360 iin a SX/4 = how difficult?

Presently I don't know what size the motor is in it. But if its the 6 what would need to be changed other than the cross member?, and if its the 4, could it be done without cutting and welding?  Thanks Steve

Not mine but was at a Rendezvous show a couple of years ago. Well done car!

Edited by amxdreamer - Feb/13/2012 at 10:17pm

I have made a couple Eagle v-8 cars, it is not too bad, but as you can see from what Billd shows you, there is work to do and fabrication involved. As he suggested the crossmemeber for the Eagle is not replaceable with a std v-8 Gremlin or such, you have to "make" the Eagle one work. Along with the differential brackets that have to be built, the v-8 small car manifolds work good, but the best set is from a 70[log style dog leg port] on both sides, or the 81 and up Jeep driver side, 78-79 v-8 pacer driver side and the small call pass side, or 75 and up all model pass side [still the log style]. This allows the clearence for ex and the bracketry. It can be done, fabbing and work, but is not a bolt in deal. Thinking out of the box is needed alot of the time. Hope that helps, SH

AMC instigator wrote: I have made a couple Eagle v-8 cars, it is not too bad, but as you can see from what Billd shows you, there is work to do and fabrication involved. As he suggested the crossmemeber for the Eagle is not replaceable with a std v-8 Gremlin or such, you have to "make" the Eagle one work. Along with the differential brackets that have to be built, the v-8 small car manifolds work good, but the best set is from a 70[log style dog leg port] on both sides, or the 81 and up Jeep driver side, 78-79 v-8 pacer driver side and the small call pass side, or 75 and up all model pass side [still the log style]. This allows the clearence for ex and the bracketry. It can be done, fabbing and work, but is not a bolt in deal. Thinking out of the box is needed alot of the time. Hope that helps, SH

THANK YOU for that much better explanation. I thought someone here had done it. I know I've seen a couple somewhere.
The nice thing about the Eagle is that you can do what I did.... Drop the ENTIRE drivetrain out the bottom. take a lot of photographs, measure in a lot of places point to point, take notes, and you can fabricate quite a bit with the drive-train on dollies on the floor. You could even test fit as well, as rolling the assembly under the car and lowering the car down onto it is really simple.
In fact, so simple I did it one-handed while my arm was in a sling after surgery to have my bicep reattached. I'm left handed and it was my left arm. If I could do the mock-up, and slide it under and get the car aligned for a test fit like that, seems anyone here could do it.

Good info on the exhaust fitment, too. There's a problem on the left side since the differential and driveshaft and t-case are in the way on the left, that's why the exhaust pipe makes a sudden right turn under the bell housing, then back along the right side.

OH - anyone putting a V8 in an Eagle needs to keep in mind - these are the 15s, not the 20s turning the wheels, so beware.......... They are not heavy differentials.
But in my opinion, will still take a lot of load.
The V8 will be a bit heavier as well, not sure what that will do to the front springs. I know I had to put a bit heavier springs in my car, but the fronts were AMC 6 cyl springs I had in it - WAY too wimpy! The Eagle comes factory with V8 springs under the front to support the weight of the drive-train.


Edited by billd - Feb/14/2012 at 7:46am

greasygt wrote: Presently I don't know what size the motor is in it. But if its the 6 what would need to be changed other than the cross member?, and if its the 4, could it be done without cutting and welding?  Thanks Steve

Go into the eagles nest forum and you can see the mounts that I fabricate for AMC V8 s. cutting and welding are needed but is fairly minimal. For oil filters I did use a Pacer filter housing. A remote will be easier to use.