'65 Plymouth Satellite...The One That Got Away

[Greg Pugh]

Is it me or maybe the picture angle but the differential looks upside down.

 

Holy cow Brad! You saved my bacon there! I double and triple checked that throughout the mocking up stages and must've flipped it around right before I glued it together! I was so sure that I had it right that I admittedly scoffed at your post and thought "Brad's lost his mind"! Then I thought, maybe I better take another look.

And that folks, is why I love a build thread! Thank you Brad! You saved the day. It's already been fixed.

[gasser59]

Glad to help out. You would have discovered it sooner rather than later. Its funny, I do the same thing...tell myself I gotta do this, gotta do this and then when it comes time to do it, I forget.

[Greg Pugh]

My original intention was to use the complete engine and transmission from the Super Bee but...that changed. I decided that I will be using the engine from the Satellite and mate it to the bell housing/transmission from the Super Bee. The first picture is of the two engines side by side for comparison when I was mocking it up. The second pic was after I already changed my mind but forgot to snap a pic, you can see the Torqueflite has been removed already. Also in that second pic, you can see what prompted this decision. If you'll notice where I marked with Sharpie, the motor's mounting point is too far back and too low on the Super Bee, and it's too high and just a bit too far forward on the Satellite. Once the motor is installed and the exhaust manifolds are installed, you won't see this anyways so instead of correcting the motor mounts, I chose the lesser of the two evils. As some of you know, the RB engine series (383, 413, 426 wedge, and 440) all share the same block. The Satellite kit came with a 426 Wedge and the Super Bee kit came with a 440. AMT and Moebius both did their homework here too as both blocks are identical in size. So much so in fact, that I'll be able to use the short block from the Satellite and still put the top end and all of the 6-pack stuff right on top of it and no one will ever know! Mwahahahahahahahahaha! 

[Greg Pugh]

All in all, a pretty productive 24 hours (for me anyways...Lol). Now to clean everything up, prime, and paint. Thanks for watching!

[Ridge Rider]

Nice story and the 1:1 is sweet. A nice start, thanks for sharing.

[TFchronos]

Very nice story, as a huge Mopar fan and fan of the mid year Plymouths ('67 being my personal favorite) I can say I'll definitely be watching your build closely.  

Nice work mating the engine and transmission.

[68shortfleet]

Looking good Greg. How many kits do you have started now? 

Edited December 12, 2015 by 68shortfleet

[Greg Pugh]

I had three going, one being super close to completion, but they were all stalled out (waiting for parts, paint drying, etc). I had nothing to do and I just felt like I couldn't wait any longer on starting this one. Lol. So I currently have four, including this one. I generally don't like having more than three going at one time but like I said, one of the four is super close to being done.

[dodgefever]

My original intention was to use the complete engine and transmission from the Super Bee but...that changed. I decided that I will be using the engine from the Satellite and mate it to the bell housing/transmission from the Super Bee. The first picture is of the two engines side by side for comparison when I was mocking it up. The second pic was after I already changed my mind but forgot to snap a pic, you can see the Torqueflite has been removed already. Also in that second pic, you can see what prompted this decision. If you'll notice where I marked with Sharpie, the motor's mounting point is too far back and too low on the Super Bee, and it's too high and just a bit too far forward on the Satellite.

Neither is exactly right; the driver's side mount should be around the same height as on the Moebius block, but rearward of the oil pump.  The AMT block looks more correct in terms of the chamfers on the corners, but easy to fix on the Moebius.  Good job on the K member.  Looking forward to seeing this progress.

[Greg Pugh]

Something else for those building this kit, especially those wanting to build an accurate stock car, I discovered that the oil pan is wrong. The oil pan in the kit is correct for a C body car with a big block. In the picture below, the oil pan on the top is the Moebius Satellite piece, while the lower one is from AMT's Super Bee.

Reference: http://www.440source.com/oilpans.htm

 

 

 

[Roadrunner]

Interesting story. I too have wanted to build some tribute models of cars that I've owned, but virtually none of them are available as stock versions, or anywhere near stock.

[Greg Pugh]

While getting a bunch of pieces ready for same-color paint, I decided to get the rest of the 4-speed conversion done. I started with the pedals.

First, I trimmed up the brake pedal:

Then, I did the same thing to the brake pedal from a donor '65 Satellite kit I have

I shortened the brake pedal arm and made a notch for it to go into

Lastly, I attached the brake (now clutch) pedal. I wasn't too worried about how pretty the attachment point was as long as it was solid. The entire horizontal piece that the pedals swing from goes completely behind the dash. Also, I removed the bracket that the accelerator pedal is attached to as it will stand alone. It will look more realistic like that.

 

[Greg Pugh]

Sorry for the picture size differences in my posts. I finally realized how to add story/picture/story. I figured it would look much better that way.

Now moving onto the console. The console itself is the same between the automatic cars and the 4-speed cars. The difference is in the console shifter plate.

Here's what we're starting with

And here's what we're trying to accomplish

[Greg Pugh]

So we need to start by removing the raised section towards the rear where the automatic shifter and indicator go

I then cut the forward section from another piece in the same donor Satellite kit as I previously mentioned and added it

Then, I made a hole for the 4-speed shifter

There is still a little bit of work to do here. I will be stripping the chrome off, further addressing the surgery scars, and then hitting it with Alclad. All in all, not too much work.

[Fordy_Styles]

Awesome work so far, I will definitely be following along with this build.

[dino246gt]

Really loving all the extra details!  Keep 'em coming!

[Greg Pugh]

Between being busy with work and having my butt kicked with the flu this last week, I haven't had any bench time here lately. I'm starting to feel better now though and was able to get the Dana 60 bolted in and torqued down today.

[Custom Mike]

Chassis looks great Greg, and the modification to the shifter plate on the console is very nicely done!

[Greg Pugh]

Thank you!

[Greg Pugh]

The 440 6-pack is done and ready to install. I forgot to mention earlier that my car had power steering so I stole the power steering reservoir and the belts and pulleys from the '70 Superbee kit also.

[Speedfreak]

Great thread Greg, I'm really enjoying this! 

[Greg Pugh]

Thank you!

[Greg Pugh]

Yesterday I was able to get the engine installed for the last time. I installed both inner fenders, core support, driveline, and exhaust. I'm hoping to have it on wheels by this weekend sometime. It's been awfully busy at work here lately but progress is progress!

[gasser59]

That looks great Greg. Glad to see you've gotten some bench time on this. Loving the color.

[Greg Pugh]

Thank you Brad!

I just had another "Doh!" moment! I just realized that I forgot to install my battery cables and the hose for the windshield washer reservoir!