My First Car: A 1986 AMC Eagle Wagon Limited

[EagleJoe93]

Things are starting to pick up pace. Finished installing all of the headlights and replacing my drivers side headlight bucket; the original one was falling apart. Also bought two center caps for my spoke hubcaps since two are missing and a black leather key chain with the  logo with Eagle under it. Hope to have her back on the road in a week or two or whenever our kitchen renovation is almost done.

Have also been chasing away wasps eager to build nests on my drivers door, driver and passenger fender, and passenger side taillight. 

[EagleJoe93]

Great news! My Eagle is very close to being back on the road!     I got both the intake and exhaust manifolds installed and started to instal the new Carter Carburetor from Gronk. Now all that needs to be done is finish up the carb and instal the new catalytic converter to the pipe that connects that to the manifold. Then do a little brake work and then it is roadworthy once again! Can not wait to start driving it. 

[eaglefreek]

Awesome!

[EagleJoe93]

Just got a NOS 1986 AMC Eagle brochure in the mail today from the bay. It has a lot of neat information that will be great for my AMC info binder I plan on making. Also learned what features on my car were standard or optional and that my eagle can tow up to 3500 pounds. Hope to at least get the engine in my car running tomorrow. On a side note; my insurance costs will be nowhere near as expensive as I originally anticipated. 

[EagleJoe93]

I've ordered a honey colored cargo cover for my eagle and it looks brand new! That will be on it's way sometime soon. I also am trying to get a Class 3 trailer hitch for my eagle as well. Haven't been able to work on my car recently just because New Jersey is getting hit with a pretty good heat wave (high 90's on one day). 

[EagleJoe93]

Update: Things have been going a bit slow for getting my eagle back on the road. Another project I have has taken top priority on my to do list. I will have it running properly by the time the fall term starts in late August-early September. It's been sitting for too long now in my books. I also am starting my stockpile of parts with a stop and shift 4WD switch, a brake pedal pad, a throttle cable with mounting bracket, and four used but nice AMC emblems.   Here are photos of my spare parts. The 4WD switch is in the for sale section since I have the shift on the fly switch.

[TheWraith]

Best of luck getting it up and running before the semester starts.  I hope you won't need it to get from and to school.  I remember those days of relying on an older vehicle as a DD for college.

...Class 3 trailer hitch for my eagle as well....

Since the Eagle does not use frame-on construction, I wouldn't think a class III hitch would be a good idea.  Those that have used their Eagle for pulling a trailer can speak from experience where I cannot.  But since it uses a subframe unibody design, I wouldn't expect it to be safe for anything past a class I hitch, possible a class II.

I'm only raising a red flag out of concern for your safety.  I'm sure someone on here can quote exactly what the Eagle is rated at towing wise.

[EagleJoe93]

Well I actually will be using it as a daily driver.  I hope someday to register it as a historic vehicle but that day may be a while. According to the brochure I have; Eagles are rated for class 1 and 2 for up to 3500 pounds. I just would like a trailer hitch of some sort because my eagle is a lot better than out two minivans for pulling our small trailer.

[EagleJoe93]

Great news!!! After sitting for about seven or eight months, my Eagle was started for the first time since I bought it!  It started on the first try and wasn't stalling out ten seconds after it was started!  Boy was it good to hear it running finally. It still is not roadworthy though, I most likely will need a new master cylinder from what it seems like. You may see me post a wanted ad for some things I need or would like sometime soon. I also recently received some door bushings so sometime soon I will fix my sagging drivers door. All in all it was a big step in getting my Eagle ready for the road.

[BenM]

UHaul sold a Class III hitch for Concord/Eagle models. I have one and have been meaning to compile the specs for it for sometime now so that it can be reproduced.

[captspillane]

I'd be happy with just a picture of it, Ben. I'm betting Uhaul made their hitch to mount on the side of the subframe instead of below it and then tied into those two big bumper bolts and the hole behind them. In other words I bet the mounting bolts sit horizontally instead of vertical like an XJ hitch.

I used an XJ one. The XJ one worked perfect except for the drilling of the bolt holes. The width of the Eagle subframe is exactly the same as an XJ. In an Eagle you have the rear bumper support that sticks into the back of the car with a huge bolt holding it on, however. Even though the horizontal metal with the holes line up perfectly it's difficult to drill the holes themselves. I just drilled through it and put through bolts through the entire subframe, with the Hexhead hidden under the rug. It's hard to drill through a pipe inside a square bore. The next one I do I'll remove the rear bumper first, drill the holes, then mark the tube through the holes and remove it again to be drilled on a drill press. Those extra steps would have kept me from breaking two drill bits in the process.

[EagleJoe93]

Today was a good day. Finished getting the exhaust system in with a brand new catalytic converter and connecting pipe. Started it up again and it ran for a solid ten minutes without stalling! There is still a vacuum leak somewhere and for some reason the temperature gauge in the instrument cluster wasn't working. Any thoughts?  Next step is to bleed the brakes. Chances are a new master cylinder is needed. After that put the new door bushing in and I'm good to go! 

[jim]

First thing to check about the temp gauge is to make sure the sensor is in place.  It's near the firewall next to the valve cover behind the carb.  I used to knock mine off periodically when reaching down into that morass of wires and hoses and .....stuff.
It's just an electrical connector that perches on top of the sensor, sometimes not as snugly as we would like.

[EagleJoe93]

Thanks jim; will look around there next time me and my dad are working on it.

[EagleJoe93]

Went to a swap meet and although I didn't find any parts that I needed; I did find an owners manual for my car! Also got a 1980 AMC Spirit/Concord/Eagle brochure as well as some various emblems and tools.