Progress is being made

[68AMXGOPAC]

I hear ya man...I have not done hardly anything...I put new rings on the pistons last night while sitting in front of the TV. Im at that point too where everything is either too time consuming or too  expensive...soooo frustrating!! We just gotta keep our spirits up...we'll get these things done!!...Hey Ive seen cars take years to fix up, so we're not doin too bad.

Question : Did you check the gap on the rings before you put them on the pistons ?? I have only ever had to  file a few , but it was just a thought.

[shanebo]

I like the horizontal slat grille much better than the egg crate. the concord, spirit and very early eagles by far had the better grills.....Lookin good man!!

[83Eagle!]

I got the grille from a junk yard in Grand Island NE.  It was from a mangled Concord that was crushed.  They had it listed on the big auction site.  I inquired about other AMCs and they said they'd call if anything else comes in (I doubt it though).

[jim]

I like your grill.  Here's our 88 wagon.

[83Eagle!]

Yeah Jim I knew your 88 and Mudkicker715's eagle had the grille.  I remember asking abou them when I was looking at this one.

[mudkicker715]

Nice memory.

[83Eagle!]

Got the hitch spare tire carrier today.  It looks great.  Eddie did a nice job.  It is going to be nice to have the full size spare and have cargo space.  I still need to paint it, though.

Here it is...



Here's how it pivots to the driver's side, so I can fill up with gas.









It pivots out pretty good.  We had to have it a little further out from the Eagle than we originally planned because I wanted the hatch to be able to open without having to remove the spare. 

[68AMXGOPAC]

Ok it looks way cool and a nice job. If I remember right , Eddie is the guy that did your front bar. I have to ask though, didn't you have issues with the policemen on your front plate not bieng properly seen or the angle or something ?? LOL , The rear one is totally blocked, I know, just kidding, i am sure you will move it.As reciever of 2 license plate tickets myself,I couldn't resist.

[83Eagle!]

Yeah I had to modify the mount for the front plate.  I actually did it twice.  I know it is blocked right now, but I ordered a lighted licence plate mount and the wiring needed to hook it up to my trailer wiring.  I ordered them from Amazon, so I have to wait.  It was cheaper to order from Amazon than get locally because I got free shipping since I had a textbook I needed as well.

[83Eagle!]

Well I got the license plate bracket light all wired up.  I need to drill a hole to put the ground wire into, so it can bolt into place.  I went to test to see if the light would light up with this set up before I heat shrink it all.  

And of course the Eagle will not start.  Battery is completely dead- no lights, sounds or movement at all.  Had to have my neighbor Jeff help me pull the battery because I needed an extra set of hands to get the positive terminal off.  

Can't take the battery in or go get a new one because the Saturn is in the shop.  Further proof that my Eagle does not like it when I give other vehicles my attention.

[shaggimo]

You're not alone there, a couple weeks ago all three vehicles decided to puke something out faster than I could fix them, lol. The joys of owning old stuff though, once they're back up and going you can't stay mad at them  .

[83Eagle!]

Got the new battery in and the Eagle fired up right away. 

Stupid license pate light will not light up though.  Not sure why.  Thereverendbill said he thought it sounded like it was grounding out.  Tomorrow I hope to test the light just on the battery and see if it lights up. 

Concentrated on the Saturn today.  Had the coolant and power steering cheap.  When I went to change the oil I drained the oil and then the fiasco started.  I placed the drain pan I had in the wrong spot to start.  got a nice oil slick on the driveway (it kind of matches the transmission stains from the motor home though).  Then I went to unscrew the cap to the cartridge filter.  It cross threaded and shredded itself.  WIth the help of my Dad and my neighbor Jeff and a big open ended wrench we got it off.  The threads look like hamburger on one side. 

Was able to order a cap from autozone.  They remembered me from last time with the wrench issues.  He put a rush order on it, and had it shipped to store so it'd save me a few bucks.

Sometimes I think I am not cut out to work on cars.  Crap is just too expensive to pay people to do sometimes though (for example, $82 & change for an oil change on the Saturn).  So, the Saturn is a big paper weight until the part comes in.  I pushed it to the other side of the driveway and will have to rely on the Eagle without the spare carrier.  Can't do the spare carrier until I get the license plate crap figured out. 

Have it all taped and ready for paint as it was already oxidizing sitting in the garage.  Got Rustoleum hammer finish.  Just need a small roller and I plan to get that knocked out.  Had to dip into my fund for the meet at Mavericke's to get these repairs done.  So I am not sure if I am going to have the money to make it now

[83Eagle!]

Got the spare tire carrier finished up with paint last night.  Did 3 coats.  I had it done a couple of nights ago, but let it dry for a couple days.  Last night I had to sand and repaint one little area where the paint ran, but other than that it looks great. 

I tried again to get the license plate light to work with no luck.  I ran into my neighbor who lives down the street who was an electrician in the army.  She said she could take a look at the wiring.  She said it is hard to get a good connection when wires are such different gauges at times.  Hopefully I'll be able to run it over sometime this week.

[83Eagle!]

Spent the day with rollguy today.  Man I wish I had 1/3 of his knowledge.  Rich and I went to ACE Hardware and he schooled me on soldering irons.  We got what we needed.  After some modification, by Rich.  The license plate light is very nice.  Rich showed me how to solder is, and we wired it differently.  We got it soldered and shrink wrapped and it works great.  Thanks Rich. 
 
Rich put the auto body hammers I got from my wife's Grandpa to good use.  He bent the metal, so the license plate and light will mount nicely to the studs the spare mounts to. 

I'll have it done as soon as I can get out to Kenny's to use his drill press and drill two 5/8" holes in the bracket.  Then, I need to slap some paint on it.  I also found 2 spots I need to touch up on the spare tire mount.  Can't wait.

[83Eagle!]

Here's a shot of Rich fabricating...


Here are some pictures of Rich and my 83 Eagles.  These eagles are identical in options and
color.  My wife took a picture of them on her phone and texted it to friends with the caption "Lord Help me."  That made me laugh. 

They're twins...






Rich, I owe you one.  Thank you for stopping by.  I learned a lot.