stuck between a rock & hardplace.. . aka part or not to part PICS

[69 charger man]

well i originally bought this one car for parts, but imm not sure if i should part her out or not.. the car is a 69 plymouth satellite 4 door..i did not pay that much for her 700 usa.. 318 904 car that runs and stops(not road worthy since 91)..has build sheet.. fender tag and title form 72 in org paint... the problem is that i really only bought the car for parts to restore another car that i do not have yet a 69 roadrunner because the frame and most of the floors are rust free.. rockers are gone on both sides.. trunk is soft and rear 1/4's are rotten i lower areas.. so good a donor car i thought for a 2 door roadrunner that would be worth fixing.. when i was working on my charger that was rusty i wish i had nice clean rust free metal, but my charger is 90 rust free right know.. my dad says keep it the way it is and imm worried  if i cut her up it will be a mistake down the road, since imm only 20 imm asking for some advice from others more knowledgeable than my self.. imm not going to destroy it just cut out the good metal an parts and store em..  any advice will be greatly appreciated..
-ray

[PocketThunder]

Get the road runner decals and make it into a 4 door road runner!  you'd be the only guy at the car show with one of those thats for sure.....

[TK73]

Get the road runner decals and make it into a 4 door road runner!  you'd be the only guy at the car show with one of those thats for sure.....

A guy up here made a '68 Super Bee 4-door, dropped a 440 in place of the 318 and did the stripe... made a fake "official" limited-run car plaque for the dash too...

[69charger2002]

cut it up. lots of 2 door muscle cars can be saved thanks to cars like that. say a quick prayer for the grandma that owned it and get to parting
trav

[BigBlockSam]

cut it up. lots of 2 door muscle cars can be saved thanks to cars like that. say a quick prayer for the grandma that owned it and get to parting
trav

  chop chop.

[tan top]

cut it up. lots of 2 door muscle cars can be saved thanks to cars like that. say a quick prayer for the grandma that owned it and get to parting
trav

chop chop.

 
                        strip & cut  every  thing off   that can be used on a 2 door b-body   and save it  including  all the little stuff nuts /bolts /clips etc .

[kab69440]

Dang! I'd kill somebody for a pair of heel pans in that condition! Where did you say you lived again? And when do you sleep?

[hotrod98]

I've seen 4 door mopars turned into 2 door mopars by good bodymen. There's been a couple of articles written about it in the past. Just an idea. You would need the front half of the "2 door" quarters with glass and the 2 doors. Not near as hard as hard as you might think. Don't cut it up just yet.

[azraelck]

Give it to me. I'd love to have a '69 Plymouth Satellite 4 door. And unlike some, I do not see a reason to destroy  perfectly good car, even if it's a less "desireable" 4 door model. I view it in the same light that I view an idiot jumping a '69 Dodge Charger R/T just to recreate the DoH. 

If nothing else, sell it to someone who appreciates a 4 door car.

[PocketThunder]

By Old Moparz 68 Coronet and use the convertible parts to convert this 4 door into a 69 RR Convertible.

[4402tuff4u]

I agree, it would be kind of a crime to cut a perfect Mopar like that just to save a rusty one, but then again who really wants a 4 door muscle car? In my opinion, you have a hard decision to make that I can't offer you any advise at this point. Good luck!  

[JimShine]

I've seen 4 door mopars turned into 2 door mopars by good bodymen. There's been a couple of articles written about it in the past. Just an idea. You would need the front half of the "2 door" quarters with glass and the 2 doors. Not near as hard as hard as you might think. Don't cut it up just yet.

Do these modders leave the wrong back glass in place? I would assume it would be quite difficult to modify the back glass for the batwing shape.

[73rallye440magnum]

To be perfectly honest with you I would use that car as a driver, looks awesome!

[hotrod98]

I've seen 4 door mopars turned into 2 door mopars by good bodymen. There's been a couple of articles written about it in the past. Just an idea. You would need the front half of the "2 door" quarters with glass and the 2 doors. Not near as hard as hard as you might think. Don't cut it up just yet.

Do these modders leave the wrong back glass in place? I would assume it would be quite difficult to modify the back glass for the batwing shape.

A good body man can do just about anything. We install vega hatchback plugs in 69 chargers to make them look like daytonas, so converting that back glass shouldn't be a problem as long as you have the right parts to do so.

[JimShine]

The back glass hatch basically caps the old window tunnel. To switch from that 4 door style window to a batwing style would require lots of fabrication beyind the Vega cap deal. I believe it CAN be done, but reasonably? I think it may be better to use the 4 door to fix up the 2 door. No extensive fabrication will be required.

[69 charger man]

thanks everone for their ideas.. imm still not sure what to do with her... its a hard decison.. if i had a rusty car 2 door she'd be a goner, but i dont and no real space to store the parts inside so right now shes prob just goin to sit there....
-ray

[Kirkvkid]

Take some POR-15 or the Eastwood equivalent (depending on the brand you prefer) and cover all the rusty areas so it wont get worse.  Then you can leave it sit the way it is.  Personally I think it is a good looking car, if you can get it running and driving you have a sweet 4 door for 700 bucks.  Then if you get tired of it, you cut it up; thats what the 'rust stop' paint is for to stop the good parts from going to junk.  But then again it is your car bro.

As for those who say cut it up to save a 'cooler car'; at one time the cars you all think are cool, where just crappy donor cars too.

[Jon Smith]

get it running, rustproof it properly and use it as a daily driver,
instead of having it hanging around to fix a rusty roadrunner, just save up for a better roadrunner or 2 door satellite, I'd hate to see a car that clean get cut up
they aint making any more of them, nice 4 doors will soon be rarer than roadrunners if they aren't already

[262chargers]

Whats the last pic got to do with the 4 door?
Part it, make your $700 back and call it done. 
Or sell it to one of these guys saying how cool it is...

[Mike DC]

 
I would definitely drive the thing.

It's not that I would feel very GUILTY about cutting it up on principle, but I just think I would rather have that car in one piece for money & aggravation reasons.

Yeah, the 4dr cars aren't very valuable, but the fact that it's a cheap running car that's so solid is very nice.  There aren't many other ways to drive a nice '68-70 B-body cruiser and spend so little to do it. 

Why hack a nice running car when you just want the framerails?  There are tons of other 4drs in parts-car-shell condition with framerails just as solid as those. 

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And the other nice thing about a car like that is you can transfer parts:
 
You could spend money on building a hot drivetrain in that 4-door car for a few years, and always be able to swap everything into a Charger or some other 2-door car later.  Bodywork expenses are always money spent on THAT car, but engines & trannys & suspensions are infinitely swapp-able.  It's fun to have a low-aggravation B-body that doesn't need a lot of body/restoration work if you can get it, and it looks like you've got it right now.

 

[chrisII]

I agree , why cut it up , just to store the parts when you have a driveable car. fix the brakes, and run it! then when the car comes along that neads the donor parts you have them, untill then it is eazy to build up the driveline, and chassis stuff, then put it in a better car or your charger when it gets done. if nothing else keep it together and store it, its less trouble to move if you loose storage once ya take it appart its gone, if you wait you still have the option

[Mike DC]

 
Oh yeah, as for the 2-door versus 4-door chassis talk:
I looked at this one time. 


The good:

--  Everything structural on the body/frame from the dashboard forwards is the same except the A-pillars/windshield frame.  Inner fenderwells, engine bay, the whole firewall/cowl/dashboard area, etc.

--  The entire framerails, all the floors, and maybe even the inner rear wheelhousings look the same too.  (everything is built on the same overall 117-inch wheelbase as the 2-doors, etc.)

--  I couldn't tell about the rocker boxes.  Maybe the same, maybe not.

------------------------------------------

The bad:

--  The entire roof structure and the entire side-body structure is different between the 2-doors & 4-doors.  For both the outer skin and and the internal bracing, neither the panels nor their locations are matching.

--  The "extra room" for the rear passengers is accomplished by extending the rear roof/window area farther backwards on the chassis than the 2-door models, and this allows the the rear window shelf & backseat to be mounted a few more inches farther back too. 

--  The entire roof structure is also a couple inches taller on the 4-doors.  And the sides of the roof/cab stand more vertically, not leaning inwards quite as much as the 2-doors.

 

[charge-it]

Don`t be afraid, part it out!

[69 charger man]

yea i got the car running it runs great.. everything works even the breaks.. dash everything except the ac.. imm not going to cut it up yet...

the last picture is of my charger lol

look at the clip ill try to post it of her running
-ray



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[69 charger man]

her trunk is rusty, but not that bad
-ray