an all blue '83 SX/4 4.2/T5 car, clear TX title, a whopping 214,000 miles on the clock. PO says the guy he bought it from daily drive it for 20 years, then had the engine and trans rebuilt, then drove it some more. It was originally purchased from an AMC dealer in Seguin, TX, and lived in TX all its roadworthy life.













It was cheap, a non-runner, with very minimal rust, none in the subframe.

It had the fuel tank removed for a fuel sender the PO never could find(no surprise), tested the sender, it seems to work, so there's other issues with the gauge or wiring. The clutch slave was only mounted with one bolt, which was loose, so the bolt bent when the pedal was pushed. I'm in the process of correcting that. Also, the bellhousing was only held to the engine with two hand-loose bolts. The starter was held in with one loose bolt, so it would grind instead of engage the flywheel. The oil is clean as if it was freshly changed.

I plan on doing some minor cleanup to make it a runner, then selling it for what I hope will be a minor profit to fund the purchase of a plasma torch. Anyone interested in it should PM me. It will not really be up for sale until it is a running, driving car.

I know, I know, get the first project car("Golden Eagle") finished! I will.

[Baskinator]

Wow, great find! And it's even got all the endcaps 

[vangremlin]

Cool looking SX/4!  Sounds like you'll have it back on the road after doing some relatively minor fixes!

[Eagleearl]

Great car. Looks like it had good care until the previous owner got hold of it. I wish it was closer.

[thereverendbill]

from the little screen i am currently dealing with (cell  phone) those look like chrome sport mirrors

[txjeeptx]

I forgot to mention it is a sport package, might go for selling the mirrors if I can trade out for a black set - I'm replacing the broken door handle with a black Jeep handle, doin both sides, wanna go all black trim on this car.

According to the PO, the R-12 AC blew cold the last time it ran.

The car has been repaired from a minor accident on the passenger side, and the work done to the front subframe horn could be improved. There is a 1/2" plywood "shim" holding the bumper in its proper place, and amazingly, all the bumper ends are persent. The driver side fender was replaced due to a dent, and it now sports another dent/crease on the new fender. The sport package badge for that fender is in the glovebox.

It looks like it had a battery issue at one point that caused the radiator core support to rust out near the battery tray. I'll fab up a sheetmetal panel to repair that. Also discovered some rust in the passenger floor outside the subframe rail, but it should be an easy fix.

I think I'll replace the carpet to freshen the interior up, and I have some NOS blue front seat covers for the working reclining seats to wear, even though the aftermarket(custom/home made) seat covers it has on it are pretty nice. The rear seat backs are in need of some repair, I think the plywood in them is trashed, and the carped on them is fried.

The rear hatch popper works, and the hatch lift shocks are super strong, the thing practically lifts itself.

Turning to the engine - once I finish replacing the bellhousing shim/dust cover with a good spare I had layin around(the factory one got into the flywheel somehow, related to the two-bolts-only bellhousing to engine fastening), I 'll pressure wash under the hood, possibly reseal the decent Omix aluminum valvecover, and may change out the feedback carter for a MC2100, might even spring for putting it on an Offenhauser intake. The exhaust is good and new from front to back, but it is the smallest tubing I've ever seen used on an engine this size. It must be 1.5" tubing, I'll have to measure.

I have never cared for the Eagle factory wheel covers, but this thing has all four in nice condition, so they might stay with the car, with a decent repaint to freshen them up. Also might look into selling them so I can install a cool set of alloys of some sort, if I come across some I like for cheap. Might do the wheel spacer thing like Vangremlin did, since it really improves the looks of an Eagle.

The PO sold the car to me for the price he paid for the four new Definity cheapy pep-boys tires. I hope to double(or triple?) my money when I sell it to finance that plasma torch, which I could just go out and buy, but I told my wife I'd earn it by doing what I love and making some money at it - hey, if all those guys on TV can do it, why can't I?  Also, if I can sell my nice MJ Comanche pickup and my Kawi KLR dual sport, I'll be able to get the CNC table I REALLY want for the plasma torch. Then I can fabricate all sorts of cool stuff for future restomods. She(wife) always said I have too many toys, so selling a few will free me up to get some new toys, and the CNC plasma torch(a toy, in her book) I'm interested in now can make me money if I put it to good use.

[priya]

That thing is real sweet, what a find.

[trapperjack]

Looks like a great platform to start with. The gas gauge on the bird just needed the ground wire connected.

[txjeeptx]

Tank is in, gonna steal the fuel cap from the Golden Eagle, have to go get some fuel. Also removed the two bolts that were holding the engine to the bellhousing - they're the wrong size, and hopefully didn't trash the threads in the engine block. I have a full set of correct bolts painted up, but still have to separate the engine and trans enough to slip the old dust cover/shim out and stab the new one in.

Also plan on pullin the rear diff cover to see what the gear ratio is, and to change out the fluid. Might do a pinion seal, too. Rear axle has writing on it in permanent pen like they use at some junkyards to mark parts they've sold, so I want to make sure the frone and rear ratios match before driving it in 4wd.

The front ball joints are in decent shape, as are all of the steering links. Extremely greasy, so at least someone was lubricating things properly, even if they failed to wipe off the mess afterward.

Brakes look good, and they worked for dropping the car off the trailer. The front parking brake cable is new. I will replace the three rubber flex lines due to age and importance of good brakes.

Can't wait to get it running so I don't have to push it around! I want to polish the thing, but it has to drive into the carport, I can't push it up the entrance to the driveway all by my lonesome. I think the paint will come back to life with a little buffer wheel time, just like the gold car did.

Its all in the sun right now, and its 100deg in the shade, so it'll wait till later tonight for me to get under there and swap out the bellhousing dust cover and get everything bolted back together. Once its running and driving, it will get to wait while I install the rest of the lift kit on my full size Jeep.

[trapperjack]

Glad you are getting some practice on Jeep lifts......I'm going to try to bribe you with Shiner to help me do a small lift on mine. I'll email you, looking for some ideas for it. What's up with the air cleaner on your blue one? Looks like something I would do. Redneck engineering.

[MudPuppy]

Nice SX/4. Can't wait to see the finished product and possibly the price  .

[rollguy]

Nice SX/4. Can't wait to see the finished product and possibly the price  .

X2

[txjeeptx]

This thing is really tryin to eat my hat. Today I found that the trans mount had no bolts in it at all, nothing holding it to the trans, it was just bolted to the crossmember. I decided to finish pulling the driveshafts and found a bad u-jopint at the rear pinion. No rollers left. Good thing I found that. Since nothing related to the transmission is assembled correctly, I'm going to finish pulling it and have a look at the clutch, and probalby replace it with a new LUK clutch. I already have a clutch and flywheel for a Renix injected 4.0, and I may try to use that(I recall there are differences in flywheel thickness), and may proceed to swap in the rest of the complete Renix system I pulled from a parts XJ over a decade ago, especially since I have a running daily driver example(my MJ) to look at and also have the DRBII scan tool the dealerships used to diagnose the system. Injection would be nice. I have a feeling this car is going to get too expensive for me to be able to sell easily, so I'll try to talk myself into keeping it simple.

Also found the front diff still has the tag on it - 2.72 ratio. That sucks. I'll pop off the rear cover to check if they match ratios before testing 4wd when its all back together. Eventually I'll try to get a 3.54 ratio 4 cylinder front housing, and may swap in a Chrysler 8.25 3.55 ratio rear from a late model XJ, or even an XJ D35 just to get better shafts into this restoration. My other Eagle project has a 3.54 front and 3.55 D35 rear with disk brakes and a Trac-Lock, custom swapped from a Jeep ZJ, so it looks like it has a factory Model15/D35 with disk brakes.

This 2nd Eagle project has gotten me back into the mindset to finish my first car.

Update - Have trans pulled, looks like it was rebuilt at some point, ATF in the t-case was brown but not burned, will test viscous coupling. Found missing shifter diapragm e-clip stuck in the sludge in the trans crossmember. Will have clutch off in a few more minutes. Flywheel has rough looking starter gear. Will replace it.

[vangremlin]

Your newest Eagle sounds like most (car, house, whatever) projects - what starts out as something relatively quick and simple turns out to be one thing after another lol.  We've all been there so we know how the thinking goes - "well, if I'm going to do that, I might as well do this also.  And if I'm going to do this, I might as well replace the other thing."  And so it goes.  But it doesn't make sense not to do it right while you have the chance!

Good luck!

[txjeeptx]

Ok, here's where the morning began - I pushed the blue car into the carport with the MJ with a trashed 35" BFG strapped to the front bumper. Shoulda taken a pic of that! Looked like it was ready for some mayhem. I had to dismount the 35 from its wheel, first. Fun.

Many bad words later, this:

I am seriously considering the Renix EFI swap since I already have a Renix flywheel, clutch disk, and pressure plate, and I have another 258 on the floor to use to mock up the bellhousing and get the CPS positioned right in the hole I'll grind to put it in there. I need to go get an intake manifold for this swap, but I already have a fresh set of injectors and a HO to Renix TPS sensor adaptor(HESCO). The T-5 flywheel is different from the Renix flywheel. I'll post a pic, even though I know I took one once upon a time. Ha, found it. 4.2L T-5 first:

Then the 4.o Renix:

Heck, how bout a pic of my train wreck of a shop?

Cheers yall. Dang it, you can't read the AMC service department sign. Stupid digital camera.