So in the end the rebuild went exceptionally well. It went quite a bit over the expected turnaround time due to problems getting the camshaft bearings to ship but the work finished in mid-June and it went back to the other shop to reinstall it.
THEIR WORK I'm still repairing. It's a whole other nightmare of misrouted hoses, disconnected cables, broken parts and an exhaust leak that persists. I'll probably need to take the exhaust manifold off again to inspect and replace the upper and lower seals because at this point I lost all trust in that shop.
So with the exception of working on that and repairing my prized cruise control my goals this year are:
-Install the brackets for the console
-Install the car phone
-Replace the power seat switches
-Swap in the new 10-disc CD changer with CD-Text support
I'm starting with the center console/gauge package. Because I'm not a "Limited" Eagle with the luxuries of air conditioning or the lower parcel tray I can't have the gauge package because there's no way to secure it to the floor or under the dash. I can fix that with a bit of metalwork but it's tricky because I don't want to drill into the floor or damage the (frankly already ruined) carpet. Instead I cut and shaped a steel bracket that steals two screw studs for the floor shifter and holds down the front of the package. This was the hardest part to do because nothing else could be done until this was secured but now its done and the brackets that reach up and bolt underneath the dash can be fabricated, THEN finally after years of saying I was going to do it, I'm wiring the car phone in.
There's another thing I came across over the winter that I started getting curious about. Secondary Air options. Canadian Eagles initially were available with no secondary are and no catalytic converter. These days that's considered a massive plus because it means you get a serious handicap if and when you need an inspection. Later on however both became mandatory.
The classic AIR system was Air Injection which is often also called the Smog Pump. A mechanical vane pump forces air through a set of valves and lines to either ports at the exhaust manifold flange or a port on the catalytic converter. The goal was that adding fresh air to the exhaust reduced hydrocarbon emissions before it left the vehicle and helped the early catalytic converters from setting themselves on fire.
Universally the smog pump is hated. The air pumps these days are all remanufactured and their bearings are not all that great. The system adds a lot of plumbing and on an Eagle that snakes over and hangs off the valve cover and visually isn't attractive. Before the valve that determines which direction the air is going to go is the diverter valve which suspiciously looks like a Ford part. It vents the system when there is too much air pressure and during deceleration (when you usually cough out elevated hydrocarbons) it stops all air flow and stops backfiring. Overall an older system with lots of parts, but a proven system.
AMC however came out with their own thing called Pulse Air. Naturally aspirated. While I'm aware of positive backpressure being needed by the EGR to meter its operation, the exhaust somehow also creates a negative or near-atmospheric pressure that can be used to draft air in using check valves. The result is a far more simplified system that tucks all the plumbing at the back of the engine.
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TECHNICALLY my car supports secondary air. The live data jig says its operating and the extra pins on the harness are present. I do also have most of the parts to add Pulse Air so if I was crazy I could add it to the vehicle and then see if using an Exhaust Gas Analyzer see if it actually works. There are however two big hurdles. One is that I do not have the upstream and downstream ports on my exhaust, especially on the catalytic converter because I don't have one at all. Just a resonator. I'm curious how the ports are plumbed into the main pipe. Is it just a hole in the wall of the pipe? is it using the venturi effect? There's not a lot of information and what information is available seems to conflict. The CeC was redesigned for the 1981-1982 model years. Some sources say Pulse Air was supported then. Every vehicle I've seen so far that still has it installed are later model years after 1983 when the computer was again redesigned. This is reinforced by my ET-501 tester's diagnosis charts clearly indicating that the two control solenoids on the 81-82 years are for "Air Control Valve" and the "Diverter Valve" (the air pump system) and 83 onwards are for "Upstream Air Valve" and "Downstream Air Valve". (Pulse Air)
Asking questions to clear this up or even scavenge parts has been relatively unsuccessful. Often ending with the comment of "You do not want to put that in your car" and "that system never worked".
Well dammit, I'm curious and I kinda want to try it. I don't have a catalytic converter but in theory putting a downstream port on the resonator will do about the same thing.