My First Car: A 1986 AMC Eagle Wagon Limited

[greenlion]

did i see a door hinge asembly in that picture? if so, i would like to buy that from you as my drivers door eats through bushings and i would like to replace the whole hinge set up. thanks ryan

[EagleJoe93]

did i see a door hinge asembly in that picture? if so, i would like to buy that from you as my drivers door eats through bushings and i would like to replace the whole hinge set up. thanks ryan

My hinge is worn out too, so the one pictured is the one I'll be putting on mine. All the stuff pictured was really just showing what I have accumulated in terms of parts. The stuff wasn't necessarily for sale.

[greenlion]

oh ok, thanks for the reply. ryan

[EagleJoe93]

oh ok, thanks for the reply. ryan

The hinge I got was from a member here. I think it was GreatCarSX4 or something like that. It came with new bushings and pins too.

[EagleJoe93]

So yesterday my Eagle hit a big milestone for me at least. It has turned over to 90k miles. This is the first big miles change since I have owned it. It had about 87,515 miles on it when I first got it. Looking forward to putting many more on the odometer. 

[vangremlin]

Congrats on the milestone!  Hopefully you'll pass 100,000 in no time!

[EagleJoe93]

I actually recorded it to put on Youtube, but I don't know how well it turned out considering that was the very first time I did something like that, didn't have an ideal camera, and the batteries were on there way out.

[EagleJoe93]

Before I am to go away to school in the fall, there is a to do list of things that I'd like to get done or as many done as possible. For some of them I have questions on.

Redye and re-glue the headliner. Where could I get a dye in the honey tan color for the headliner? What is the color code? It is pretty faded so I'd like to redye it before I glue it back up.

Install an overhead console from a 95 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Upgrade my hatch to one with a wiper and defroster. Got a hatch with that from a junkyard recently with that stuff. The hatch is a bit rough but the glass looks good and the wiper motor is there. Will need a rear wiper arm since the one on the hatch is broken off and the switches for the dash. My plan is to transplant those components into my hatch so I don't have to worry about repainting anything. Is the wiring for the defroster and wiper already in the car or will I need that? My car currently has no defroster and no wiper.

Upgrade my wheels to ones from a Jeep.

Do some paint touch-up here and there. What are the color codes for the white (I think it is olympic white) and the brownish color on the flares? Is the flare color available in a spray can by any chance?

Fix my manual mirrors. They barely move if at all. Do they just need oil or are they broken and if so, what parts of the dash will I need to remove to get to them? Are replacements available?

Upgrade my radio and speakers. How does the radio come out?

Get a whole mess of leather conditioner and really work it into my seats.

[BenM]

Upgrade my hatch to one with a wiper and defroster. Got a hatch with that from a junkyard recently with that stuff. The hatch is a bit rough but the glass looks good and the wiper motor is there. Will need a rear wiper arm since the one on the hatch is broken off and the switches for the dash. My plan is to transplant those components into my hatch so I don't have to worry about repainting anything. Is the wiring for the defroster and wiper already in the car or will I need that? My car currently has no defroster and no wiper.

I think some of the body wiring is there, but the hatch wiring is not, and you may also need a connector to tap into the fuse panel. It's a standard GM piece, there are three styles of connector that fit battery, ignition, or accessory positions on the fuse panel. The way the defroster connected to power varied between years and models.

The combination switch-light-timer unit for the defroster is rare, and if you have a working one should be disassembled and lubed with silicone grease if you want it to last. You can use the early separate parts style push button and timed relay style, which was also used for Cherokees. A light and momentary switch or button go in the radio pod and the relay just lives in the dash.

Fix my manual mirrors. They barely move if at all. Do they just need oil or are they broken and if so, what parts of the dash will I need to remove to get to them? Are replacements available?

They come apart, but it can be a pain. You need bent screwdrivers and patience. The remote mirrors probably  need the cables freed and lubricated as well.

I don't know what would replace them. I've looked around and I was looking at adapting electric mirrors from a Nissan Versa. AMC mirrors come with two different cuts on the stem to compensate for the curve of the door sheet metal. One cut worked on the Pacer/Hornet/Gremlin/Concord/Spirit/Eagle, the other on Javelin and the big cars. I don't know if FSJ mirrors have a similar cut to one of those or not. The small car cut brings the head closer to the glass, the big car cut is further out and varying gasket thicknesses made up small differences from car to car.

Upgrade my radio and speakers. How does the radio come out?

The shaft-mount radio comes out in a two-part manner. You pull the knobs and use a socket or needle-nose pliers to remove the nuts around the shafts. Then you remove the whole radio pod by removing the screws holding the ashtray brackets to the dash and the screws by the steering column, in the glovebox, and hidden at the top. There is a mount in the back of the radio, and sometimes it's got a rubber tip on it that rides in the hole and other times it's retained by a nut.

You then need to get an adapter for the stock harness and run some ground wires out to all four speakers. The old Motorola radios grounded through the body or used a common ground for all speakers but that will fry most newer radios. Trailer connector pins are the correct diameter for the speaker connectors, and the three-prong power connector is a plug type used for ages.

Check this motorcycle site to see the "OEM-Style Non-Latching Connector Shell Pairs" for the power connector. The "trailer connector" pins are .156 (4mm) bullet connectors (standard bullet connectors are 3.5mm) and can be bought in the correct 4-pin square style. (And that's why crimp connectors are always loose in cars.)

All AMC's used the same 5-1/4'' speakers in the front doors. I think the back speakers were all originally 5-1/4'' as well, at least in sedans and 2-doors; sometimes the back speakers were originally 8Ω so be aware if you reuse them, but almost all were 4Ω. I forget what factory speaker connectors were, but I have a feeling they're related to the three-pin power connector.

I've rewired radios in every car I own, and believe me - you don't heavy wire. 18 gauge will get you there. I've become a fan of not removing good working factory connectors unless they're impossible to find, then I go with molex or weatherpack connectors because they're dirt-common and don't come apart but you need a good crimper and not the cheap auto store one.

Good luck!

[EagleJoe93]

Thanks for all the info! My radio is the DIN style radio, not the shaft style, which should make it easy to install something without cutting up my bezel. I have an old school Sears brand AM/FM cassette radio with an AUX input for at the time portable CD players that I would like to use. I also have some vintage Sony speakers and some NOS Jensens that should fit, but I don't know for sure if they will work.

[BenM]

Thanks for all the info! My radio is the DIN style radio, not the shaft style, which should make it easy to install something without cutting up my bezel. I have an old school Sears brand AM/FM cassette radio with an AUX input for at the time portable CD players that I would like to use. I also have some vintage Sony speakers and some NOS Jensens that should fit, but I don't know for sure if they will work.

There's definitely adapters from the later Eagle/Jeep DIN plug to add an aftermarket radio. They're not expensive and worth it over cutting and identifying the wires. If you have that, you have all the wires needed in the car for the new radio and speakers.

[EagleJoe93]

So as an update yesterday my Dad and I worked on knocking some things off the to do list. We got the replacement hinge with new pin and bushings installed, and we figured while we were working on the door that we would pull the door panel off to see why my manual mirrors aren't working. When we got the mirror off we sprayed the cable with PB Blaster and oil and let it sit for a while. We haven't put it back on yet but the mirror seems to be moving a lot better now.

While we were working on that I figured now would be an ideal time to see if I could replace the speaker. Took it out to see that it is completely disintegrated. I have some vintage Sony speakers that will work but they won't clear the crank. So I am in the market for a good set of aftermarkets that I can install behind the original grills. I'll be installing the Sony's in the back since they work, will fit, and they have metal grills built in so I can preserve the original rear speaker grills.

[EagleJoe93]

So I managed to get one of the new aftermarket speakers I bought installed, an MTX Terminator, in the drivers door. Even with having that one speaker installed, one missing, and the other two the crummy originals, the sound quality sounds SO much better. Can't wait to hear what it sounds like with all four of them installed!

[BenM]

Good to hear you're making progress!

[Orithil]

Very nice wagon, very classy in white.   Also, love the tach and center cluster, mine doesn't have those.