82 SX4 build (In over my head?)

[rab7x]

Hello everybody!

Finally getting around to starting this project of mine.

I got this car from a guy in ND last spring in a trade for a motorcycle, with intentions of getting it trail-ready. The paint was spotty but rust-free, and he had a jeep 4.6 stroker engine built for it, but not installed. I'm fairly mechanically inclined, but I'm learning that there is a HUGE difference between doing your own project, and finishing someone else's.

My plan was to paint it last spring, then do the engine junk over the winter, but I ended up getting cancer and had to put it off for a bit. I managed to get the current paint roughed up on about 90% of the car to prep for new paint before I went into treatments. Now I'm all clear, the weather is warming up again, and I'm ready to continue this project! The only problem is, I have no idea where to start after the paint.

I have an engine and a couple bins full of parts, but from the looks of things, they all aren't for this engine. (It had the iron duke stock) I've read the wiki for the engine swap, but couldn't really find much for pictures. (Which is what I need) So I figured I would come here for additional help. I'll update as much as possible when I'm home.

82 AMC Eagle SX4 project https://imgur.com/gallery/Wg7eI

EDIT: Finally figured out how to add pictures.

[rab7x]

I guess this is day one. Didn't get much accomplished on the car since I had other things to do today. Got the engine back on the stand, removed the rear bumper and most of all, CLEANED MY GARAGE. My friends all got together while I was in the hospital and cleaned up around the house and garage, which I was VERY thankful for, don't get me wrong, but things were in places that I would not put them. So I organized and junk. There's still crap everywhere, but at least I know where it is.

Next weekend I'd like to remove the windshield and prep for the first coat of primer. I don't know whether I should just rattlecan the primer on, or try and run it through my PlastiDip sprayer.

I need to start buying all the bits I'll need to get the engine hooked up as well, but I have no idea where to start. Can anyone help me out there?

[eaglefreek]

Sorry to hear about the cancer and glad to hear you recovered. Yes, it's going to be extremely difficult to put it back together without being the one who took it apart. If I'm not mistaken, you'll need a 6 cylinder crossmember if it originally came with a 4. I no longer have any Eagles, maybe someone will be kind enough who could be a contact through email or text messages who can take pics of their car when you have a question about where something goes. As far as the primer goes, is the plastidip gun just a turbine HVLP gun or something like a Wagner power painter? I don't think I would go the rattle can route unless that's how you plan on painting it, too.

[rab7x]

Thanks! I didn't even think about the crossmember, I'll have to look into that. Hopefully it can be made to work. I have a mechanic friend who said he will help out when he can, but yeah, someone to get pictures from would be ideal. I'm not great with the terms for parts and junk, so going from text writeups is difficult for me. The dip gun is the turbine hvlp type with a hose running to the gun. I've read that you're not supposed to run normal automotive paint through it, but never heard why or what the results would be. I bought a spare gun to test it out and see how ot sprays. I'd rather not do rattlecan either, but I don't have a compressor anymore.

[eaglefreek]

Is this the gun you have? https://www.dipyourcar.com/collections/sprayers-and-spray-guns/products/dyc-dipsprayer  If so, I would contact Earlex and see if they can supply you with a different tip for spraying primer. You might need a different tip for spraying the final coat if you are going to use an automotive paint. I thought about buying a turbine HVLP set up to paint a vehicle a while back and read where others have had great results, but I just used two smaller compressors that I had in tandem.
http://www.earlex.com/

[rab7x]

Yup, that's the one I have. I bought a spare gun just in case it doesn't work out, and I sent them an email to see what I need to do. My plan is to do PlastiDip on primer, which I've heard works pretty well for an off-road vehicle. We'll see I guess.

[rab7x]

I ordered some parts yesterday. Clutch kit, adjustable throwout bearing, and an oil pump. Mine broke when we loaded it on the trailer to take it home. I don't know if I can use the stock Eagle radiator or if I'll have to buy a bigger one. And the cooling fan, is there an easy way to use an electric fan on a pre-OBDII setup? I've done a little bit of searching but haven't seen anything yet. I'll keep looking. The weather is looking promising this weekend, so hopefully I can get some painting done.

[rab7x]

So I talked to the guys at the local paint shop and told them I was looking for a sturdy waterproof/resistant primer and couldn't decide between epoxy or urethane. He said neither are great for water, but then handed me a can of chassis saver. Said it's about as sturdy as it comes, but doesn't stand up tp UV well. Which is fine since I plan on dipping it anyways. So I bought a gallon of the Silver Aluminum color, hoping that will be easier to spray color over than black. I'm home for a few days, so hopefully I can finish prep work and shoot it this weekend if the weather holds out.

[eaglefreek]

It sounds like it's too late, but a buddy of mine likes to use Southern Polyurethanes epoxy primer. He has done quite a lot of painting and really likes the product. He also uses it on chassis parts without a top coat and it is UV resistant.

[rab7x]

I'm not too worried about the UV resistance since I'm going to Plasti Dip it, and it sits in the garage anyways. A little fading isn't the end of the world, I just want to get all the bare metal and sunspots out of the picture.

[rab7x]

Long day today. My wife is away visiting a friend for the night so there was no interruptions, which was amazing. First thing I did was remove the front bumper and got the hood latch out of the way for paint. Simple enough. Then I tackled the windshield.

I've never removed a windshield before, so I called my mechanic buddy to see if I needed any special tool or if I could get by without. He said a guitar string and a couple of vice-grips are all you need. Perfect, I have a few guitars. I tried the thinnest high e string first, but it kept breaking. I had the best luck with the D string, and went nice and slow. I was able to cut through the left, top, and right sides easily, but the bottom was going to be a struggle, until I realized that with 3 sidrs cut, I could just lift the windshield up and then cut the rest.



Windshield out, I could now start removing all the black tar junk that was used to bond it in. A flathead screwdriver and a putty knife got most of it, then I used a wire wheel to get it stripped down to metal. I wish I had been wearing my tyvek suit, because I got COVERED. So did the car unfortunately, but that came right off. I'm still picking tar out of my beard.





Now everything was off the car that I wanted to remove, so I took the sander to the spots I had left from last year, and then the entire car again for good measure. The Chassis Saver I got is supposed to bond to anything scuffed up, so we'll see if that holds true.

After sanding most of the day away, it was time for my absolute least-favourite part of painting. Tape.

Ugh.

I was cheap and bought super thin poly, so every little spring breeze whipped the plastic around, and it was driving me effing crazy. Had to use twice as much tape as I needed to, and it took twice as long. But whatever, it's done now. The engine bay might look a little wonky because I couldn't decide how to mask it ofc, but it was just painted by the previous owner and I didn't feel like doing it over. It'll be silver on silver if there is any overspray, so maybe it won't be too noticable.




Masking done, I sprayed it with some degreaser and gave it a good wipedown.

Tomorrow is paint day. This is my first time painting an entire car like this, so I hope it goes well. I'll do some more research tonight on techniques and tips.

For now, it's time to unwind and have some whiskey. I'll upload some pics later.

[rab7x]

Paint day!

We had a pretty good sized storm last night, so i was worried it would be too humid to paint today, but it wasn't too bad. About 75 degrees with a very slight breeze when I woke this morning, so I figured it was a good day to get it done.

Moved some vehicles around and rolled the car out to the driveway since my garage is a little too small to paint in. I set up a ghetto table and got everything set out. I was going to wrap the wheels in plastic, but completely forgot. Whoops. I kind of tried after the first coat, but failed.



The DYC gun worked pretty decent I think. I'm no pro, but after some adjusting, I thought it sprayed alright.



Around 100PM the sun was really starting to cook me in that tyvek suit. There was a breeze which felt nice, but it kept blowing chunks and fuzzies on to my freshly painted car. Oh well. I still like how it turned out.







There's a total of 6 coats, so I'm hoping that will be plenty for what I need.

[ChickenFarmer3]

Looks like you did a good job sanding.  What kind of paint did you use?  Do you recommend the DYC paint gun?  Thanks!!

[rab7x]

I used this paint called Chassis Saver. It's like a cheaper version of POR-15. Rust preventative paint just to cover all the bare metal and sunspots. It's going to be a trail car, so nothing flashy needed. I'll Plasti Dip it down the road. The DYC gun worked great for me, but if you want a more professional looking paint job, I'd go a different route. It might have been just me being inexperienced, but there was a lot of orange peeling no matter what I tried. But if you don't mind that, then it's a perfect cheap alternative to a compressor setup.