1970 Satellite to RR restomod build

[page0100]

I have a 1970 satellite I am wanting to change to a road runner for my father. I have restored some GM cars but I am in the dark as far as this one goes. Pictures attached of what I am working with.

I am leaning towards more of a restomod similar to the hammer roadrunner. I want to set the car up for touring. The car has no engine and no fender tag for me to decode to even figure out what it started with. It rolls and has an 8 1/4 rear end and was an automatic car, unknown if it had AC or not

Drive- I have a 1970 383 engine with 452 heads being built now with a roller cam. It should be in the upper 300s for horsepower when its done. I have a 69 RR 727 auto to bolt up to it
Suspension/Brakes- Its all stock with a 8 1/4 rear end
Body- needs some work. I think the car already has the correct side vents on the quarters for a RR. I have some taillight bezels and housings. I need a hood and passenger door. The trunk is rusted but the floorboards are good
Interior- its all there minus the dash but its shot- I think I am going to keep the column shift and bench seat

Questions- The suspension - will my current K frame hold the 383 or do I need to upgrade to a new one? Can the suspension be reworked to be a good touring car or would it be better to go with an alterkation kit and street linx kit to get in on coil overs

Rear axle- I am not building this car for the strip, is that 8 1/4 going to hold up? Is it a good investment to go to 8 3/4 sure grip for what I am trying to do?


Thanks for the help. I should have the car in the body shop by september, just trying to get some direction for this build

 

[Mark B]

Welcome to FBBO
The fire wall indicates your car had A/C from the factory. The K member should work fine. As far as suspension goes it's a matter of what kind of handling you want and how deep your pockets are. Good luck looks like a fun project.

 

[tallhair]

Welcome Page

 

[joshb1983]

i have a belvedere im cloning to a roadrunner,,looks like a nice and solid car u have, keep us updated on your progress..keep the bench seats if possible and as much interior and dash u can..u will save some cash there..some roadrunners came with bench seats and the regular dash so u would be ok..the 70s a one yr body so its harder and more expensive to get parts

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id get a 8 3/4 if u can..thats what im doing in mine since there alot stronger and look better..looks like all u need for the outside is tail lights, the grill and cowl hood and then which ever decal setup u prefer..

 

[tallhair]

All 70 Road Runners had the round guage rallye dash which is different than the dash you have. They were all black not the wood grain. The wood grain ones where GTX only. You will also need RR tail lights.

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

What's wrong with a sport satty? Why not just restore it like it was with some fresh HP?

 

[page0100]

What's wrong with a sport satty? Why not just restore it like it was with some fresh HP?

I just really like the looks of the higher trim models. I will probably do the gtx honeycomb grille and I already have a pair roadrunner taillights


The dash is pretty much toast- there is a completely restored one on ebay for like 3500 out of alabama that might be worth it. Not sure yet

To get AC back in the car should I try to hunt down all the components or does vintage air or other aftermarket make a new kit?

 

[Mark B]

The correct factory A/C components are fairly plentiful and not too expensive if you take your time rounding them up. 68, 69, and 70 B bodies are pretty much all the same so there are more used pieces out there. For my build I am going all factory inside and new aftermarket for everything north of the fire wall.

 

[soundhd]

Make it a "Sporty Runner".......if going to do a lot of driving A/C is a must......Vintage Air and a couple other places like that make putting modern A/C in an older car a breeze.......not sure of what the differences are in suspension between the Runners & Satellites but I have a 70 RR and the suspension rides a little hard......seems for long drives a more forgiving suspension would make a long trip more enjoyable.......don't know if anyone makes adjustable suspensions for the Mopars...if so that would be the best way to go I would think....best of both worlds.....good luck

 

[747mopar]

Welcome to FBBO. Love what your doing, the Hammer is a bad @$& car. I agree, if restomod is the plan weld up that firewall and use vintage air, I used the Gen II evaporator and did a custom installation (much cleaner look). For suspension, everyone's got they're opinion but to me sticking with the original setup where the weight is spread between the K member and torsion bar crossmember will cause less stress on the front end (just my two cents). I went with Just Suspension for a complete suspension kit (it really is complete) they custom make the leaves to order meaning you can order them with a drop if lowering it. Going to be watching this thread.

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Make it a "Sporty Runner".......if going to do a lot of driving A/C is a must......Vintage Air and a couple other places like that make putting modern A/C in an older car a breeze.......not sure of what the differences are in suspension between the Runners & Satellites but I have a 70 RR and the suspension rides a little hard......seems for long drives a more forgiving suspension would make a long trip more enjoyable.......don't know if anyone makes adjustable suspensions for the Mopars...if so that would be the best way to go I would think....best of both worlds.....good luck

Air ride technology maybe.

 

[joshb1983]

All 70 Road Runners had the round guage rallye dash which is different than the dash you have. They were all black not the wood grain. The wood grain ones where GTX only. You will also need RR tail lights.

never new all 70 roadrunners had the rallye dash..iv seen some with the regular dash..were they real roadrunners or clones? or maby had a 68-69 dash..i have the regular 120 mph dash in my belvy..is there any way to change it to a 150mph speedo but keep the same dash

 

[tallhair]

All 68-9 RR had the rectangular speedo dash as did all Belv, Sat, GTX in 68-9. All 70 RR and 70 GTX have Rallye dash (GTX is woodgrain), rest of the models, belv, sat have rectangular dash speedo. The structure of the dash is different to accept the rallye dash or rectangular dash. I don't know how difficult it would be to mod one structure to accept to the other speedo/gauge cluster or if there were other structural differences in the same model year. FYI 69-70 dash pads interchange across models and 68's are unique to 68.

 

[joshb1983]

All 68-9 RR had the rectangular speedo dash as did all Belv, Sat, GTX in 68-9. All 70 RR and 70 GTX have Rallye dash (GTX is woodgrain), rest of the models, belv, sat have rectangular dash speedo. The structure of the dash is different to accept the rallye dash or rectangular dash. I don't know how difficult it would be to mod one structure to accept to the other speedo/gauge cluster or if there were other structural differences in the same model year. FYI 69-70 dash pads interchange across models and 68's are unique to 68.

i was just wanting a regular 150 speedo..could i use a reg 150 mph 69 speedo in my 70 reg dash it would be the same just goes 150 i figured

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Cool car and vision for it, I love '70s and also want to do one like Hammer after my Charger. You'll find some things are going to be a real pain in the *** to find for that car since it's a "one year only" model and some parts for them aren't being repopped. So like the door you said you need, I'd keep an eye out on the internet for cars being parted out, parts listings, etc.

As for the suspension, if you have the money alterktion and streetlynx would be awesome but that's gonna set you back some serious deneros. From what it sounds like you intend for the car I would just beef up the stock suspension; possibly stiffer t-bars, front and rear sway bars, subframe connectors, some good quality shocks, and maybe hotchkis rear drop springs (in that case I would also most likely use their adjustable upper control arms as well for alignment). Do all that and she should corner just fine lol. You'll also want to go with disk brakes up front at the very least, and an 8 3/4 would be money well spent imo.
Good luck and looking forward to seeing your progress!
ccasion14:

 

[tallhair]

i was just wanting a regular 150 speedo..could i use a reg 150 mph 69 speedo in my 70 reg dash it would be the same just goes 150 i figured

Yes you can swap to the rectangular 150 mph speedo out of a 68-9 R/T (non rallye .. rallye was optional) or GTX

 

[Baller]

I just really like the looks of the higher trim models. I will probably do the gtx honeycomb grille and I already have a pair roadrunner taillights


The dash is pretty much toast- there is a completely restored one on ebay for like 3500 out of alabama that might be worth it. Not sure yet

To get AC back in the car should I try to hunt down all the components or does vintage air or other aftermarket make a new kit?

The Sport Satellite had the GTX grill and tail lights I think. I assume the seat is a standard split with no arm rest?

 

[page0100]

The Sport Satellite had the GTX grill and tail lights I think. I assume the seat is a standard split with no arm rest?

No arm rest, but it does have headrests that look like they can be saved


I picked up an 8 3/4 this morning from a guy that said it came off of a 69 RR. Its open (not a suregrip) anyone know what the ratio should be? For my goal of a restomod touring car do I need the suregrip?

 

[tallhair]

If you are ok with laying one legged patches it will be fine. If you want to do a little drag strip action or lay two lane blacktops you'll want a sure-grip eventually but don't worry about it now. Finish the car and rebuild or swap to a SG unit equipped rear with the gear you decide on.

The one you just bought is probably a 3.23 if the pumpkin is actually orig to the RR which is great for street, highway, and interstate cruising and with the torque of a BB will be fine for now. If it's a 2.76 or 2.94 from another car it's still fine and better for highway mileage and streetability

 

[page0100]

Getting some work done at body shop

Does anyone have Jeff at 521 restorations number or is there another amd dealer on here that can hook me up with two full quarters?

 

[Mark B]

I happen to have Jeff's number handy. 970-227-0588
Great guy to work with. Got the parts for my 70 RR convertible clone project fast and helped with getting a damage claim with AMD taken care of. He is definitely a good choice for supplying your body panels.