!970 Satellite/ GTX restoration project

[99ss]

Ok got one ..LOL

 

[99ss]

some pics...
putting this together temporarily to drive for a fe weeks then it will all come back out and apart for restoration.

 

[The Satellite Cometh]

How ya gonna know how fast you are going with no dashboard? LOL

 

[99ss]

rallye dash is in the garage.. need to get it wired up soon, but the damn brakes lines are plugged.. need to take them all apart or buy a new kit for 180 shipped with all the new hardlines pre-bent

 

[99ss]

Started working on the trunk floor
http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/vbpicgallery.php?do=view&g=1003

Got a few more things to do before I bring it to the welder, he does a good job and I cant afford to drop 1000 on a millermatic welder and all the accessories right now. I'll replace the drop downs when I do the quarters. Just need to be able to drive this for now.

 

[northerndave]

Lookin good, maybe drill some more holes for plug welding to the frame sections.

Simulating factory spacing in my 69 RR floor I think I drilled 155 holes in my trunk floor skin.

Spaced every 2"-2 1/2"

Also a cheap buzz box and a spool of flux core would do you just fine on stuff like this.

 

[99ss]

OK will do

 

[ODSVET]

This is great, you have a rusted to the core car, holes big enough to hide in and the first thing you do is drop nearly a $1,000 on parts for the engine. Seen this a million times. Having worked int he restoration business for nearly 20 years I know where this is gonna end. Craigslist, " for sale project car" undoubtedly in worse shape than when is started.
I can't believe you are actually trying to drive this thing on a public road, as is .. if the metal you can see is that bad, imagine the condition of the stuff you can't, the important stuff, STRUCTURAL stuff.. but you have a really bitchin' distributor ...
The guy who said "15,000" , yeah, maybe in body work alone. Then think about all the stuff, the little stuff, the fasteners, the clips, seals, etc etc etc ... the list goes on and on and on. We get guys like this all the time in our shop, they come in with a handful of unoriginal, unrelated parts and say " hey, can you guys restore my car " ? Its a nightmare, people ( in general) have no clue what it takes to have a "driver" quality resto done, let alone something thats worth looking at,and I hate to break it to you 15k won't even scratch the surface on that beast, unless of course you enjoy being laughed at, a lot ... I'm not trying to cut you down, rather I'm trying to educate, some people have the skills, others don't. But when you post a pic of a rusted to hell car, then in the next pic you have roughly 1k worth of electrical parts, experience tells me your off to a bad start in the wrong direction... you'd be better of focusing on the body , subframe and all the incidentals that come with those items, you'll see that 1k was a total waste of cash at this point,with a body in that shape . Grab a coffee , a pen and paper, make a list of parts you WANT, then make a list of parts you NEED, then add them up , make a plan of attack. Whats the point of having a screamin' engine if the frame rails are rotten ? And judging from the amount of rust and the size of the holes, you have frame rail issues , whether you know it or not. Not trying to get you down, but rather trying to show the reality here. Please don't endanger yourself or OTHERS by putting that thing on the road ...

 

[northerndave]

Harsh.

I'm 41 years old and been messin with old cars and trucks since I was a teen.

So, yeah ODSVET is right. Tactful no, but yeah ...

We've seen it before. And understandibly, It's part of the youthful enthusiasm that surrounds the muscle car/classic car interest.

So I personally hate to pee on it, the energy, the excitement that is.

We've all seen the "summit hop up kit" or "PAW bolt ons" like intake, carb, headers and a chrome air cleaner make their way onto cars that need some more important things.

But I think it's a bit harsh to say the car is headed for craigslist.

I like to believe ODSVET is trying to inspire with the "double dog dare ya" trick.

Tell a guy he can't do something and watch them feverishly work at proving you wrong.

99ss you seem respectful and high energy.

There aren't too many here that can't relate with your desire to drive this car.

I'd sure like to see you keep going on the car, and do be safe.

 

[99ss]

This is great, you have a rusted to the core car, holes big enough to hide in and the first thing you do is drop nearly a $1,000 on parts for the engine. Seen this a million times. Having worked int he restoration business for nearly 20 years I know where this is gonna end. Craigslist, " for sale project car" undoubtedly in worse shape than when is started.
I can't believe you are actually trying to drive this thing on a public road, as is .. if the metal you can see is that bad, imagine the condition of the stuff you can't, the important stuff, STRUCTURAL stuff.. but you have a really bitchin' distributor ...
The guy who said "15,000" , yeah, maybe in body work alone. Then think about all the stuff, the little stuff, the fasteners, the clips, seals, etc etc etc ... the list goes on and on and on. We get guys like this all the time in our shop, they come in with a handful of unoriginal, unrelated parts and say " hey, can you guys restore my car " ? Its a nightmare, people ( in general) have no clue what it takes to have a "driver" quality resto done, let alone something thats worth looking at,and I hate to break it to you 15k won't even scratch the surface on that beast, unless of course you enjoy being laughed at, a lot ... I'm not trying to cut you down, rather I'm trying to educate, some people have the skills, others don't. But when you post a pic of a rusted to hell car, then in the next pic you have roughly 1k worth of electrical parts, experience tells me your off to a bad start in the wrong direction... you'd be better of focusing on the body , subframe and all the incidentals that come with those items, you'll see that 1k was a total waste of cash at this point,with a body in that shape . Grab a coffee , a pen and paper, make a list of parts you WANT, then make a list of parts you NEED, then add them up , make a plan of attack. Whats the point of having a screamin' engine if the frame rails are rotten ? And judging from the amount of rust and the size of the holes, you have frame rail issues , whether you know it or not. Not trying to get you down, but rather trying to show the reality here. Please don't endanger yourself or OTHERS by putting that thing on the road ...

LMAO! Are you familiar with the term go pound sand?

 

[ODSVET]

LMAO! Are you familiar with the term go pound sand?

Yup... very familiar , thats what I usually tell guys that bring cars like yours to my shop.
To everyone else, sorry about the tact thing ... I didn't mean to dump on anyone, I was just getting a point across. I see this everyday of my life. People headed in the wrong direction, or worse, no definitive direction with a "restoration" (which this is NOT ) ... what this boils down to is simple, you need a good foundation before you build the house. Anybody who has even the slightest knowledge in this hobby knows this ... don't get me wrong, I'd love to see this car built, and built CORRECTLY, win tons of awards and bring you years of happiness thru ownership and the pride of a job well done ... but, seriously ... I doubt it

So I know its a B-Body Mopar site, but, body work is body work and a resto is a resto ... Below are images of a 1954 Buick Skylark Convertible I am currently working on, stripped of EVERYTHING, and waiting for its trip to media blasting. You have no clue what your working with until its blasted.. you can use any other method you want, but blasting reveals the truth. I expect that less than 80% of this car will be returning from blast. I already know the floors are gone, the boot area is toast and most of the rear qtrs ... see ? this is how professionals do it ... not by buying brand new sheetmetal to lay over rusted metal. Take your time, its not a race, you'll be happy you did...

and yeah, that '70 in the background is a customer car... its a screamer too 440 6bbl clone car, but a screamer nonetheless ...

 

[99ss]

Harsh.

I'm 41 years old and been messin with old cars and trucks since I was a teen.

So, yeah ODSVET is right. Tactful no, but yeah ...

We've seen it before. And understandibly, It's part of the youthful enthusiasm that surrounds the muscle car/classic car interest.

So I personally hate to pee on it, the energy, the excitement that is.

We've all seen the "summit hop up kit" or "PAW bolt ons" like intake, carb, headers and a chrome air cleaner make their way onto cars that need some more important things.

But I think it's a bit harsh to say the car is headed for craigslist.

I like to believe ODSVET is trying to inspire with the "double dog dare ya" trick.

Tell a guy he can't do something and watch them feverishly work at proving you wrong.

99ss you seem respectful and high energy.

There aren't too many here that can't relate with your desire to drive this car.

I'd sure like to see you keep going on the car, and do be safe.

There are a few ways to do a car.. some people care about the body first. I'm not one of them. I've been over every inch of this car inside and out, I know whats rotted and whats structurally sound. The frame is fine, it needs sheet metal. some people see sheet metal as a deterrent, I don't. I needs to be able to drive right now and be road worthy. Couldn't do that on the previous ignition and carb setup. You have to start somewhere so I took on what I knew I could do right away to make it road worthy. It has all new brakes.. thats makes it safe to drive and the engine work makes it reliable to not break down in traffic and be a road hazard. It is pretty ? LMAO! I think we all know the answer to that, but it will be functional and safe. All the lights will work ( which is more than you can say for 80% of the cars on the road )and it will be 100% legal to drive under our states requirements. Yes some states don't allow holes, this is not one of them

If asscrack odsvet wants to send some money to me I'll get it all done at once. Until then it gets done as I see fit. Safety equipment first, reliable to not break down second, aesthetics last...
I don't have a welder so it needs to be driven 1.5 mile round trip to get the floors installed. Again if asscrack odsvet wants to send me some money for a flatbed we can do it her way.

I'm 48 and messing with cars since I was 10. This car will be cherry when it's complete but until then it just needs to get by. If you cant appreciate that, its your problem not mine.

Dave suggested more plug welds, I drilled more plug weld holes. Thx for the help Dave...

And guess what every car is always for sale... I'm asking $9500 for this one if someone wants to buy it...LOL Thats how much I need/want to sell it.

Dave I'm driving it tomorrow to the welder and then to a mech on Weds to re-flare a couple brake lines I didnt do so well on. The engine is a beast though, has a lot of power and isnt smoking out the tailpipe so I think it will be ok for a while. I just got the new seat belts today as well.. fully retractable 2" wide 3 pt .

 

[99ss]

Yup... very familiar , thats what I usually tell guys that bring cars like yours to my shop.
To everyone else, sorry about the tact thing ... I didn't mean to dump on anyone, I was just getting a point across. I see this everyday of my life. People headed in the wrong direction, or worse, no definitive direction with a "restoration" (which this is NOT ) ... what this boils down to is simple, you need a good foundation before you build the house. Anybody who has even the slightest knowledge in this hobby knows this ... don't get me wrong, I'd love to see this car built, and built CORRECTLY, win tons of awards and bring you years of happiness thru ownership and the pride of a job well done ... but, seriously ... I doubt it

And again, go pound sand asscake :hello2:

 

[ODSVET]

wow, I'm 42 and I've been BUILDING show winning cars since I was 20, while you admittedly have been "messing" with them. Sorry I took time off to serve my country. So, I see your not bright enough to take constructive criticism , and you have to resort to name calling & insults, little things for little minds, I won't stoop to your level. The thing that gets me is, and you mentioned it several times, you need money. If that's the case, why would you buy a car that exceeds your capabilities ? I.E., needs welding, yet you don't have a welder, needs lines made, but you don't know how to do the lines properly ? Makes zero sense to me and anybody else with 2 brain cells to rub together.
It would make more sense to buy a car that's street-able and forgo the "project" until you have sufficient funds, although its my guess if your still scraping by at 48 years old, you never will have sufficient funds ( although there's always lottery tickets ) . Oh.. and not every car is for sale. I have a 77 Trailduster and 69 Roadrunner that will never be for sale , I don't care how big the check is ...

 

[99ss]

There is constructive criticism and there is being an asshole. You an asshole son. Shove your show winning cars where the sun don't shine... hows that for constructive criticism?

The whole car will come apart again before its completed. It will have an EFI 6.2 liter 426 or 440, new suspension.. etc... maybe new dash w/air bags and the whole ball of wax or it could just stay as an old school 440... that part isn't decided yet.

You come in here and insult and then brag and think I'm going to care one single bit what you think? Seriously your an idiot at best no matter how good a car you build. Your people skills are none existent so you are nothing more than a troll in this thread to me and even less if I'm in a bad mood. You didn't offer help you offered your negative dime a dozen opinion and then act like I should be dropping to my knees to get your critique?!? Are you that much of an asshole in real life or just in the internet? Never mind I already know, I've seen your type a thousand times over in this industry. Yea I've been in it while as well and a person doesn't need a person like you with your expertise to build an award winning car. They just need the want to do it and money for parts. This car needs 4200 in sheet metal. Maybe at your shop that translate to 20,000 worth of work for your expert hands and opinion but for me it translates to 4200 in sheet metal and maybe 400-600 for the welding by the time all is said and done. The interior is dependent on how much money I have to spend on it and so is the final drive-train.

You might think your gods gift to the restoration world but all I've seen is a big A-Hole. You can drop from this thread, you opinion and or what you call help is not wanted thank you.

 

[Propwash]

Wow guys.........Put down the swords!!

First off, Odsvet your first post does not come off as constructive criticism, but more of sarcasm and arrogance. End up on Craigslist? End up being laughed at..a lot? That is not "tactful".....at all. Yes, there are basics to approach a restoration, but that doesn't mean you need to belittle the folks that take a different path for their own personal reasons. It's his thread, his car and if you don't have anything nice to say about it, don't say anything at all. Simple as that.

It would be a different story if you came in with a positive attitude and making suggestions to help guide the chap in the right direction, not kicking off with here we go again...seen this a million times, gonna end up in the scrap pile. How did you honestly expect the guy to react? Put yourself in his shoe's.You did make some valid points about the key factors of sucessfully restoring a car to a decent caliber, but when you tell him his car will probably have a for sale sign on it, anything you write past that will just be looked at as a negative or pointless.

99ss.....Obviously you're pretty torqued over the whole situation, but you're gonna have to expect people to post their opinions be it good or bad. If so, take it with a grain of salt and learn from it. No need to start cussing and swearing, it makes you look immature in the process. Restore the car however you see fit. It's your car. Is everything going to flow perfect for you? No. Are you going to learn from your mistakes down the road? Yes. Like I said, take any opinion be it good or bad and learn from it.


We're all here because we love cars, what they stand for and the good people we meet around them. We're here to help and learn from each other, not to criticize others work or get in screaming matches. I hope you guys can see through all of this and truely understand where each person is coming from in a positive manner. If not...well, lets at least try to get along

 

[99ss]

The fact of the matter is I have to drive it right now, not that I want to just put it on the road as a rust bucket. It needs the basics and yes I will have to repeat some steps but I don't have the luxury of doing a frame off right now. I don't like doing it either but you do what you have to do. I needed to know if the engine would run and be good enough to drive. Floors are already here, trunk goes in tomorrow and then I can mount the gas tank. Then I can drive it for a bit while I restore another car ( which I need to do to and then sell to have the funds to do this car the way I want) and wait for my 3rd car to come back. When I have the 3rd car back then the ss/gtx comes back off the road and gets worked over the right way. I keep the 3rd car and the SS/GTX .......
yea I have 3 cars off the road right now... and need something to drive.. so this is it.. the other two dont have an engine, one of them is pristine other than no engine. Hope that helps.

 

[northerndave]

I've got a good buddy a generation younger than me that really likes the whole car nut enthusiast world, he's really into it. I watched him eagerly junkyard a 56 chevy 2 dr onto a late 80's monte carlo chassis and I honestly cringed knowing that his 56 frame with it's dated but effective IFS etc was perfectly fine and really should have just been treated to new ball joints, bushings, brakes etc.

Well he wanted to drive it really bad. he wanted that thing rolling and he didn't care what anybody said lol!!

It all worked out fine, he drove the car with a gutted interior, rusty quarters etc for a year or 2, had a blast with it. He stuck a small weiand blower on a "clapped out" (tired) SBC ahead of a TH350 and roasted smoky burnouts on command with a set of stylish torque thrusts all the way around. He had fun with the car and was granted a free pass of approval amongst friends under the guise of "rat rod" although his enthusiasm alone would have been enough to win everybody’s approval. lol!

He showed up at my shop one day with the car and a set of quarter panel patches. he wanted his car to look a little nicer for a local show that was only a couple days away.

His enthusiasm alone once again was enough to get me to put the tools down on a 68 coronet and show him how to do panel patches as I did it for him. I also made a quick lap around the rest of the car fixing dents etc & we shot the car in a coat of flat black and sent him on his way as happy as could be.

He's a good guy with more passion than most "purists" and it just makes you feel good to see someone having so much genuine fun with a hobby no matter how ratty it might be.

Years later, he still has the car and the new direction for the car involves it's original frame as part of a journey that will see the car also earning a respectable interior, correct trim, bumpers... it's all going a new direction.

The direction the car is headed now makes everybody happy, but my buddy has always been happy with the car and that's what counts.

 

[ODSVET]

I have no tact, that much I admit. I apologize(d) for that, its just how I am . I call it like I see it, some people appreciate that, others don't. As far as there being "different" ways to approach a restoration ? Not really, there's a right way, and a wrong way. Trying to drive the car ( meaning daily driver ) while restoring/modding/rebuilding falls under the "wrong" category and any professional builder will tell you this. I just get frustrated when I see this kind of stuff going on, 1 because its unsafe 2 it gives the hobby a bad name/rep 3 inevitability cars like this wind up in my shop or someone elses and we have to fix it ... and honestly there is nothing worse than trying to fix someone elses hack job. Case in point a customers car we recently had in the shop caught fire thru no fault of our own. It was in the shop for an unrelated issue ( overheating, no pun intended ) and while idling the under dash portion of the wiring harness heated up and burst into flames.. why ? Because some &&%$$* did a half assed job, hacked the wiring harness to hell and called it good. Honestly, I don't give a flying yahoo what this cat does to his car, I pointed out (tactlessly ) my observations, and he didn't like it. Fine, but if your going to post half assed work on an internet forum, don't be surprised if you get called out, its pretty dang simple. And certainly don't start calling names and being insulting, that really shows your maturity level, or lack thereof ... it's the same reason I don't go to car shows anymore, I see what could be a really sweet ride, but unfortunately somebody was in a hurry, lacked the funds , or just plain didn't know wtf they were doing and it ends up looking like crap, then they bring it to a car show and say " look what I did " , really ? Yeah, those 1970 AAR 'cuda stripes really don't match the body lines of your 1968 Barracuda, and furthermore why would you clear coat over a decal ? Oh well to each there own , but don't publicly broadcast what you do unless you can take criticism, constructive or otherwise ...