Any 1982 AMC Eagle 4x4 fans?

[adjustinthings]

This isn't mine but I spotted this on Craigslist and thought someone here would be interested in this car for sale. Vancouver area car with no rust:

1982 amc eagle 4x4 - 1500 $CAN (maple ridge)

cylinders: 6 cylinders
drive: 4wd
fuel: gas
title status: clean
transmission: automatic


4x4 good condition no rust
Runs but clogged carb 1500 $CAN obo
176,000km

http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/pml/cto/5398952090.html

 

[kojackJKU]

Crap. Wrong coast. I would Buy this in a heart beat. That's serious old school cool!

 

[Marine]

That thing is awesome, my kid brother has one. I laughed at him when he drove it to Alberta saying he wouldn't make it. Ate my words. Super simple and capable

 

[east_tn_81]

Those things are awesome. I wish it was closer .

 

[Lucky j]

Is is pretty much a jeep in a wagon. Is is almost the precursor to the old cherokee with unit body construction and the 4.2 six.

When they came out, they were just an other car, but now that I am older and that the only cars I will up to now any way ever own will always be 4x4.

 

[mhiscox]

Thanks for the post. A cool option, and I hope it goes to a good home.

 

[KE7JFF]

At a car show, I remember talking to some retired AMC Engineers who were telling me the Eagle started as a joke about they could make a new car from nothing from Jeep and AMC Concord parts. Once the Eagle debuted, the french side of the company, Renault was so impressed that their engineers started collabrating with the Jeep division engieneers that they could figure out how to make a unibody Jeep...which lead to the Cherokee!

 

[justcuz]

I'd love to own one of these. My brother in law had a 2wd sport wagon? when his family was young. He was not a car guy, so I was always repairing his used cars he bought. Other than rebuilding the carb, a tune up and a brake job, I never did another thing to that car. Lasted him a few years until they had their 3rd child and bought a Suburban.

 

[donaldcon]

If it was two wheel drive then it would have been an AMC Concord not an eagle. But basically the same car without a front axle.

I am a huge fan of the thing I have owned several of them

 

[justcuz]

Did they make a Hornet Sport Wagon? Same basic architecture right? I'm pretty sure it was not a Concord.
I seem to remember an article where one of the off road magazines built one of these up. They said the biggest mistake was installing a sun roof. They felt it comprimised the structural integrity of the vehicle.

 

[Bojak]

That thing is sweeeettt! I would buy it and not change a single thing that you could see except put bfg AT tires on it. Engine would be built for reliability. Sleeper with treads.

 

[donaldcon]

You can swap the no low range tcase out for jeep cases with low range np242, np229 and np208 with a few small modifications.

Then you basically have a jeep cherokee with a car body

 

[Larry]

I remember back in the day when I was a kid sweeping the floor at my dad’s shop those Eagle wagons and sedans were always in the shop for something. We had a rural mail route carrier customer with several of them. He also had a few early 70’s 2wd Hornet wagons, Concord wagons (all basically the same thing as an Eagle wagon but 2wd) that were identical, just 2wd, lower and older but with all the same issues as the 10 to 15 year newer ones. They were always kinds of known to be junkers (as with most AMC’s) where they were plagued with oil leaks, ignition and starting issues and all the typical things cars of time were known for regardless of brand. Back in the 80’s, and even early 90’s, there were still lots of Hornets, Concords, Pacers, Javelins, Gremlins and everything else still roaming around….to a certain degree there still are many roaming around here thanks to a dry salt free climate.

Even though the Eagles were kind of a laughing stock car at the time, in many ways the Eagle cars were well head of their time. I would love to have one to tinker with. There are actually a few Eagle wagons on CL from $800 beaters to $3500 clean survivors. Hmmm, now you all got me thinking of a new project! Another bastard car from the 70’s & 80’s that would be fun tinker with would be a Subaru Brat

When AMC started rebadging those oddball Renaults as Eagle Premier’s is when AMC really seem to run off a cliff

 

[XRrider]

My folks had an '80 Eagle wagon for many years, I drove it as my winter car in high school in the early 90s (save the rust free late 70s LTD). The Eagles were awesome, not alot of power but once you got it sideways on snow covered roads you could hold the drift for blocks. The only real issue ours had was a noisey transfercase. Bucket seats and a floor shifter in a wagon, it was like a muscle car, ha ha.

 

[justcuz]

Larry its funny you mention the general issues with those cars, just as today people have the general stalling issues and electrical gremlins with a Cherokee and Grand Cherokee's.
My MIL has a 1997 Grand Chreokee that I am chasing a stalling issue and have found a 12 step repair thread in a Jeep forum. I'm pretty sure I have it tracked down now to the ECM computer. She was considering a change to an Explorer or Expedition. So last weekend I asked her to spend this week looking for 1997 or older Explorers and Expeditions on Interstate 15 during her 30 mile drive to work. She called me last night and said that she had not seen many at all compared to Cherokee's on the road. I am going to order an ECM today to put in the Jeep.
With 220,000 miles I've fixed the oil leak at the filter, replaced the timing chain, vibration dampener, timing cover gasket and seal, rerouted plug wires that were shorting against the block, cleaned all grounds and sensor connections and replaced the crank position sensor. The vehicle is clean and functional and once I get the stalling issue fixed it should last another 70 to 80 thousand miles.
I would love to find a cosmetically clean Eagle 4wd wagon. The mechanicals are simple and easy to repair. I probably would change over to a readily available 2sp t-case and some nice all weather tires with an LSD in the rear axle.
Then just keep it clean and drive it. Perfect for short little drives to the mountains to ski or visit friends.