My "New" Project- 1979 AMC Spirit 360

[Oldsmoletick]

Ah yes, my bu started life as a 229, auto, with 2.41's lol. Thanks for the tips, I'm hoping I wont have to do the swap (at least for a couple years), but if I have to sooner, like I said a complete donor vehicle will be the key to getting it done right. The nice thing, as far as a gear ratio switch goes, I already have the correct front carrier to be able to upgrade to the 3.55's which can be found in Grand cherokees, and rear will basically be a direct bolt in from a cherokee (shock mount relocation is the only obsticle). My thoughts were the 91-94 version, 91 being first year of the chrysler fuel injection (HO) and on board diagnostics, 94 being the last year with out an air bag (one less thing to get in the way), although if I had a choice I would choose the 94 (early nineties were terrible for wiring problems, bad copper???) plus those years it would be possible to take the whole engine wiring harness, along with the body harness to completly replace the Eagles electrical system, which would take out the guess/trial and error. But all in due time, I hope I can skate by with it as is for the time being. I'd like to leave it a manual, but that is one thing that isn't up to me...lol.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Well, I moved one step closer today: I got the engine hoist and it is now sitting in front of the car waiting to do the deed. It was a bit of work as I needed to push both the AMC and the Cutlass (dead battery). However, it is now ready to go as soon as the transmission is disconnected. I am still undecided as to whether or not I will repaint the engine bay. It looks like crap and I have a pint of white paint, so it may get used before I put it in. I just hope it is enough paint.

As for the 258, I did think of one more thing. I installed a small Holley 4 barrel and a Clifford 4 barrel intake on my 232, and it really woke it up. I also used a mild Crane cam with 260 degrees of gross duration (this was a long time ago, so I can't remember exactly what I did). It pulled pretty good until I reached the limit of the stock exhaust system. I eventually over-revved it and spun a bearing, which was the end of the 232... so I guess you can kill one!

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Haven't really been posting a whole lot lately. I have been on the chat late nights a lot, but as for posting stuff, I haven't because I have not been doing a whole lot. At any rate, the snail's pace that is the progress on my AMC moves on one more step tonight (at 3:30am). I pulled the driveshaft and speedo gear in order to drain some of the fluid out of the transmission. I also dropped the transmission crossmember in order to let a little more drain out. Yeah, it's not much, but if I can start pulling the trans one night after work, I should be able to have it out soon. Then i can pull the engine and prep the bay for fresh paint to show off the sexy new AMC 360 ( am I allowed to use AMC and sexy in a sentence together?). For now, that is as far as I have gotten on the AMC project.

As for everything else, I have the cash for the roof repairs saved and hope to have that done in the next few weeks. The Cutlass has a VERY dead battery now and no amount of jumping will start it. My truck needs me again now as it has a bad ball joint and a failing clutch. I have the ball joint and will probably install it in the next few days, whenever I can get to Autozone to borrow the ball joint press.....again. As for the clutch, well... It is going to be a few more weeks. It has a one time use flywheel and so I will need a new one of those as well. I already had this one machined once, against the advice of Nissan, so doing it one more time will be pressing my luck. I also had the pleasure of redoing the carb in a 1977 Garelli Eureka Flex 50cc moped that my neighbor pulled from the jaws of the crusher. It didn't run before we started, but after he set the points and I fixed the carb, it runs fine. I enjoyed the simplicity of it so much that I once again started looking for a cheap Honda super Cub to play with for myself. So far, nothing in my $100 price range has come available (well... nothing complete), but I will keep looking. I figure it is the ideal vehicle to keep around in case of a nuclear war. It has points ignition, and can get 216 mpg. That's important when the EMP has destroyed every transistor in range, and the gas pumps no longer work. As it is far from likely, however, I will just stick to taking my time to find one cheap.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

The world's slowest engine swap moves on... I actually worked on in two times in one week! Today I drained the coolant, pulled the radiator, and pulled the water pump off the old engine. I also pulled the crank and water pump pulleys as well. I did this to give me more room to work with when pulling the old engine/trans as I plan to try and pull them as one unit. The starter still needs to come out, and the trans crossmember needs to be unbolted from the transmission as well. I also still have to disconnect the trans cooler lines and trans linkage as well. I am also planning to pull the engine straight up and let the transmission puke it's fluid into a drain pan from the tailshaft instead of dropping the pan to drain it. If it works as planned, this should be less messy that dropping the trans pan... but time will tell. Anyhow, the engine needs to be in before the start of school, so I gotta step it up a bit. I figure I can poke at the wiring, plumbing and accessories when school is in session as those projects can be done in small sections.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Well, it is pretty much ready to come out now. I still have to drain the oil and disconnect the wires to the starter, but that is about it. I even have the pull chain attached to the intake manifold to head bolts. Why a chain and not a carb plate? REAL men use chains to pull their engines! Well... that and I don't actually own a carb plate... 😢 At any rate, I should have some glorious pics of the aqua and yellow 360 coming out posted soon. Expect them either tomorrow morning or Monday night. I also have pics of the moped my neighbor and I have been working on too. It was pulled from the jaws of the crusher ( literally as that is where he found it.)I may post them if anyone wishes to see them.

 

[Blake442]

transmission fluid's gonna go everywhere. Ask how I know... :lol:

You'll be able to drain most of it right away, but if you have an extra slip-yoke laying around, I recommend popping that in there for the trip out of the car, then you can drain the rest of it with ease once everything isn't five feet in the air and moving.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Well, at 2:30AM today, the engine finally came free of it's moorings. I wasn't going to pull it tonight, but I wanted to let the transmission drain into the pan overnight. It is not yet out of the car though as I did not have enough space to pull the hoist back in my tiny, one-car garage. Plus, I really didn't feel like pushing the Cutlass and Spirit out of their normal spots on a foggy night just to say the engine is out out. That will come some time tomorrow, probably after I buy a good used battery for the Cutlass so I don't have to push it anymore. Anyhow, here are some pics of the greasy, Ford Festiva Aqua and Duplicolor yellow 1973 AMC 360 as it now sits, dangling from the chain and awaiting it's final disinterment from the place it has rested in since 1993.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Here are some pull day pictures. Since then, I have not done a lot, but I did manage to unhook most of the wiring harness today. I am hoping to be ready to paint the engine bay some time next week, and will probably paint the cowl at the same time. That way, they flow together without a masking line if and when the exterior is painted. I am using Nason's poor imitation of Nissan QM1 Cloud White. It was a leftover sample I had from when I painted my truck. I figure a pint should be plenty as it is already white.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I will post this here for anyone who has heard of my moped project. It belongs to a neighbor, actually, and he got it for free from a junkyard he goes to. When he got it, it didn't run, but after about an hour of tinkering we got it going. Right now, we need to be able to find some wheel bearings and go through the wheels ( truing them, and replacing the brakes and bearings.) It is an Italian made 1977 Garelli Eureka flex 50cc moped with a top speed of 25 mph. Not necessarily sexy, but it is a fun project for him to tinker with.... and as we always end up working on each other's projects, it's fun for me too! 😀

...of course this means that I am now shopping for a cheap moped project of my own. However, since he insists that the Europeans make better vehicles and I insist the Japanese do, this means that I am hunting for one from the land of the rising sun. So... anyone have a non running Honda, Suzuki or Yamaha moped they would like to donate to the cause? :lol:

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

My 15 minutes work every few days juggernaut rolls on! Today, I wire wheeled the rust out of the engine bay, and cut the seized bolt head off the fuel pressure regulator and took it out. I still need to remove the column, master cylinder and wiper motor before I can finish prepping it for paint, but it is getting there. My hope is to have it sprayed by next Monday night so that the new engine can be dropped in by the middle of next week. After that, I have to do some wiring, some plumbing and some sorting before I can sell it. I hope to have it ready to sell by February so I can buy my new econobox.