AMC Eagle

[nasadowsk]

"Before that, those big American engines that we now consider 'weak' were often making hundreds of horsepower, sometimes 1 per cubic inch. They were made weak to meet emissions standards."

I think it was Super Chevy that dyno'd a prestine version of the supposed "monster '70 Chevelle LS what that everyone brags about how it made more horsepower than GM would admit to.

288 HP at the rear.

That's barely an entry level high HP car these days.

What "killed" horsepower ratings in the 70's was the feds clamped down on car makers basically advertising whatever number they wanted. It was the same thing they did with stereo equipment. Then you added emissons regulations later on, which the big three figured if they moaned enough, it'd go away. It didn't, and the Japanese ate their lunch.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by nasadowsk

"Before that, those big American engines that we now consider 'weak' were often making hundreds of horsepower, sometimes 1 per cubic inch. They were made weak to meet emissions standards."

I think it was Super Chevy that dyno'd a prestine version of the supposed "monster '70 Chevelle LS what that everyone brags about how it made more horsepower than GM would admit to.

288 HP at the rear.

That's barely an entry level high HP car these days.

What "killed" horsepower ratings in the 70's was the feds clamped down on car makers basically advertising whatever number they wanted. It was the same thing they did with stereo equipment. Then you added emissons regulations later on, which the big three figured if they moaned enough, it'd go away. It didn't, and the Japanese ate their lunch.

They didn't advertise whatever they wanted they changed from advertising Gross HP to Net HP (or the other way around).... basically they were testing flywheel HP with NONE of the power robing accessories attached then switched to measuring with them attached to give a better idea of what would make it to the wheels...Also by the 70s the insurance companies had made it their mission from God to charge muscle car owners up the wall so that hurt muscle car sales and the makers actually started advertising HP lower than actual so owners could get cheaper insurance....

The automotive world would be a vastly better place if government had kept it's damn nose out and let the market drive the industry the right direction.

[mr_rye89]

Heh I didn't even know there was a Ford 250ci I-6, and at 88 HP that is abysmal. I think the 223 in my '59 custom has more than that, It allegedly has 140hp (at a pretty high rpm) but I have a hard time believing that.

[MadMan]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

The world would be a vastly better place if government had kept it's damn nose out and let the market drive the industry the right direction.

Fixed that for you.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by MadMan

Fixed that for you.

That statement isn't broken in either form we've written it...

[ESigma25]

Originally Posted by nasadowsk

"Before that, those big American engines that we now consider 'weak' were often making hundreds of horsepower, sometimes 1 per cubic inch. They were made weak to meet emissions standards."

I think it was Super Chevy that dyno'd a prestine version of the supposed "monster '70 Chevelle LS what that everyone brags about how it made more horsepower than GM would admit to.

288 HP at the rear.

That's barely an entry level high HP car these days.

What "killed" horsepower ratings in the 70's was the feds clamped down on car makers basically advertising whatever number they wanted. It was the same thing they did with stereo equipment. Then you added emmissons regulations later on, which the big three figured if they moaned enough, it'd go away. It didn't, and the Japanese ate their lunch.

To be fair, when you fix the two main problems the old muscle car V8s faced (horrid exhaust systems and extremely inefficient accessories) the rear wheel numbers start to get a bit closer to the hype. There's a reason why these old engine designs, when properly built up in the modern day, produce MORE power than the old gross ratings. Like this pretty moderate Oldsmobile 455 build, for instance:

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/ccrp...-engine-build/

[MIPS]

All in all, the manifolds were WAY more easygoing on this project than I expected.



I expected a lot of seized bolts, instead I found everything finger-tight. Even when there was studs they were loose in the head AND on the nut. The rearmost one to the firewall was even completely missing. I replaced both with bolts and their special washers salvaged from another Eagle.
Though to be honest, torquing them was not as fun. It wanted 26 foot pounds each and you could only get to them with a socket U-joint, so I put them all in at 15 and we'll see how that lasts.
The EGR tube on the last eagle I salvaged from was seized on pretty tight and had to be cut off. This one, again was easy to crack the threads on.
Bolts on the electric heater? No problem! Even the EGR was fine.
I did however notice that I was missing an exhaust manifold gasket. I assumed that this was someone previous neglecting to install it but no, that was normal. The gasket kit I ordered made sure to note that while one is included with the kit, finding manifolds without an existing gasket is perfectly normal. Man with how loose everything was this probably explains why this car ticked like a sewing machine so much.

[Titan1a]

Take an I6 and put a quad carburetor on it and sup up the parts and you'll be surprised what it can do. The I6 was commonly advertised as an economy motor and was built to under achieve. I saw a Chrysler 225 slant six turned into a real tiger!

[ESigma25]

I'm stunned at how few hoses there are in that engine bay. Normally early 80s carbureted engines are a mess of vacuum hoses.

[MIPS]

For the same reason Canada got the Hyundai Pony and the United States did not, an Eagle built in Brampton has the dealership option of a Secondary Air Injection delete. This thing rolled off the production line with an EGR, PCV, Tank/carb vapor control and that's it. I mean, there's still a lot of lines I have removed right now to work on the engine but significantly fewer than a normal Kenosha built Eagle.

[beat_truck]

Originally Posted by ESigma25

I'm stunned at how few hoses there are in that engine bay. Normally early 80s carbureted engines are a mess of vacuum hoses.

My '83 Dodge with the slant six had about 6 vacuum lines from the factory.

The late '80s Japanese cars that still had carbs were the ones that had about a million hoses, check valves, and other forms of nonsense.

[mr_rye89]

Originally Posted by beat_truck

My '83 Dodge with the slant six had about 6 vacuum lines from the factory.

The late '80s Japanese cars that still had carbs were the ones that had about a million hoses, check valves, and other forms of nonsense.

Can confirm. My '79 Toyota pickup had spaghetti out the wazoo on the factory Aisin Seiki carb. It got swapped with a Weber 32/36 DGEV 2bbl.

[ESigma25]

Originally Posted by beat_truck

My '83 Dodge with the slant six had about 6 vacuum lines from the factory.

The late '80s Japanese cars that still had carbs were the ones that had about a million hoses, check valves, and other forms of nonsense.

I know, my first car was a 1987 "Chevy Nova" (a Corolla in disguise) with a single-cam carbureted 1.6 engine that was just a constant nightmare to start, especially if it was hot out. What a frustrating little car, when its transmission failed I was honestly kinda thankful.

[beat_truck]

Originally Posted by ESigma25

I know, my first car was a 1987 "Chevy Nova" (a Corolla in disguise) with a single-cam carbureted 1.6 engine that was just a constant nightmare to start, especially if it was hot out. What a frustrating little car, when its transmission failed I was honestly kinda thankful.

We had an '84 Corolla and an '87(?) Chevy Nova. They were both total junk. Those had to be the worst cars Toyota ever made.

The Corolla ended up having a cracked engine block, and the Nova lost 4th gear in it's manual transmission for no apparent reason. We kept driving it without 4th gear, and before long, something in the valve train took a dump. They were both rust buckets, too.

And I can confirm that they had about 100 vacuum hoses.

[MadMan]

Originally Posted by beat_truck

My '83 Dodge with the slant six had about 6 vacuum lines from the factory.

Lean Burn. It was semi-computerized, that may be why.