Scott Probert’s bad-ass Eagle wagon

Scott sent me these photos and narrative quite a while back. I love what he has done. I’ll let him tell the tale:

“My eagle is used for off-road fun. Modifications include 2 inches of lift, 31x10.50 mudkings (modified fender wells), ‘spooled’ rear differential (welded spider gears), rancho shocks, two-speed transfer case (ID tag is missing—I believe it to be an NP 219) with a 2.71 low range, custom snorkel that raises engine air intake to roof height, full engine/ignition waterproofing, roof-mounted full size spare, high-lift jack, ax and shovel, modified a/c compressor to run air tools and air up tires, and a ridiculous inventory of tools and spare parts. Cosmetic modifications include brush guard, large sunroof with soft top, roof- and brush guard-mounted lights, BMW seats, Grant steering wheel and flat green paint. It gets a lot of looks on the trails; people in Jeeps and pickups can’t believe a station wagon performs so well. It will climb any hill it has traction on, will go through water over hood depth, and has rescued its share of full-size trucks from the mud.”

“The snorkel is run down through the fender and into the engine compartment back between the shock tower and firewall. All vents—both differentials, transfer case, carb, power steering and engine breather—are connected to the smaller vent that is run alongside the larger one. All electrical connections are sealed with dielectric grease; the distributor cap is sealed to the base with regular bearing/axle grease.”

“The pre-green-paint picture of it stuck in the river was taken before I had sealed the air cleaner and distributor. I made it almost all the way across before it quit running. I did not try to restart it, so I have no idea if it hydrolocked or simply got the ignition wet. The current moved it a good 25-30 feet downstream. When it was all over, it sat underwater about five hours and took a come-along and a full-size Chevy to get it back to the road. It took a flatbed to get it home, and it took lots of fluid changes, new starter, new alternator, new carb, new instrument cluster and various switches replaced to get it running again.     “For the record, everything is sealed up now. I have since had the hood completely under water, and the engine didn’t miss a beat.”