AMC Eagle

[MadMan]

Originally Posted by MIPS

My Fel-Pro gasket is the VS 50244 and it's about $40. It's different from the one you suggested in that one side of the cover only uses three bolts and less ribbing.

I'm getting mixed signals. Can't tell if that's a cork gasket or molded rubber. PermaDry would be ideal. $40 for a cork gasket is a joke. That better be a molded rubber, in which case, it's worth $40, even if it's not PermaDry. The only other thing I could recommend is to clean the mating surfaces until they are immaculate, and use only RTV with NO gasket. And it'll work. Bead size depends on whether the valve cover has an indentation for the gasket or not. If not, a 1/8" bead is more than enough.

However, it's a very long area, and it's an iron head and aluminum cover, so even the silicone will scrub through eventually. Maybe soon. Not sure.

[MIPS]

I'm going to try an all-rubber gasket and see what happens as it was $20. the plans next summer is to take the head off and decarbonize things while inspecting what we have for wear on the lifters, pushrods, valves and replacing a few seals. We're also going to do the timing chain at the same time. If the gasket fails again we'll go with what you got.

Meanwhile I've developed pretty serious camber issues on both front wheels, so I'm going to load the parts canon up and go in for a mass-changeout.


(not seen is another $120 in shocks)

Bushings, new shocks all around, new control rods, replacement coil spring and all that fun jazz. I'm not going to torture myself with the alignment so I'll likely get all the parts together, pull up at the shop across from where I work with all the bits in the trunk and say "Make it Good".

[MIPS]

Went in for a front-end alignment and got the call not long after that both front wheel bearings are spanked. Not entirely surprising because the rears were pretty rough before they got changed in June but ugghhhhhhh....

The bearings are pressed one-piece hub assemblies. That I can tell they are not available anymore, so you have to find a shop to press the hubs apart and repack them.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by MIPS

Went in for a front-end alignment and got the call not long after that both front wheel bearings are spanked. Not entirely surprising because the rears were pretty rough before they got changed in June but ugghhhhhhh....

The bearings are pressed one-piece hub assemblies. That I can tell they are not available anymore, so you have to find a shop to press the hubs apart and repack them.

I just hope your wheel bearings last longer than mine. The first one I changed on my suburban lasted LESS than 30k miles from installation to the built in abs sensor nuisance tripping the abs any time the breaks were applied and wheel speed dropped below 7mph....the frustrating part is O'Reilly only warranties the bearing for 1 year so I have to eat the cost to replace it early.

[MIPS]

Anti-Lock brakes? What is that?



Edited: For as much as I don't want to pay a shop to do this, bearings suck and the shop has panned me a good price that's under $600 installed and aligned and I'm not going to wait any longer to change them if it's throwing the alignment out.

[MadMan]

That's a reasonable price. Honestly in the picture the hub bearing looks like a GM hub bearing to me. I'd be surprised if it wasn't, knowing AMC. Weird that they show the bearing in pieces. Maybe it was originally, but was redesigned to be a module. idk.

[MIPS]

Apparently between 1981 and 1982 AMC apparently changed the hub design and it went from a non-serviceable to a pressed assembly. In a way that was great because when production of the preassembled hubs ended you could still reuse them by pressing them apart and repacking them. The procedure is listed below.

http://amceaglesden.com/guide/Front_Wheel_Bearings

Thanks to this car I've started to realize I need to upgrade from a toolbox to a tool chest.

[MIPS]

So spring is coming around and I'm finally getting more time under the car to start replacing the consumables but over the winter I've run into a few issues sourcing parts.

I use the lower control arm that does not use the Dana press-in balljoint. Instead it's an easier to replace bolt-in, but while I can find the upper balljoints and the Dana lowers, I cannot source the bolt-in lower balljoints. Even Dorman has them on backorder until demand increases. I guess it however is not as bad as the spring seat bushings. Those are all chewed up and need to be replaced but surprise, those are also currently unavailable as well and boy, I sure live having to remove coil springs more than I have to.
I am aware that NOS parts are available however being booted or rubber products it would be unwise to replace a part with another that's already 20 years old.

Otherwise, the valve cover gasket got to be changed in the dead of winter which was just as fun but hey, oil consumption has stopped. Likewise the rebuilt coolant switch failed AGAIN. It didn't electrically fail or come apart but I can see oil weeping around the epoxied rim. JB Weld simply cannot handle the thermal cycling and I can't think of any other adhesive that is heat, chemical, vibration and oil resistant, so I fabricated a metal bracket which clips around the entire assembly and harness plug and presses it together.




This has allowed the switch to stay together and keep the assembly sealed. I ran a feedback performance test last weekend and it passed.

[MadMan]

Nice. Pity about the ball joints. There may yet be some other car that used those, and has different part numbers.

[bgadow]

Someone has one for sale 10 miles from me, advertised as needing front suspension work "some new parts included". Guess these problems aren't that uncommon. I like the creativity of the switch bracket. I've had to do similar things from time to time. There's always a way!

[MIPS]

Front suspension on the Eagle is famously a trouble point for the car.
Because of how the unibody goes around the lower control arm you have a hard to clean out cavity which can fill with road dirt and salt and will initiate a cancerous rust which can ultimately cause the supporting body structure around the engine mounts and shock towers to fail. It's a very common place for Eagles to fail DOT inspections and is extremely expensive to get repaired and certified.

BC being for the most part salt-free means the rust is JUST starting to develop after almost 40 years. I have to take it in later this summer to have it evaluated and repaired.

[Eric H]

Spotted this on Episode 6 of Better Call Saul.
It was a flashback scene.

[MIPS]

So a simple day of removing a broken coil spring, replacing a balljoint and replacing two upper control arm bushings went well until I was completely defeated by the most BS thing I've seen yet out of an automotive tool.





Eagles like a lot of AMC's require that the coilspring be compressed from the inside.. This is possible by unbolting and removing the shock absorber and the tool just drops in through the tower. Most AMC's also used a coil spring that is six inches in diameter. Sounds about right.

The maximum diameter for most inner compression tools? 5 5/8"
What the hell is this s*#&? I don't even know where to FIND a tool that's 3/8" wider. Why is that a thing at all?? Now I have to kludge a block of wood under the control arm and limp the car to a shop.

[Electronic M]

This may sound stupid but do you have a torch and a pair or vice grips or heavy duty pliers? I would be tempted to heat the the tool till the metal softens a bit and bend each end 3/16 out to fit... depending on how hard the steel is you may also be able to bench clamp to tool and Hammer or pry the ends out.... atleast if it is your tool and not a rental...If it is a rental and you decide to bend it we won't tell...

[MIPS]

The tool after credits and customer discounts is $130. I don't feel compelled to ruin the annealing unless I'm forced to.