I’d just fixed the Willys’ engine with a freshly-ground crankshaft, but the vehicle wasn’t running.

With help from my friend Brandon, I managed to pull-start the Willys’ Go-Devil engine, which had been having some grounding problems that caused a no-spark condition every now and then.

The 1979 Jeep Cherokee Golden Eagle was an even bigger job—so big, in fact, that I skipped much of it.

After honing the engine, I was having trouble getting the pistons to slide in the bores.

This setback, and the fact that, deep down, I felt that the engine really deserved a full rebuild rather than just new bearings and a hone-job, led me to install a newly-rebuilt motor.

It cost me $849, but it just felt right.

Swipe through the videos in the embedded Instagram post below, and you’ll see that I didn’t just chuck the engine into the Golden Eagle.

First, I swapped the rear main seal, the oil pan seal, the valve cover gaskets (and I painted the valve covers, since orange is not the right color for an AMC engine), the water pump, the oil pump, the intake manifold gasket, some freeze plugs, and a number of other seals and parts.

Especially after the engine had been right there on the engine stand, with everything easily accessible.

Unfortunately, on the day before the deadline, the engine was still on the stand, and I had nobody to help me install it.

So, in the middle of the night, I installed a 500+ pound AMC V8 engine into the 1979 Jeep Cherokee Golden Eagle by myself.

There’s also a 1966 Mustang in the garage and a 2000 Jeep Cherokee at my brother’s house, meaning I’m down to eight cars in total, with only six visible from the outside?

The Kia, the Willys, the Land Rover, the Grand Wagoneer are gone, the 2000 Cherokee is my brother’s for the time being, and who knows, maybe the Golden Eagle and 1991 XJ will find new owners in the not-so-distant future, bringing me down to six machines in total.

I reached out to the city inspector to make sure I was good-to-go, particularly because the Golden Eagle may or may not exactly be running yet, and he replied with this:.

Cars: Willys CJ-2A ('48), Jeep J10 ('85), Jeep Cherokee ('79, '91, '92, '00), Jeep Grand Cherokee 5spd ('94)