Re: [AMC-List] 1988 Eagle Premier

[farna@xxxxxxx]

I beleive the AC compressor is on the right side, top. The engine is the PRV V-6 -- Peugeot/Renault/Volvo. It was started as a joint project with the same block in different displacements. There were one and two cam heads, IIRC, and different induction systems (intakes) made by each company. Citroen and Peugeot merged, so the engine was used in Citroen's as John Elle pointed out. Volvo sold their portion of the venture at some point to the other two, and Hyundai later bought the rights to the engine (if not the tooling also -- I'm not sure if Peugeot/Citroen and Renault still use a version of it or not) and improved it. Parts may not interchange with the Hyundai unless they did buy the tooling, and even then some changes would have been made. 

The bolt pattern on the transaxle is probably similar or the same as the GM front drive V-6 and Caddy front drive V-8. The reason I say this is that the AMC four uses that bolt pattern and was intended for use in the car, though I have never seen a four cylinder version other than the initial photos. May have been a different bell housing for it though. I seriously doubt a 4.0L would bolt up to it in any case. As pointed out, there's not enough room to use the transaxle and a front mount 4.0L. You'd have to convert to rear wheel drive. That could be done, but would require a bit of cutting and welding for a trans and driveshaft tunnel. The front suspension would likely work fine without half shafts, but there may be interference problems with the steering. It would be interesting, to say the least!

One problem common with all Renault products at the time is electrical connector corrosion. Most of the connections are tin plated and will corrode over time. Pull all the connectors and spray with contact cleaner even if it's running good. You can't see the corrosion, but there is enough to subtly change computer signals and possibly cause the car to not run at its best. Other than that the engines are pretty reliable. The sealed coolant system can give problems. Air must be bled out correctly and any leaks, even undetectable air leaks, will cause it to run hot. A crack in the plastic bottle with the fill cap (a pressure cap like on a radiator) is hard to trace and will cause over heating. The system won't hold adequate pressure but the leak may be undetectable. Early 4.0L Jeep Cherokees had the same problem as they aged. 

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 -------------- Original message ----------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 19:12:16 -0700
From: "Rhett Butler" <amc.inline.six@xxxxxxxxx>

Well, the Premier has a longitudinally-mounted engine. It's not transverse,
like most FWD cars. So it might not be in that evil of a place. However, if
I get the car, I will hunt high and low to find a manual on it so that I can
repair whatever's reasonable myself.

Does anybody know how possible a 4.0 conversion is? Since the car has
absolutely no value at all, when I get enough dough to play with it, I might
try to turn it into a more proper AMC by changing out the Eagle badges for
AMC ones, and maybe putting Concord or Ambassador emblems on it,
and installing a 4.0 would be nice. I'd probably try to find some '91-92
taillights as well because I like them better.

But that's IF I get this car, and IF I ever see fit to play around with it.
Just thoughts bouncing around in my head.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Peace,
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