Perkiomen Project Pics

[68AMXGOPAC]

Hi Capt. , haven't been on in awhile, so catching up on posts I had tagged. Congrats on the Fiance ! and good luck with the house build.If you put the effort into it that you do your car projects I am sure it will make a nice home for the two of you.

[captspillane]

Thanks! The excitement and joy of being engaged has commanded my time and attention the last several months. A few days ago I did make it home for two days. During that time my fiance and I spent three hours together in my garage. We managed to finish dropping the front crossmember along with the engine and transmission out of the bottom of my newest SX4. We also prepped the front axle for rebuild. Her and I make a great team at everything we do including the restoration of AMC Eagles.

I found this picture today in an obscure file on my computer. I found that Eb Tuba in a private junkyard. I had stopped to knock on the owner's door to ask about four Eagles I spotted from the road. He needed a few hours of labor in one part of the yard and he gave me the tuba along with some Eagle parts in gratitude. I posted the picture here because it shows the four Eagles we had on the road at that time.

In the picture the Red SX4 just had its second engine fire. I recently described it here on the nest. The engine fire was caused by the engine to body ground strap breaking. It sat there for about two months while I rebuilt it. Parked in front of it was my '85 station wagon that I was driving to school daily then. Next to it is the '87 Sedan that was being used as my father's daily driver when this picture was taken. I used the '87 sedan and red SX4 as my two main drivers through college. The other '87 brown station wagon was my brother's main car through college. In this picture the transmission had died after 250K miles about a month prior. It was elevated as pictured for about two months when I swapped transmissions on it. This picture was taken in 2004.

[Baskinator]

Dang, a tuba + car parts for only a few hours of labor? That thing alone would be worth a couple hundred bucks! Nice pic.

[captspillane]

I just purchased this 1980 Eagle Sport station wagon on Thursday. I've put 400 miles on it since then. It has 53K original miles. On Tuesday I purchased Bill's old station wagon as well. In the mean time I finished pulling the drivetrain from my newest SX4 and began to reassemble that one.

[shaggimo]

man I like that color, if mine didn't have a red interior, that would look sweet on it. Great score on the wagon.

[Baskinator]

Does that engine have a serpentine setup?

[captspillane]

Nope, no serpentine. It's an '81 258 with Air Pump. I removed all the belts in that picture.

I have been looking for a speedometer solution for the two Eagles I'm currently working on. The first one is a TBI setup with a VSS that has 7/8" input and 7/8" output. The second is an MPI setup with a VSS that has 7/8" input and 5/8" output. For both of them I am using a transfer case speedometer gear and housing from a 1992 Jeep Cherokee. That housing is pictured in this first picture. It goes right into a stock Eagle transfer case or any of the "New Process" Jeep transfer cases.



For the TBI Eagle the speedometer cable is easy. I put the 92 XJ speedometer gear and housing into the Eagle transfer case which ends in 7/8x18 male ends, then put the 7/8 female to 7/8 male VSS on it, then purchase a common 7/8 female to 5/8 female speedometer cable to go up to the Eagle speedometer, which has 5/8x18 male threads on the back. A speedometer from a J10 or a CJ7 will work, so I ended up bying a CJ7 speedometer cable for about $20 from Rockauto.

On my Eagle I also added a 40" lower cable from a 1987 Monto Carlo which has 7/8" male threads on one end and 7/8" female threads on the other. That cable goes from the transfer case up to the inside of the vehicle so that the VSS will be better protected from the weather. My VSS is under the driver seat.

For the MPI Eagle it is more difficult. In the first picture above the cheapest VSS available is pictured. Companies like Hesco offer a VSS with 7/8 threads input and output, but those cost between $80 to $120 dollars. The Mopar part costs about $30 and is readily found in junkyards. It has 7/8" input threads and 5/8" output threads. The Mopar fuel injection kit actually comes with a fancy nut that has 5/8x18 threads in the inside and 7/8x18 threads on the outside. That is pictured. If I could find that nut for sale it would be an extremely easy conversion. I haven't found it yet although I did hear of one website that may have them if you contact them. In Tougeagle's Caroline car he used a hardward store nut to accomplish the same thing, but it didn't have the correct threads so he used pipe teflon to make it wedge tightly.

I just did an exhaustive search for a vehicle with 5/8x18 female threads at both ends of the speedometer. No such car exists. The closest I found was 88 to 93 Dodge Dakota cables. Those have 5/8" at the transfer case and a chysler snap on end at the speedometer. This would work if you use an Equus 9871 Adaptor. The cheapest price I found for the Equus is $25 from JC Whitney. Some other online sites had the same part for the same price, but JC Whitney is offering a free shipping promotion that makes them the cheapest right now.

Equus 9871 Adaptor:



Dodge Dakote Speedo Cable:



I'm tempted to buy the Equus adaptor and find a speedometer cable from a Dodge Dakota in the junkyard. That would give me a speedometer cable for my MPI Eagle for about $30. Alternatively I might just bite the cost and order a custom made cable. Two companies online offer to build me a custom cable with 5/8 female threads at both ends for about $60.

[captspillane]

Score! A Jeep forum directed me to Speedometer Solutions. His website kinda sucks, but if you call him he has the 5/8 to 7/8 adaptors we need. The one in the picture is metal but his are plastic. They cost less than $11 plus about $6 shipping. I had just about given up trying to find that adaptor after scoring the internet and calling up two different speedometer suppliers.

http://www.speedometersolutions.com/

This picture shows the adaptor I refer to on a 88 to 92 Dodge Dakota VSS. It looks like a piece of pipe with small threads in the center and big threads on the outside. It lets you use a very common speedometer cable with 7/8" at the transfer case.

[68AMXGOPAC]

Nice find Capt. , thanks for the info and update once again.

[68AMXGOPAC]

I should comment that the one Touge did is still surviveing as it was, but this would be an excellent solution to avoid any problems ahead.I never actually scrutinised what's here on Caroline,and had forgotten about it even till now.I was thinking that the 7/8' / 5/8' adapter looked like something that might be found in McMaster Carr , but it seems like you found a viable and cheap solution.

[captspillane]

At the very end of September I purchased a green 1980 Station Wagon with 55K miles. The previous owner had rebuilt the carb and decided to plane down the intake manifold at the same time. The first shop did a crude job so he didn't pay them and paid a different shop to redo the job. A substantial amount of metal was removed. When he put it back together the gasket leaked slightly. In 1980 the intake and exhaust fit together as an assembly, so I suspect the difference from planing one and not the other caused the leak. He let the car sit for a year before selling it to me. It only needed a battery to drive home, where it also received a new exhaust pipe from the cat back donated by another parts car, a set of alloy rims and tires from my blue SX4, and clear lenses for the front.

I drove 1200 miles on it in October. To compensate for the leak in the intake the idle was turned up to low throttle, which knocked the fuel mileage down considerably. It ran smooth usually but consistantly stalled if you slowed down abruptly. I still got 18 mpg while it had that problem. Eventually it started to have severe fuel supply issues from the year-old gas that had sat in it. It sat for the month of November while I worked on it. Just a few days ago it had its maiden voyage during the first snow storm of the year.

First I pulled the gas tank and removed the clogged pickup sock. I'm using an inline fuel filter right outside the tank now, so that I won't have to remove the gas tank again to change it. Second I removed the intake and exhaust and made the changes necessary to install a 1981-87 style intake. The air pump was removed and I experimented with installing a second alternator in its place. It will work if I can dig up an alternator with two belt grooves  instead of one. I also redid all of the vacuum lines and rerouted the canister to the opposite side of the engine bay in preparation to installing a dual battery system. I will eventually have two batteries, two alternators to charge them, and two starting solenoids for a completely redundant starting system.

I also installed a Howell TBI kit at the same time. The install was very simple and the car runs beautifully now. It didn’t run well at first because I had a clog in the return line back to the gas tank. When I first started it the injectors made a terrible hissing noise, obviously because of too much fuel pressure. I bypassed the return line to a portable gas tank and the problem went away. The fuel pressure regulator on the TBI doesn’t work if your return line is clogged. Now it is running well and I just need to finish the install with a few minor details.

[Baskinator]

Looks right at home in the snow

[Eagleearl]

Looks good. Let us know what kind of milage - performance you get with the TBI,when you get done.

[captspillane]

The Howell kit does not control the timing. The components are capable of that, but you need to splice into and modify the Howell wiring harness to make it happen. All MPI systems incorporate timing control. This exact kit was installed on my CJ8 Jeep Scrambler for about 100 miles before being removed for the installation of a Hesco MPI kit. On the exact same engine the difference between Hesco MPI and Howell TBI was a single MPG. I bet incorporating timing control will close that gap in half. The TBI upgrade is a great option when you consider how much performance you get for how little complexity and cost.

I purchased my CJ8 from the editors of JP magazine and the two kits were installed for a magazine article in 2004. This barely used TBI kit has sat in a box since that article. I will certainly install TBI on other cars, but I'll be making my own wiring harnesses. It is a simple harness and there is a great deal of support on the Binder Planet forum. A brand new TBI is available from rockauto for less than half what Howell charges.

My biggest complaint is the fuel pump. The Howell kit gives you one that mounts on the transmission crossmember. I actually have mine below the passenger side door. I hate the amount of noise it makes and I hate the thought of running out of gas. If you run out of gas you have to suck out the air to prime the input line because the fuel pump cannot prime itself like your old mechanical pump. I also hate that Howell charges $140 for it. I will be ordering an Oldsmobile Bravada in tank fuel pump for about $30 and adapting it to the bottom of the AMC fuel pickup. It has been done on a CJ7 install I saw in a Jeep forum. That will silence the pump and make it prime itself. I plan on keeping this inline fuel pump as a spare in case the in-tank pump ever fails on a long trip.

[captspillane]

Thankfully I decided to take my 2006 Rubicon to work this week instead of the Green SW. On the way to work a tractor trailer hit my Jeep. At Exit 7 on route 78E in New Jersey the fourth and fifth lane merge into one and then become an offramp about a quarter mile later. About thirty feet after they merged together a tractor trailer swerved from the third lane into the exit lane. I was in the Exit lane going 70 MPH with my front bumper even with his rearview mirror. Our tires hit loudly and gave my Jeep a severe shudder but actually left the driver side of my Jeep undamaged. After being pushed off the road I attempted to brake. The Jeep broke loose on the loose gravel and snow slush. I barely kept it going in a straight line but could not slow down. Ahead of me the gaurdrail went right up to the side of the road while going across an overpass. The Tractor Trailor returned to the third lane just in time for me to swerve back into the fourth exit lane. As I swerved into the lane the Jeep slid sideways, so that I was 90 degrees to the left, looking right at the side of the tractor trailor.

I slid sideways for about 30 feet before my passenger side rear corner hit the gaurdrail at about 60 MPH. The Jeep spun a full 540 degrees. My fiberglass hard top has a scrape and grey paint on the passenger side corner from scraping the tractor trailer as I spun.

The tractor trailer locked up his brakes and swerved into the second lane, hitting another car and doing minor damage to his mirror. Everyone next to me and behind me locked up their brakes. I stopped the spin looking 90 degrees to the right, countersteered to go straight forward, then locked up the brakes. It broke free again and spun to the left all the way 360 degrees before coming to a stop. Thankfully everyone else had already stopped and I had all four lanes to myself for the second spin. This picture is the entire damage done.

If I was driving the AMC Eagle I would have gotten dented when he hit me but I would have maintained control afterwards. I'll always leave my Eagles in full time All Wheel Drive like they were intended to be. You never know when you will need it.