1984 Eagle wagon

[Seagulls n Eagle]

Greetings everyone! First let me say thanks to this sight I was inspired to get back into the AMC game. It's been a long time but Ive had a Javelin in my posession since I learned how to drive. (It's been a long time) I had to get rid if my last one because my wife (now ex) decided to become 20 again and..... Well anyway.

I was just about to purchase and eagle after lots of research when trout's (a member here) came up for sale. Let me just say that if you think having to sell your eagle after putting to a of time and money in it sucks, it can be worse. It's not my place to share his troubles but my thoughts are with him. I'm going to name this one Joy and it will be black and blue. It's a reminder that no matter how bad it gets, how black and blue life makes us some times we should try to remember to try to enjoy the time we have the best we can. If things are good savor it, enjoy it.

 Thanks to Trout, to all his hard work,  and hope he can find joy when and where he can.
Ill try to remember too. I've had a string of unfortunate things and it can be hard, but it's good to try.

Well I was lucky to cross paths with him and his eagle. I've had it for a couple of month and have been working in it recently and want to share and give back a little to all the kind people here. Many have offered kind and helpful advice and I have been inspired by all. I hope that I can inspire others.

So the plans for the finished product are going to be an evolution of modifications ending up with a 4.0l (stroker maybe) ax15, np 242, 8.25 3.55 rear. One of the main goals is going to be for a fuel efficient, reliable, daily driver for me and the kids to explore the world with.

I post again shortly about where I'm at, what im doing and how it's going.

[Seagulls n Eagle]

I got this Eagle from trout back when the weather was much better and it stayed outside at my girls friend. I was hoping to be able to work on it there but that didn't work the way I expected.

So what do you do if your eagles outside, the weathers not good and your girlfriend occupies the time you do have?.... Stay up late and collect parts for what you think your going to need. I really prefer standard transmissions so that was the first task. I posted questions here while I was looking and everyone was really helpful. Thanks.

So I have a set of spirit pedals, remote resivor, I bought a 1995 4.0L ax15 that came with an NP231.  I was unable to get the harness from that donor vehicle so I picked up the PCM and harnass and the guy thru in an np242 for free.

So that was the parts, ill catch up with the work Ive done.

[Seagulls n Eagle]

So I was up at 4:00 am AGIAN this morning and felt compelled to get something done dispite it being one of the coldest day of the year. -5 or so. My transmission was preped for removal so decided to drop it. I was expecting it to be a big mess and hard to do. Sometimes things things go better the. Expected. It come out smooth with No mess. Gotta be grateful when things go well.

I'm expecting to pick up my 8.25 3.55 geared rear end today. With the shock brackets. And that will give me my next project.

I'm caught in a dilemma. I've been going back and forth  on which transmission to put in. The TF727 would be less expensive (it's ready to go in) and require less modifications.

But the 3.55 gears would play better with the ax15.  A gearing calculator shows

727

2500 rpm = 59 mph


Ax15

2500 rpm = 75 mph

I prefer a highway cruiser with good milage.

I would be intrested in anyone's thoughts on a 727 with 3.55 gears.


I should mention to that I'm going to stay with the 258 for now. I'm going to be doing the 4.0 swap down the road.

If I had the $$ and the  I would do it now. I figure the 258 is in and ready. I wouldn't have to fab the exhaust, although I have some questions there. It seems like I could get away with the down pipe that came with the 4.0 and run it on the inside of the the differential, in between the diff and the motor. I was thinking I could run a piece of flat stock run straight down and make spacers for the top bolt of diff bracket and spacers for the diff.
Ill take pictures to show what I mean.

Ugh too many choices. I go back and forth with all the options.

Not sure what to do but ill contemplate again while I'm putting in the rear end. Going to pick it up now.

[Seagulls n Eagle]

Going to get picture posting ability asap

[eaglefreek]

What size tires are you using? 3.55's with a 3 speed will be a little on the low side. With close to stock size tires, 3.07's would be the lowest that I would consider for a car that may go on the highway.

[Seagulls n Eagle]

Oops sorry I should have mentioned. 225/75/15's

It was actully the first purchase I made for the car. A set of canyon rims and new 225/75/15's

"Joy" this eagle,  actully has the 3.07 in the front. It was supposed to able the 3.07's in the back but they were actully the 2.35's. I just came home with the 8.25 - 3.55.going to install today/tonight.  I have also collected a 3.55 front diff from a 4-cyl. After learning they were hard to find and they matched the rear gears. Haven't yet cleaned it up yet. I hope it's in good shape.

The numbers for a TF 727 and 3.55 still don't look to good. So I'm still leaning towards the ax15.

Ill be looking for a little guidance on modifying a set if spirit pedals to operate the hydraulic master that is ready to go in

Gotta get pics ready to go

Thanks for the input

[Seagulls n Eagle]

Couldn't help myself, had to go out and place the 8.25. I located it and gently torqued u-bolts so it would be safer its now on jackstands, rear axle, floor jack and backed up with the tires. Now I can  I could actually drag the transmission out from underneath the car. Checked the brakes. Their not as good as I hoped. I'll have to go through them. Wow it looks so much more rugged looking than the eagle rear. Ill look into locking it down and planning on brake lines and vent tomarrow morning.

[eaglefreek]

It's been a while, but I think I just used the Eagle's brake line and had to bend it a little to get it to go around the pumpkin.

[Nightpath]

My Eagle just had the 4.0 / AW4 / NP242 / 8.25 w 3.55 done (still a few more things to complete). I went with the gear from a 94 XJ (OBD1).

The 4.0 is good as it is without stroking. My rear tires spin like it's nobodies business, it's awesome. Still have yet to get the proper driveshafts though. The 8.25 is a friggin beast under there, to the point that if you wanted to use a XJ gas tank it may not fit. I'm trying to figure what I'm going to do since the donor was a 94 XJ and right now I'm using a inline fuel pump and the sender isn't working right.

Might buy a new Eagle tank, mod it for the XJ sender and put in a replacement.

The driveshafts from the stock Eagle won't fit either. A rear XJ driveshaft cut down about 2" will work for the front, and a driveshaft 38" long is required for the rear. I think a Commanche rear might work but I haven't taken the time.

[Seagulls n Eagle]

Wow nightpath  that sounds really fun. So your swap was for the 4.0 EFI?
I have one on a stand I was thinking of doing an evolution. Start with the 258. Then the 4.0 carbedorated then to the EFI. Partly so get a sence of the differences between them all.

Currently I have the brake booster out and am alittle afraid of the wiring. The dash is out and I have just started to conciser the wiring. It's been doing some weird things. More on that later. Something weird with the headlight switch.

Question for ya, how was the wiring for the EFI? I was considering preparing for the EFi while I'm into figuring out the rest of it. I've read abunch about it. It doesn't seem too bad.

[Nightpath]

Mine wasn't an aftermarket EFI, mine was the wiring harness from the XJ which came from a OBD1 jeep. Much easier as there is less wiring.

I also took the whole steering column from the XJ, had to pull the slip off and cut a few inches but the XJ column fit just like the Eagle. The connectors are the same for the most part except for the wiper which is on the steering column in the XJ, and on the dash for the Eagle. A few other things, like defroster and the heating wiring is different but easy to figure as well (as is the wipers).

The XJ wiring is a tight squeeze but very doable.

I have a build thread (needs updating and pics) that may be of some help.

http://forums.amceaglesden.com/index.php?topic=43968.0

If I were to do it over again I'm not sure how I'd do it. The engine is the same size wise, but the tunnel will need to be cut at the rear for the transfer case to fit right. Might be able to beat it a LOT with a hammer, but I think the AX15 is smaller than the AW4 which would help a lot.

When you do it, move the battery tray from the passenger to the drivers side. You will thank me later. It gives the room needed for the stock fans from an XJ to fit if that's what you're using.

I would go for the throat and slop in the 4.0 if I were you. Carb it up to start, when you go fuel injected you will need a computer from a YJ with the 4.0 and a manual transmission. It'll give you time to see the route you want to take.

[Seagulls n Eagle]

I cannot say I'm not tempted to do the full 4.0l right now.
I'm going to post a couple of questions about the exaust. If I can get away with the idea I'm thinking of (getting the exhaust to run in the inside between the diff and the engine. I might just go for it.
I'm going to prepare the intake for installation on the 4.0. It realy doesn't seem like that much more work than I'm already into and I have to say I'm excited to get to the 4.0. From what Ive ready and what you said the difference between the 258 and the 4.0 are significant!!

It's snowing hard here at the moment but I'm thinking about going out to so some work after my kids go to sleep. If not tonight ill be up early.

[Nightpath]

Snowing hard where I am too, Nova Scotia. Blizzard actually.

The intake/exhaust fit fine, and the exhaust itself actually fits around the front diff like it was made for the Eagle (from the XJ). It is such a beautiful thing.

[Seagulls n Eagle]

Hi again nightpath did your exaust pass between the front diff and the engine?

Did you have to delet your egr?

I dry fitted my ax15 this morning an am leaning toward going with the tf727 and NP229 just because I'm not sure I can do all the fabrication required for the ax15 and np242 with the time and money I have right now.

The plus side to that is I might be able to swap in the 4.0.

Which water pump do you need to go with? Other than the water pump and fitting the intake (going carborated for now) and a low pressure fuel pump is there anything else?

Blizzard? I can imagine its blowing hard hard but no snow. Did you get much snow?

[carnuck]

On the waterpump, it depends what accessories you're running. I'm going to '93 Grand Cherokee serpentine belt setup (once I track down all my spare parts) so I need to run the Grand Cherokee waterpump and fan.