Thanks! I agree, this will be a fun section. That's the part that really sucks about the North East, salt 
, nothings safe up here, lol.
, nothings safe up here, lol."Turn Key" Is Not An Option
- Thread starter Oldsmoletick
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Oldsmoletick said:
I loved my old '85 Eagle. Yeah, it was cranky as hell but once I swapped in a GM HEI and got rid of the stock Carter carb It was reliable as anything!
Nice wagon! Yeah I hear a lot of bad juju about the stepper bbd carbs being down right terrible, I lucked out with this one though, it has the non feedback traditional carter. Weezy as hell, but I can't complain about its predictability.
Ah yes a running driving eagle, er, well shell of an eagle. There were a couple trouble spots, the outer rockers needed some attention, nothing major couple patch pieces did the trick.
On the rear hatch, there was a little bit of rot so again couple patch pieces.
The fender flares, we decide to ditch, being that at this point, it was still destined for year round beater, I figgured all they would do is collect salt and crap and speed up the rot process. All the trim holes were welded up then ground smooth.
picture shows a little in process, the fender in the background had yet to get the grinder treament. The doors and quater panels needed the same treatment.
remember the dent...
No mas, lol.
After countless hours of primer work blocking, more primer, more block the car was ready for a little color.
First to get it, I bombed the inner wheels, backsides of the fenders, underhood, under hatch and radiator support with the black I had previously bought to paint my old jeep, lol.
Then came time to cut the rest in.
Starting the assembly.
Luck was on my side for this paint job, it was a mild day, not rainy, not windy, had the woodstove on low to bring the barn upto a nice temp.
I used single stage acrylic enamel with catalyst, then used clear, worked out great. After a little wet sand and buff, this rolled out of the barn on November 29.
It was then I realized that I f*&^$% up, there was no way in hell I was going to allow this car to be driven in the winter,
lol.
Engine, because it runs sooooooo well, I decided to give it a chance as is, so little gasket work was in order, little paint, new valve cover, and it was set to go.
Still don't have all the interior back in, haven't decided what to do about the floor, mice ate the old carpet, but I'm thing on just doing a truck bedliner on the inside and calling it a day.
this was fall 2010
At a local cruise in over this past summer. Hate to say it, but the malibu sits home on cruise nights and car shows in favor of weezy 6 banger that goes 0-60 in 15 seconds,
at least it's fun rowing through the gears, even though it moves in slow motion.
no that is not the eagle's dribble, the spot was there before, hahaha.
On the rear hatch, there was a little bit of rot so again couple patch pieces.
The fender flares, we decide to ditch, being that at this point, it was still destined for year round beater, I figgured all they would do is collect salt and crap and speed up the rot process. All the trim holes were welded up then ground smooth.
picture shows a little in process, the fender in the background had yet to get the grinder treament. The doors and quater panels needed the same treatment.
remember the dent...
No mas, lol.
After countless hours of primer work blocking, more primer, more block the car was ready for a little color.
First to get it, I bombed the inner wheels, backsides of the fenders, underhood, under hatch and radiator support with the black I had previously bought to paint my old jeep, lol.
Then came time to cut the rest in.
Starting the assembly.
Luck was on my side for this paint job, it was a mild day, not rainy, not windy, had the woodstove on low to bring the barn upto a nice temp.
I used single stage acrylic enamel with catalyst, then used clear, worked out great. After a little wet sand and buff, this rolled out of the barn on November 29.
It was then I realized that I f*&^$% up, there was no way in hell I was going to allow this car to be driven in the winter,
lol.
Engine, because it runs sooooooo well, I decided to give it a chance as is, so little gasket work was in order, little paint, new valve cover, and it was set to go.
Still don't have all the interior back in, haven't decided what to do about the floor, mice ate the old carpet, but I'm thing on just doing a truck bedliner on the inside and calling it a day.
this was fall 2010
At a local cruise in over this past summer. Hate to say it, but the malibu sits home on cruise nights and car shows in favor of weezy 6 banger that goes 0-60 in 15 seconds,
at least it's fun rowing through the gears, even though it moves in slow motion.
no that is not the eagle's dribble, the spot was there before, hahaha.
DRIVEN said:
I'm not sure yet, I have my own eagle (84 4door sedan) that will, time will thell though, the offy intakes are expensive :shock: . If it doesn't get a q jet it will get a motorcraft (just because it's an upgrade and I'll have it laying around when I q jet the 84).
Man, you do nice work! That carb WILL give you trouble down the line. I had the same one in a Matadore wagon, terrible. Oddly, I found an old '60 or '61 Rambler in a junkyard and I took the intake/exhaust combo for the Matadore's which had cracked and it had a Holley model 1920 one barrel that was the best running carb I ever saw. The wagon was a '75 the first year for that electronic ignition, but it never even hiccuped. You're right though, you made it too pretty for a beater!
Thanks Bonnewagon! Yeah I've heard all the carter woah's, so far so good, but I have a couple motorcraft 2100's on stand by if it starts giving me grief. I have heard great things about them, just haven't got around to swapping over, lol, eh maybe in the spring when I bring it back out of storage, never ending projects :lol: .
I have to say after driving the little Eagle around for a bit, even though it's slower than dog sh**, I can't help but to like driving it. As mentioned though, it's not mine, so I'm not exactly free to do as I want to it, as in squeeze a little more oomph out of it. So.......I started thinking about trying to find one of my own, not actually looking, but, window shopping lets say, er is that winder lickin' haha. Anyway, on Eagle forum I haunt, a post came up, FREE Eagle, must be gone in 2 days (er something like that). Being that I was curious, I had a look, location was Massachusetts, hmmm, only a few hours away.....I thought for a few minutes, contacted poster about condition, called a buddy, set up a truck, called the poster, told him I'll take it, called the gf and told her we're taking a trip to massachusetts! She was excited until I dropped the bomb, I'm going to pick up another Eagle. :lol: . She hung up on me, haha, I let her cool off a tick, called her back to explain to her that the car was an automatic (hers is standard and she won't drive it, lol), and with the parts from it, I can switch hers over so she can drive it 
. Still a little disgruntled, but least she warmed up to the idea, lol.
I was expecting a complete basket case car, I learned from the owner it was a recovered theft vehicle. Being that it is in the salt belt, I planned on a rot box. When I pulled upto the house where the car was at, it didn't look too bad, as I got closer, I saw i had some exterior issues, mainly dents, but not any rust to speak of. I tried to start it, low and behold "she no run" , great, grand, wonderful, lol, we had to push it up onto the dolly, (like I metioned before, these pigs are heavy!). After we got it loaded, I crawl under the car to remove the driveshaft, I get looking around, the damn thing was almost spotless, no rust, factory undercoat still in great condition. The car in other words, was far too nice to strip and part out. Well, I guess I found my project eagle, here it is.
Little rough around the edges, but nothing I can't bring back, lol, this is my future project btw. Current one is....well....bigger, more on that soon.
. Still a little disgruntled, but least she warmed up to the idea, lol. I was expecting a complete basket case car, I learned from the owner it was a recovered theft vehicle. Being that it is in the salt belt, I planned on a rot box. When I pulled upto the house where the car was at, it didn't look too bad, as I got closer, I saw i had some exterior issues, mainly dents, but not any rust to speak of. I tried to start it, low and behold "she no run" , great, grand, wonderful, lol, we had to push it up onto the dolly, (like I metioned before, these pigs are heavy!). After we got it loaded, I crawl under the car to remove the driveshaft, I get looking around, the damn thing was almost spotless, no rust, factory undercoat still in great condition. The car in other words, was far too nice to strip and part out. Well, I guess I found my project eagle, here it is.
Little rough around the edges, but nothing I can't bring back, lol, this is my future project btw. Current one is....well....bigger, more on that soon.
Very nice car! I used to have a sx/4 sport wagon in silver and black. 258, auto, loaded with all tha comfort features. i think it was an 83? I'd love to have another for a daily driver. Anyway your coupe is great and brought back fond memories of the ole American Motors Corp. I so enjoyed.
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