new project w/pics

[69pistolgripRT]

Well, I have been sort of bored with the finished Charger lately and have always wanted a '69 b-body ragtop so I picked up this '69 sport satellite on the cheap. I am going to restore this car for my wife and let her choose all the colors. It will be kind of fun to drive a pair of '69s to the car show. She is excited about a car for once and I can actually order parts without having to beat her home to hide them after delivery!

The car was originally a dark green auto console with a 318. Black delux interior with woodgrain inserts in the doors. Black top to finish it off.
As this was a low-buck car we are going to restore it as a 383 roadrunner clone and option it the way we would have liked. My wife wants a Sub Lime exterior with a white interior and white top. This combo should really pop with the black sport stripes on the hood. Plus, sitting next to my curios yellow charger, should burn your eyes.

I am going to do this car bass ackwards. I can't take another rotisserie job like we did with the Charger so I am going to drive it while I restore it. The previous owner started a disc brake upgrade and I will have that finished in the next week or two. The car starts and runs and should be on the road at that point. I have a fairly fresh 383 in it now and we have 90% of the new interior from Legendary sitting in the garage. My wife doesn't like the sport satellite/gtx delux woodgrain inserts in the doors so we actually downgraded to the all white decor road runner package.

Gonna be a little strange in my attack. I am going to weld in new floor pans (sitting in the garage already) and then redo the interior top to bottom including dash and wiring. Next, I will pull the engine, paint the bay Sublime green, and detail the engine and bay. Gonna clash with the current maroon color but what the hey. That will put me on the road with fresh mechanicals and new interior. I'll drive like that for a year or so while I gather some much needed parts including body parts.

The car looks good from 25ft but is a rust bucket. The trunk pan and extensions are gone. The lower quarters are toast (Not counting the very creative fiberglass job someone did before the last paint job. There is more glass in those quarters than in my Boston Whaler). The rocker covers need attention and the fenders have issues. I'm gonna replace the trunk lid, both doors, both fenders, and possibly the hood. I'll be looking for a donor car soon. The rockers themselves are solid, the convertible well area is solid, and so is the cowl. The frame rails look very good except for a 2"x5" area on the right rear rail. Doors close easily and all body panels line up. Gonna be a major pain. This is by far the most ambitious project I have taken on.

Sorry for the long post; I guess I got excited. Here are some pics. The actually make the car look better than it is.

[69pistolgripRT]

a few more

[jaak]

Good looking project
sometimes I wished I would have done the restore while you drive with my charger, I can't wait to drive it.
Good luck on your project,
Jason

[hotrod98]

Sounds like a great project.
I had the same idea for my wife. I let her design every other car that we do. Her last build was a 73 cuda that we painted limelight. I recessed the side markers and installed gills in the fenders. She chose almost every detail and it turned out great. She loves entering it in car shows now and has started beating my 71 cuda on a regular basis. I'm finishing up her 70 chal convert now. This time around she had to have a hemi. Forget the fact that I've wanted a hemi in my cuda for the last five years.
You guys will have a lot of fun putting that convert together.
I think it makes a good marriage even better.

[Silver R/T]

nice project

[greenpigs]

I want your garage, oh and ALL the rides in it.


PLEASE

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

That is exactly the ragtop I've been looking for.  I too want a 'vert but could never afford a Road Runner or R/T.

How much "on the cheap" was cheap?

[plum500]

I want your garage, oh and ALL the rides in it.


PLEASE

Real nice project, *and* I'd love to have that space!

[Paul G]

I'm jealous! I wish my wife liked Mopar's. She is a Corvette person. Good luck with the vert and keep us posted.

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

those are great looking cars and some are relatively cheap 2 , lil while back there was a 68 sport satellite vert in mcg ads for $2500 all it needed was new quarters and was a numbers match 318 car. how much did you score that beauty for -MATT

[Charger_Fan]

That looks great! I like your "Charger corral" too.

[bull]

Must be nice to have 3 1/2 acres of covered garage/storage area. Cool car.

[dodgecharger-fan]

Nice looking project and a good plan of attack.


I looked at that garage and started thinking about how I could add on to the back of mine. 
Other than losing the side door into the house, it might work. Getting a permit and the cash to do it is a whole other story... oh and getting it done before he wife gets home from work. 

[6pkrunner]

I passed on a chance many moons ago to snag a 383 vert runner - cheap. I have kicked myself in the derriere so many times, my legs are double jointed.
Good luck with her!!!!

[dodgeboy67]

i had the same plan too....but the wife wants a damn mustang.....anything to be difficult

[dodgecharger-fan]

I passed on a chance many moons ago to snag a 383 vert runner - cheap. I have kicked myself in the derriere so many times, my legs are double jointed.
Good luck with her!!!!

c'mere I'll give ya another.   

[69pistolgripRT]

Well, I thought I got in on the cheap, but after reading the post about $2500- maybe not.

Anyway, I agreed on $13,000 thinking the car was much more solid than it was. When I drove 8 hours to look at it, I told the guy no way and after a little hagling we agreed on $7000.  To be honest, I feel pretty good about the price. The car has a complete new front end installed and a brand new front disc set-up, although I have to finish installing the brakes. Came with new floor pans,seat covers, and buns.  Came with the "shiny" rims on the car and some original 14" 1970 wheels in the trunk. I'm gonna put '69 500s on it. I'll try to make some money off the other two sets.

The garage is defintely nice.   Down here in Georgia you have to worry about flood levels. We had to build our house up 5ft to meet code so we just took it up another 4ft and made a garage underneath. I tried to convince my wife to do away with the guest bedroom so we could make the garage ceiling 20ft in that area and put a lift in the garage. That was a big "NO".

Bought an air nibbler to take out the old rusty floor pans. This might be the greatest tool in the world!

[Old Moparz]

Nice project, but I have to admit I'm a little partial to '69 Satellite ragtops. 

[69_500]

Looks like you got a pretty decent starting point for a cool restoration. I would love to one day have a drop top Mopar to go cruising around in. That is after I get a Daytona to match the 500 , so that is many many many moons on the back burner to other priorities that I have.

I wish my wife would be cool about ordering parts for the car to fix it up. For now I"m in the same boat you used to be in, running home to try to hide the parts, and paying for them with cash so that she doesn't know how much everything actually cost.

[41husk]

I think 7k is a good price for a rag top.  you won't regret the purchase when shes done.  Theres nothing like a rag top.  It never mattered how bad a mood I was in if it was warm enough to put the top down my mood was sure to improve.  I can't believe I have had her off the road for over ten years, maybe thats why I have been in a bad mood for over a decade   Keep us posted on the progress.

[Old Moparz]

I agree, $7000 isn't bad, but I guess the price is all relevent to who is buying, who sees what, & when they see it. I have a Coronet ragtop for sale that hasn't generated too much interest at half that price. I know it's a lot rougher, but I still have it along with the parts to fix most of it.

[69_500]

You have been in a bad mood for a decade? Hmmm, I've been in a great mood ever since I purchased the 500. Don't think much could dampen my mood now. Even getting let go at work, wasn't so bad.



Old Moparz, your still trying to sell that ragtop? I thought you had sold that months ago?

[41husk]

I bet you giving me the 500 would dampen your spirits and cheer me up

[69_500]

It would do a tad more than dappen my spirits, but yeah it might cheer you up.


when I hit the lottery and I can afford 100 of them, I'll send one your way to store, will that help?

[SuBLimE 69]

My Bro in law has a 68 Sport Satalite vert.  I can't seem to motivate him enough to work on it though......

[mustanghater]

my parents used to have a '68 sport sat rag. I loved that car. What you payed for that car is what we sold it for. It seemed over night the prices went up.