Eight hundred thirty something miles

[airtwardo 7]

Quote

Quote

Quote

and had to dig your own coal because cars were steam powered back then

Only rich people had coal cars...my Flintstone mobile got 300 mile to the shoes.

Fred Flintstone didn't have shoes, so I call bullshit.

He didn't have jump boots either, back when we jumped rocks for gear!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[DavidB 0]

Quote

Ok this may be one of the funniest fucking threads I've seen... changes direction faster than the squirrels in my head.
Short travel story... I did 3200 miles in 4 days, solo, Nashua, New Hampshire to Sacramento California. In an '83 AMC SX4 borked out into a rock buggy with mud tires.

I got this far & said, "OMG, are you crazy?!?"

Quote

Then did it again one year later.

Yes, that confirmed it!

Quote

Imagine the return ride:
Almost broke, barely got enough cash for the trip, just trying to get home and get another job before the cash runs out.
Noticed a faint squeak at driveshaft rotation speed from somewhere under the car on my way out of Sacramento. All through Cali, Nevada and half of Wyoming that sound was bugging me. Faint. Could only hear it over the wind engine and tire noise when decelerating. I knew what that sound was, I'd heard that sound before... what the hell was it? Couldn't quite place it but knew it was important. Kinda like a bad U-joint but different. Pretty sure its a drivetrain problem.
Made me nervous as hell. Kept thinking about it.
Halfway across Wyoming, in the middle of nowhere full of 700 miles of semis and sagebrush, it hit me like a nail between the eyes.
Last time I heard that sound was six years earlier a few seconds before the rear differential blew a bearing and locked the rear tires at 40 mph on a back road.
I pulled off the road, having a quiet heart attack.
Grabbed some hex keys, popped the cap on the rear differential.
Bone dry. Must have sprung a leak about 800 miles ago.
This car was a rolling toolshed used violently offroad and fully stocked wih spare parts and all fluids.
I dumped in my entire stock of gear oil.
Then drove the remaining 2500 miles almost nonstop in a sleepless daze like a neverending low level panic attack, expecting the rear axle to blow at any second, endlessly trying to figure out if I could actually pull off a rear axlehousing swap on the side of the road by hitchhiking from whatever junkyard is closest to whereever I am when it goes. Because last time I blew a pinion bearing it took the entire axlehousing with it.
All I could do was hope I got to it in time. Its the not-knowing that just kills you. That was a harsh ride. Best part: I used that car for another 3 years. The axle never blew.
-B

I KNOW that feeling of impending doom, along with wondering if there's enough loose change hidden in the dash to make it home (actually disassembled the dash on my 68 Falcon once "mining for loose change" on a trip back home to NJ from Fla when I was in the service.

I must say that you're exceptionally lucky you didn't have an '84 SX! Why? As I understand it, there was a problem on the line that built the AMC-35 rear axle assemblies that year. The left axles were over-torqued & after a year or so of service the left axle would snap with no warning, sending the left rear wheel off on it's own down the road!

Why would I know this info? My brother has me building an '84 AMC Eagle wagon for him, & his current daily-driver is a 86 Eagle wagon. When the diffs were done last fall they were changed to 3.55 gears with a LSD in the rear & 1-piece axles in the rear (yes, in an AMC 35!). We figured 2.4 gears wouldn't work very well behind a 700R4 trans!

Pics:

1st- Before
2nd- Current
3rd-4th- Rebuilt rear
5th- Daily driver (it's RUSTY underneath!)

When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

[Misternatural 0]

> LSD in the rear

Dayam now that's a trip.....I mean I have eaten a few blotters in my day-but WOW, you people are serious!

Beware of the collateralizing and monetization of your desires.
D S #3.1415

[Andy9o8 2]

Quote

Ant beer in the fridge?

Uh...is that the brand name, or the ingredients?

[DavidB 0]

Quote

> LSD in the rear

Dayam now that's a trip.....I mean I have eaten a few blotters in my day-but WOW, you people are serious!

Why did I know someone old & wrinkled would trip out over that?

"LSD" in automotive tech-speak is Limited Slip Differential.

Most commonly known as "a posi (pronounced: pozz-ee)" or "posi-traction" by GM, "Sure-Grip" by Chrysler, "Twin-Grip" by AMC, etc., etc..

"That's sweat you feel coming out of your skin, not blood! Dude, you're sitting in your car, the windows are all closed, it's dark out & it's the middle of summer. You're sweating! Quit freakin' out!"

When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

[Misternatural 0]

nah, I am a gear head too, I have a 55 Willys Jeep that I used to drive to Maine all the time in the 80's- had to put a Warn overdrive into the transfer case to get it to handle highway speed. People were amazed that I drove that thing on busy highways like I 495. Marvel Mystery Oil keeps her ruinning smooth. There has been LSD in that rig...but not in the differential.

Beware of the collateralizing and monetization of your desires.
D S #3.1415

[airtwardo 7]

Quote

nah, I am a gear head too, I have a 55 Willys Jeep that I used to drive to Maine all the time in the 80's- had to put a Warn overdrive into the transfer case to get it to handle highway speed. People were amazed that I drove that thing on busy highways like I 495. Marvel Mystery Oil keeps her running smooth. There has been LSD in that rig...but not in the differential.

Marvel mystery oil and sawdust in the differentials...keeps the noise and the wear to a minimum!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[JohnMitchell 16]

Reminds me of taking road trips in my Triumph Spitfire. If you knew you were going to get there, it wasn't a real sports car.

[Misternatural 0]

>Marvel mystery oil and sawdust in the differentials...keeps the noise and the wear to a minimum!


I see you were a used car salesman at one time

Beware of the collateralizing and monetization of your desires.
D S #3.1415

[airtwardo 7]

Quote

>Marvel mystery oil and sawdust in the differentials...keeps the noise and the wear to a minimum!


I see you were a used car salesman at one time

Of course it comes with a guarantee...

~I guarantee once you drive it off the lot, it's YOURS!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[lurch 0]

Trying to stop laughing...
Oh god you nailed it...
You don't know the whole story yet.
Remember I said six years earlier it blew the pinion?
Guess what year I'd replaced the axle with.
Guess what happened to my ride, 3 weeks after I arrived in Cali.
I stepped on the gas, it started to accelerate, suddenly went into "neutral", free-revving. Instantly I knew it'd blown something in the drivetrain. I hung a hard right onto a side street. And the left rear tire came off, taking the brake drum with it, passed me on the left, and as the axle started grinding a trench into the pavement, the tire hung a hairpin right turn and hit me in the front bumper at the same instant my now 3-wheeled ride ground to stop.
Thank god Cali has lots of junkyards, I had it fixed in less than a day... when I checked the cross section of the axle, it was rusted 3/4 of the way through already, inside the crack. The freshly broken metal was only about 3/8 inch thick. I'd driven it across the continent with the axle cracked almost all the way through.
That car was fucking awesome...built like a tank and I drove it like one. If I couldn't drive over it, I drove through it.
-B

Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

[Harmless 0]

Between Eugene, Or and Salt Lake City, Ut... about 900 miles one way; on the sport bike. Done that trip many times.

I dropped my wallet on the interstate about halfway between Portland and Boise once... drove 30 miles before I realized it. Finally found the empty shell of the wallet, half of my drivers license, and just enough of my check card so they could run the numbers when I had to stop for gas 3 more times.

"Damn you Gravity, you win again"

[lurch 0]

First off, nice axle upgrade...Moser, if I'm not mistaken, although Strange built a kit looked about the same...
Glad to see theres still a few Eagles left and people who care enough to keep em alive, from a decade driving mine, I know it ain't easy. The valve covers, the tranny, the door handles that break when its cold, the starter that blows every 18 months...

Mine was unbelievably borked out... I still have it, but it hasn't moved in years, rusting in peace in the parking lot. Maybe someday I bring it back from the dead, again....
Gearheads will appreciate this...
Specs:
Holley 350.
Jacobs ignition.
96 amp alternator.
Stamped steel valve cover off a late 70's rambler. No, the gasket pattern didn't quite match, especially the ripples down the side on the right where the newer 258 in eagles had a straight line, but enough RTV can solve almost anything.
Custom tranny rebuilt with kevlar linings and custom valvebody. If you wanted that weak-ass 904 to live long you had to spend some serious cash on it.
Stock 2.35 axle gears giving an apparently unlimited top end... I never did find out just how fast it would go, the old 258 had enough torque to eventually push it up to 124mph out in the salt flats, clocked by tach and GPS. I backed off before it stopped accelerating, scared about the tires. Thing was sluggish as hell off the line but hauled ass once up to speed.
6 inch lift in rear, two separate stacked spring packs for progressive rate...compress it halfway and the spring rate doubles. Rancho shocks. Amazing articulation...I could have one back tire up on a 4-foot boulder and it'd still have all 4 wheels in contact with the ground. It could climb over shit as high as the windowsills.
29-inch BFG Mud-terrains.
4 inch lift in front, homemade, angled balljoint spacers and springs out of a late 70's Concord V-8.
Transfer case out of a '78 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, NP229 giving it 2.71/1 locking low. Custom gearshift for the above case consisting of a hunk of chopped off throttle valve linkage punched through the floor with a pair of visegrips clamped on as a handle.
1,460 watts of total lighting, depending on how much of it was smashed off at any given time... triple 150 watt aviation landing lights on the roofrack, 6X 55watt driving/bumperlights, assorted baja lights on the fenders and a REALLY custom headlight hack consisting of quad low/high beams installed in all 4 sockets and wiring and relays set up to run all 8 filaments at once.
Battery splitter/isolator/shutoff.
Dual batteries...Optima Marine under the hood, 1500CCA Caterpillar bulldozer battery in the rear.
Rear brake drums off a late 80's Cherokee... huge heatsink fins, nearly overheat-proof.
Cop-style bullbars front and rear with the rear one mounted on hinges allowing it to flip down to get at the gas cap behind the license plate. Good for when you slide backward off a hill into a pile of boulders.
Plexiglass rear window...(this didn't work out well and had a tendency to explode into shards at the most unexpected times. After the second one blew I went back to glass.)
I had more glorious adventures in that car than I can recall, a second childhood.

Its a Jeep thing, they just wouldn't understand.
-B

Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

[DavidB 0]

The axles were done by "Dr. Diff" in Montana. The Dana 30 (front) got a custom spacer for the 3.55 gear set. The rear axles are Yukon, axle bearings are front/inner wheel bearings for 73-80+ Mopar RWD disc brake spindles, & the retainers & shims are custom made. We also have the 2-spd transfer case (I think it's the 229) but instead of vice-grip-shift we have the stock lever which we are told will mount to the floor along side of the stock console like it's supposed to be there.

LOL @ your rear story!!!! Weren't you just so lucky...! LOL At least swapping a rear in those is simplified by having the springs over instead of under the axles!

The current daily driver suffers from an original plastic valve cover. It doesn't leak TOO BADLY yet, but it is worse than it was 5 years ago! We have a new cast replacement that'll get used on the new engine. Trying NOT to have to replace it in the car as the wiper motor & linkage gets in the way plus it's really REALLY tight in the back. Otherwise it's got an Offy intake, Holley 390, Clifford Tri-Y header (2.25" mandrel bent head pipe, cat/con & turbo muffler), & HEI ignition. Power has increased about 25% over stock, MPG is nearly the same, & it's much more driveable today (after the 1st car-length it's almost FAST & it's effortless on the highway.

We raised it only 2"-3", but the suspension is all poly-graphite bushings, sway bars & I made an old pair of Koni display shocks (for a 71 Mercury Marauder) fit the front (rear should be common 68-80 or so Camaro/Nova pieces). Z-28/Trans AM quick ratio P/S box is a bolt-on!

I'm not surprised the plexi exploded. It had/has real issues with UV making it brittle. LEXAN® is a better choice, but not by much. Because it's more flexible it needs to be bolted down, but it does have UV inhibitors in it & it can be had with an extra scratch resistant surface (MAR-GUARD®).

We've replaced 2 door handles so far (1 inside, 1 outer) & discovered that one of the CJ-7 or early Wrangler soft-top doors used the exact same outer handles, only in black, still available new. Since the new Eagle will be done as a "SPORT" in black & white, the handles will look like they belong there (then ONLY bright trim left on the car will be on the rain gutters & around the rear side windows, & even they may get painted black).

Starter is original & works just fine, thank you, even after 150K miles.

The only front axles you can get for them today (rebuilt) are 4-cylinder axles. If we can get the parts I'll try rebuilding the originals first. If not, rumor has it that 89-92 Caddy or S-10 axles can be adapted (& are a little longer so they tolerate more lift), but we'll probably just go with custom ($$$$$) ones.

Today the new hatch seal goes in & the hatch gets seam sealer. Tomorrow or Saturday the hatch gets installed/adjusted (we have new hinges ) then the window goes in, trim around it installed & it's DONE! Then I'll look at it & see if I can adapt the old Caddy trunk popper I have to the latch.

We're going for the "Rallye" style street car style rather than a crawler or bogger style. I've only seen one other in the area regularly (a baby-shit-brown hatch back).

When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

[lurch 0]

Damn, that sounds badass... Yours ought to be immune to a bunch of issues mine had that just required endless rehacking till I got it right. I always wanted to add a rear swaybar, that thing had a ridiculous amount of body roll in turns.
I'd found the jeep doorhandle thing, just one problem...the only jeeps I could find that used that doorhandle, only used them in the back on the tailgate. It was the same geometry as the passenger side of the eagle. Since every jeep I found in junkyards with that handle had a taller design for the actual doors, I could never find a black jeep LEFT version. I eventually solved that one by using a dremel to machine off the hinges and internals of the doorhandle, ground it a flat spot behind it, and handcarved some angle aluminum, bolted it to the back of the door handle paddle. Permanent fix.
I knew you could get a solid milled aluminum valve cover, but I never could spare the cash and eventually resorted to trying that older stamped valve cover on top of an Eagle cork gasket. Needs RTV just as insurance in a couple places where the ripples in the cover come really close to going off the gasket, but it allows you to bolt it down tightly and firmly handle that oil leak issue. You really don't want to let that slide, I had a friend had an ugly old brown wagon, kickass ride, didn't have it for long, girlfriend ignored the smoke till it burst into flames, car burned to the ground.
These days I drive a 2000 Grand Cherokee. I learned the hard way that Mobil 1 can be really bad for flat tappet engines and had a lifter ground to dust a year or so ago. In the process of pulling the head off to fix it, I got familiar with how the modern version of that engine was built... the last years of the 4.0 they finally got ALL the bugs out. I found it to be unbelievably well engineered... the valve cover has built in captive grommet/cushions, and the gasket was redesigned into a rubber/steel layered laminate with grooves sealing it to the cover and bridges in it that go across the head. No sealant needed... just slap the gasket on, drop the cover on and bolt it. Utterly bulletproof, never ever leaks. Multicoil distributorless ignition rail. Old Eagle was very sensitive to wet or cold weather. With the brutal carb and HEI ignition it never failed to start but ran better or worse depending on weather. Jeep runs perfectly, all the time. And so easy to work with. When you know the tricks, the whole fuel injection system and entire top half of the engine just pop apart easily. If I ever rebuild my eagle again I'll probably upgrade the sucker to 4.0 multiport injection, just pillage a dead Grand in the junkyard for everything under the hood at once.
That drive back from Cali was hell. I also broke a shock avoiding a wreck about 45 miles west of Des Moines, and the rear main seal on the engine went out in the eastern half of Iowa. Was losing so much oil onto the exhaust and making so much smoke I was afraid of fire, but thought up a neat emergency roadside Macgyver to handle it... I blocked the crankcase breather pipe on the back of the valve cover, removed the PCV valve and rerouted its line straight into the biggest vacuum port at the base of the carb, putting the entire crankcase under vacuum. Sucked air in through the oil leak as long as the engine was running. Stopped the leak cold.
Resurrect this thread and put up pics when yours is done, I'm still a fan of these things, love to see em.
-B

Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

[DavidB 0]

Hey, look! Two old guys successfully pirated this thread!

When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

[lurch 0]

Cool, ain't it? I always wanted to hijack a thread. Lets put some mud tires on it and drive it to Chicago.
-B

Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.