My Father's Eagle

[chanticlair]

Thought I would introduce myself to the Eagle community. I am a Nashville resident that has just inherited a 1987 AMC Eagle. I rode in the car less than a week before it was passed to me. My father was driving daily and he was constantly working on it.  It would start, but you had to know the correct number of times to press the gas while rubbing the dash in an undisclosed number of counter clockwise circles while whispering the prayer mantra "come on baby I know you can start". My father, the mechanic, knew what all needed to be done to this vehicle but failed to disclose it all to me before he passed. I know that he would pour powersteering fluid in it everytime he got in the car and the only power steering it had was the power your arms could muster to turn the thing. I am pretty sure the transmission was slipping as well. After he passed I went to his house and found the front drivers side tire flat and of course I could not get it to start. I loaded it on a trailer and brought it to my house. We put the trailer on a hill and put the eagle in neutral to let it roll off the trailer. As it was rolling off something on the bottom of the car caught the edge of the trailer and fluid started coming out from the bottom. It is sitting there now. My dilemma; I really enjoy the car and from what I can tell it is in very good condition (no undercarriage rust and all the chrome is great) but I am not very mechanically inclined. I can turn a wrench if I have good instructions but I really do not have a good place to work on this car. I do not have a lot of money to dump into it either but really hate to sell it. How much do you think it would take to get this car dependable again?

Pictures are here http://www.flickr.com/photos/80371482@N05/

[George Mann]

There is a reason your dad was constantly working on it (as every Eagle owner does)! It sounds like a parts car at this point.

[eaglefreek]

I'm sorry to hear about your father passing and can appreciate that you want to get it in running shape again. Nashville, TN? I'm not too far in Fayetteville. I'll be in the Nashville area Saturday riding my dirt bike and can swing by late in the afternoon and take a look at it for you to see how much work it may need. It looks a lot better than a parts car to me.

[MudPuppy]

Sounds like someone is being a little pessimistic.
The majority of us would say that if it doesn't have any major frame rot, then it isn't a parts car.
Sorry to hear about your fathers passing and welcome to the Nest. Anyways, the main reason Eagles need work (some more than others) is that these cars are all 24+ years old now and most haven't been appreciated much by previous owners.
Doesn't sound like too much work.
And thanks to eaglefreek for offering to swing by to check out your bird.

[George Mann]

I guess you missed the part about not having a lot of money to dump into what is most likely to be a major (endless) project!

[eaglefreek]

I guess you missed the part about not having a lot of money to dump into what is most likely to be a major (endless) project!

That's definitely understandable and any old car can be a money pit, but it could also be passed on to someone who will fix it instead of part it out if chanticlair decides not to keep it.

[Pat]

Sounds like someone is being a little pessimistic.
The majority of us would say that if it doesn't have any major frame rot, then it isn't a parts car.
Sorry to hear about your fathers passing and welcome to the Nest. Anyways, the main reason Eagles need work (some more than others) is that these cars are all 24+ years old now and most haven't been appreciated much by previous owners.
Doesn't sound like too much work.
And thanks to eaglefreek for offering to swing by to check out your bird.

Just read this & want to X 2 on the thanks to Freek. Always nice to see someone willing to spend a little time to help someone. Actually, I agree with what the entire post says, but wanted to add my thanks.

[priya]

Sounds like someone is being a little pessimistic.
The majority of us would say that if it doesn't have any major frame rot, then it isn't a parts car.

Absolutely.  No Eagle with a good body is a parts car.

[carnuck]

Wish I was closer. I could at least help troubleshoot it. Can you get pics of the underside? Especially where the fluid was coming from. It may be a hole in the trans pan (not too hard to fix and pans are available at the nearest pic-n-pull yard in Mopars as well as Eagles not to mention through here)
   The starting issue sounds like the carb needs to be looked at as well as vacuum lines. I'm about to do the harness conversion (from the parts Eagle) and leave the other stuff in place until I do the head/valve cover swap along with EFI.

[recomer]

Sorry to hear of your fathers passing. I lost mine in 2008 and while one never gets over it, the memories you have of him will help get you through it.

I've had my Eagle for the last two years and through this site, there's lots of knowledge to help you get it running and reliable again. From the experiance with my 83 Eagle, if the critical parts (Drive Train, Body) are in good working condition getting it dependable could be as easy tuneups, rubber part replacements (water hoses, vacuum hoses, belts) adjustments etc.  

Being optimistic, the starting issues could be ignition or fuel related, power steering issues could be just a leaky hose, pump or steering box, transmission slippage could just be an adjustment.

Being pessimistic, yeah could always be a lot worse. I've put about $2500 into mine over the last 2 years which included radiator, most of the hoses replaced, alternator, transmission rebuild, belts, battery, tires etc. But then again its almost 30 years old and some of those parts have to be fixed/replaced normally and the car apparently sat unused a lot of years.

Lastly, an egg to Eaglefreek in advance for his offer to look it over..

[chanticlair]

Thank you all for taking a look at it. I really appreciate EagleFreak for offering to come by and take a look. I will be out of town this weekend. Father's day is Sunday so I plan on spending it on the lake and camping. The engine ran strong after it was started and the body is in really good condition. I am going to sell a motorcycle so that I can put the money into this car. I just wanted to know if the $2000 I get for the bike would be enough to turn this thing into a daily driver. I will get some more pics soon. anyone know the towing capacity on these cars? After reading through several builds I am pretty excited that I could restore this beauty!

[eaglefreek]

$2000 really depends on what needs to be done and if you are doing most of the work or a mechanic. It's near impossible to put any kind of price on the repairs without knowing what's wrong with it. Sorry, we couldn't meet up the this weekend. I should be out that way next weekend also.

[Roaming Baseball Helmet]

Much respect for taking on your father's Eagle project. My mom was planning to sell dad's '86 Eagle after he passed away but I convinced her that I could use a 4-wheel-drive and that I could learn more about car repair on it.

So far I purchased a glove box hasp and a steering column in the wrong color for it. The hasp was easy to install and the glove box finally closes. I have yet to install the steering column though. Does anyone know if I can remove the steering column cover (gray) and replace it with the buckskin cover from the original steering column?

[carnuck]

yes

[priya]

I'd say if the motor and body are in good shape $2000 will very likely easily get it going.  Even if your transmission or differentials are bad working used ones can be had for not too much money and if you install them yourself you won't be spending anywhere near $2000 to do it.  If every other mechanical component on the car needed to be replaced you'd probably go over $2000, but its doubtful that everything on the vehicle is bad.