Banana Project Thread 72 Satellite Seabring

[NBC-Steve]

Hi All,
This is my 1972 Plymouth Satellite Seabring project. This car was a barn find here in California and is completely rust free. (At least I hope it is, I have some bubbles under the vinyl top.) First thing I did was to fix the leaks (All of them) and fix an overheating problem. Then I replaced the wheels with some new magnum 500 to give it a better look. Now I'm going to breath some life in the 318 by replacing the carb and intake manifold and sprucing up the engine compartment. So today I'm going to work on the throttle cable and carburetor linkage as well as the fuel line and while I'm at it.... (Yeah you know how this goes...) I noticed when I pulled out one of the water pump bolts lots of coolant came out of the hole so I probably have a bad gasket. So I have a new high flow water pump and thermostat that I'm going to install today before I tackle the throttle linkage problem. Here's some photos!

 

[66383]

It never ends! Looks great.

 

[YY1]

NICE.

Long water pump bolts go into the water jackets. That's normal.

Use silicone when reassembling.

 

[NBC-Steve]

NICE.

Long water pump bolts go into the water jackets. That's normal.

Use silicone when reassembling.

Thanks! I found that out the hard way. LOL.

 

[Charger72]

Nice looking car, good luck with it.

 

[NBC-Steve]

Its been a while since I wrote anything but I have been busy with my Banana restoration. I have been chasing a transmission leak that has been driving me crazy. The leak was coming from the shift selector seal. I dropped the pan and valve body and replaced the seal. It was a lot of work and a big mess but pretty straight forward. I stopped about 80% of the leak. I'm not sure where the other leaks are coming from but I suspect the transmission cooler line but that is a tough area to reach even for a Snap On tool junkie like myself.

Next project was the tail lights. I discovered that they where full of water and most of the reflective paint was gone. I could not find replacement tail light housings so I had to fix the originals. The plastic was an easy fix but replacing the bulb sockets was more challenging. I ended up cleaning and fixing the stop/turn sockets and replacing the reverse sockets with a generic. Cleaned up the harness and used split wire loom to replace the tape that was falling off.

Now I'm chasing what sounds/feels like a cylinder that isn't firing (But it is.) I did a compression check and my #7 is 135LBS Slightly lower than the rest. I'm considering my options but the one I'm thinking of is just doing a complete engine and transmission swap. I have a 318 with a 904 trans. Maybe a 360 with a 727? Love to put a 400 or a 440 in it only if it is a bolt in without changing out the frame components. Suggestions are encouraged!

 

[NBC-Steve]

A lot has been going on lately with the Banana project. First thing was the engine (318 LA) that I wanted to give it some more power buy changing out the intake and carb and doing some other tweaks. It helped but it wasn't quite enough. So long story short I will be doing the Blue Print 408 Stroker create engine this summer and probably will take me the rest of the year to complete. Here's a thread I started and after reading all the responses I made up my mind to go with the 408.

https://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/threads/318-904-keep-or-replace.191484/#post-911536140

In the meantime I have been busy repairing the dash and speedometer so it works properly. As of now everything works except the clock. (Still looking on eBay) The biggest project so far has been the rear spring replacement. I purchased new Mopar springs from Summit Racing along with new spring hangers and hardware. So far I'm about half way done (My work has been keeping me very busy lately) so as soon as I have a day off I will finish the spring project. I will say that so far I'm very happy with the way it looks with the more aggressive stance.

 

[71dodgechargerrt]

Nice clean car. New springs will make a big difference.

 

[jprather]

i love the SSP trim on it.. are you sure it not a satellite sebring plus ??

 

[F4R/T]

Sweet! Nice to see the 72s getting more attention these days. Fat fingers on cell phone keep getting me today

 

[jprather]

Sweet! Nice to see the 73s getting more attention these days

ummm, this one is a 72

 

[NBC-Steve]

i love the SSP trim on it.. are you sure it not a satellite sebring plus ??

I'm about 90% sure its a Sebring and not the plus but as soon as I have the chance I will check the VIN to be sure.

 

[YY1]

It doesn't have gray paint below the trim, either.

I know you could delete that on 67's, and hardly anyone did or knows about it.

Rallye dash?

But of course the real test is RH or RP.

 

[NBC-Steve]

I finally finished installing the new springs. I also had to tweak the torsion bars to level it out a bit. I am quite happy with the way it handles now and the more aggressive stance.

 

[YY1]

What springs did you go with?

I'd like to ditch my air shocks.

 

[NBC-Steve]

What springs did you go with?

I'd like to ditch my air shocks.

I went with the Mopar springs from Summit Racing.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/DCC-P3690455
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/DCC-P3690454
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/DCC-P4120080

You will need the new spring shackles on the front. I reused the rear spring hangers and replaced the bushings. Only thing I would do differently would be to replace the U bolts and I had mistakenly installed the right spring on the left side. (No alcohol was involved.) I caught that mistake before i did the right side so it wasn't so bad. I totally brain farted on that oversight.

More project pix because we all like Mopar project ****.

I'm going to order my 408 Stroker next week, I'm going to rebuild the 904 and I'm looking for gearing-performance upgrade suggestions since I'm not a transmission guy and I'm going to farm out that part of the project. In the meantime I really need to fix the brakes, they are almost down to the metal on the rear.

 

[NBC-Steve]

Rut Row! Too many burnouts broke a motor mount. So what do I do? Ordered my new 408 Stroker! Let the good times begin.

 

[NBC-Steve]

I received my new 408 Stroker from Blue Print Engines and I went right to work. I striped the old engine to make the removal easier as I wanted to pull the engine and tranny at the same time. Once I removed everything I simply unbolted the rear tranny bushings and out she went. I ended up breaking both of my motor mounts doing burnouts so removal was easy.

I'm rapidly hemorrhaging money as I'm discovering all the little things about Magnum heads on a LA block. None of my accessory brackets will work, the coolant bypass hose is off kilter and I fell into one of those project patterns of "Well since I have this out, I might as well do ____"

So...... I ordered a whole new Serpentine belt system from Blue Print, new stainless steel tranny lines and brake lines, Dropped off my 904 to a local transmission shop to be rebuilt, ordered a new wiring harness and a box full of new nuts and bolts. (Its my OCD thing) and a whole bunch of little bling bling things.

One of the good things I did before I started this project was to get the engine compartment and undercarriage detailed so that took out 95% of my clean up work. So now what you ask? I'm going to do my first attempt to paint a car. I'm just going to paint the engine compartment so if I screw up it wont be that bad. I'm going to give it a sponge bath and do all the prep work before I begin the 2 stage process of Top Banana. I think its going to look great with a black engine with aluminum highlights in a yellow engine compartment.

 

[NBC-Steve]

OK Banana fans! Here's an update on my progress so far. I spent more time in the engine compartment cleaning and scrubbing, scrubbing and cleaning, removing things I don't want paint on, bagging and tagging and searching for impossible body trim parts for the next phase of the build. I sanded and primed the engine compartment and quickly realized that the primer fumes are quite potent so I had to step outside a few times. (I'll be wearing a respirator for the paint.) I had to clear my head with a nice cold beer when I was done.

I also received my new Serpentine belt accessories (All in black) and did a loose install on the engine because I'm most likely going to have to remove everything for the re-install of the engine. I also sent out my 904 to get rebuilt and just got it back a few days ago. The only thing left for me to do is to paint the engine compartment then the fun will really begin putting everything back together. At that point I can move the Banana back to its parking spot in the garage and move my other classic back inside.

I will have to re-design the electrical system to accept the 100 amp alternator so I wont have a electrical fire and I'll fab up a bunch of AC hoses to accommodate the new AC compressor. I ordered a new wiring harness (That I will have to modify) and ordered a bunch of little things I will need in the engine bay. I hope my kids don't mind that I've spent their Christmas money. I'm already in the dog house according to my wife.

 

[NBC-Steve]

With all the COVID downtime I have had I made a lot of progress on the Banana, I'm actually now just waiting for the back ordered parts to show up. I painted the engine compartment with four coats of single stage base coat and let it sit overnight. Not too shabby for a beginner! After my clean up I started on putting everything on the firewall back together again while the engine was still out. I still need to replace the wire harness which is on back order (Of course)

I mated up the tranny with the engine which was a pain in the butt to get the TC to set properly in the 904. I ended up not bolting up the flex plate and mating the engine then bolting the flex plate through the lower cover shield. Its always fun torquing down something while its swinging from a chain.

Installing the engine and tranny was pretty easy, she lined right up and using a floor jack on the end of the tranny really helped. Now I spend hours just doing all the little things. With the air conditioning I decided to model the 73 Satellite/RR AC route as it moves the dryer near the condenser and the hoses from the compressor are on the same side. This will make the engine compartment look great!

I still need to work on the new alternator wiring plan but I think I will just have to bypass the stock ammeter and just use the volt meter. I have the schematic in my head I just need to put it down on paper. When I get that done I'll make a new and pretty wire harness for the engine and front lights.