1969 Plymouth Satellite Convertable Build...

[ian ashton]

I've started the build of a 1969 Plymouth Sport Satellite convertable, using AMT's '69 GTX Convertable.

Some specifics of the car:

18 auto with AC (starting with the '71 Duster 340)

Bench Seat from AMT '68 Road Runner (not correct for '69, but close enough)

B5 Blue, Blue Interior and Steel Wheels - I haven't decided on Redlines or thin white walls yet - probably Redlines, as I'm saving the white walls for my Slant 6 Challenger Convertable project.

Facilitating the project:

I found a resin Satellite hood on eBay - I'm hoping it shows up today, I'll post pics as soon as it gets here - that is kind of the key tho this whole project, otherwise I'll be stuck doing a Road Runner convertable, or a Satellite with a Road Runner hood. I'm hoping to use the Photoetched Satellite scripts from ModelCarGarage, or try to get something custom made that says "Sport Satellite" like it should.

So, as usual I started with the chassis, and exhaust. I used the kits stock exhaust, and started to fab up the 2-1 collector with some heat and super glue. Coming along pretty well...

Painted up chassis, with some details started:

My first ever attempt at "bending" exhaust with heat:

Running the brake lines, with the chassis painted, gas tank done, with BMF straps:

Some interior details:

Detail painted the dash:

The front bench seat painted up and ready for some seat belts. Hard to tell, but it is 2 tone, as it should be.

One of the door panels, again with the correct 2-tone, and some BMF (that rear window crank is giving me a headache, I'll work on that later.)

Next up will be some body work. I've got the GTX emblems sanded off, just need to work on some sink marks and all that good stuff.

[spkgibson]

Don't forget to paint the front sub frame the same as the rest of the chassis, Body Color! This looks great!

[kylexgore]

looks good so far ian. cant wait to see more.

[ian ashton]

Don't forget to paint the front sub frame the same as the rest of the chassis, Body Color! This looks great!

What do you mean? Like the front K member?

Edited October 21, 2010 by ian ashton

[Car Crazy 81]

What do you mean? Like the front K member?

Ian- Nice work as Steve stated the front subframe has to be in gray primer with the factory overspray. But the lower piece on the K-member goes black. I ran into the same problem with my 69 Roadrunner project used to be a GTX and Steve pointed me in the right direction. What source are the dogdish wheels coming from. I found mines from a Revell 64 Chevy C10 Pickup minus the Chevy caps and replaced them with a set from a Lindberg 64 Belvedere kit and cant tell the difference.

Sorry to hi-jack youre thread but heres what those 64 Chevy C10 wheels look like on a Mopar with the 64 Belvedere caps. Also i'd added a couple of pics of my 69 Roadrunner with a Hemi.

Edited October 21, 2010 by LSU Fan 1981

[spkgibson]

Thats what I ment, I helped LSU FAN with his build, I can't wait to see this one done, What will you be doing for the correct hood? I need one of those myself to make the HardTop when they bring it back out!

[ian ashton]

Waitig on te Sattelite hood from eBay - if it's workable I might make a mold, I'll let you know.

[ian ashton]

Ian- Nice work as Steve stated the front subframe has to be in gray primer with the factory overspray. But the lower piece on the K-member goes black. I ran into the same problem with my 69 Roadrunner project used to be a GTX and Steve pointed me in the right direction. What source are the dogdish wheels coming from. I found mines from a Revell 64 Chevy C10 Pickup minus the Chevy caps and replaced them with a set from a Lindberg 64 Belvedere kit and cant tell the difference.

Sorry to hi-jack youre thread but heres what those 64 Chevy C10 wheels look like on a Mopar with the 64 Belvedere caps. Also i'd added a couple of pics of my 69 Roadrunner with a Hemi.

]

Thanks for the info/pics!

I'm using a resin copy that I made of the Lindberg Little Red Wagon steelies - no caps, I like the bare look better

[charlie8575]

I'll enjoy watching this come along. Looks great so far.

Charlie Larkin

[spkgibson]

Waitig on te Sattelite hood from eBay - if it's workable I might make a mold, I'll let you know.

Sweet i'll get one from you for sure if you make them. Keep up the great work on this !

[ChrisPflug]

Curious about the bench seat though- buckets should be standard for a Sport Satelite (with a center armrest/"buddy seat" or console optional)- The GTX and Sport Satellite shared the higher line interior trim (and lots of woodgrain vinyl) as opposed to the plain Belvedere/Satellite/Road Runner stuff

[ian ashton]

Curious about the bench seat though- buckets should be standard for a Sport Satelite (with a center armrest/"buddy seat" or console optional)- The GTX and Sport Satellite shared the higher line interior trim (and lots of woodgrain vinyl) as opposed to the plain Belvedere/Satellite/Road Runner stuff

I wasn't sure about that one, as I couldn't find differentiating interior pictures. I guess I'm building a standard Satellite, rather than a Sport Satellite then!

And, one thing I've learned with Chrysler, NEVER SAY NEVER! They made lots of oddball stuff...

[hemi]

Your off to a good start so far,Cant wait to see some more progress on this one.

[ChrisPflug]

Great site for factory info on Mopars:

http://www.hamtramck-historical.com/dealerships/1969PlymouthDealershipDataBook-02.shtml

http://www.hamtramck-historical.com/dealerships/1969PlymouthColorAndTrim-03.shtml

[ian ashton]

Great site for factory info on Mopars:

http://www.hamtramck-historical.com/dealerships/1969PlymouthDealershipDataBook-02.shtml

http://www.hamtramck-historical.com/dealerships/1969PlymouthColorAndTrim-03.shtml

Oh my, this is absolutely incredible information! THANK YOU! this saves me HUGE amounts of digging!!!

[ian ashton]

I got some more work done on this project last night and today, here are a few snaps...

Filling a sink mark in the casting:

The sink marks filled and sanded, and all GTX emblems removed. First coat of prime:

The start of my 318 automatic. I made a mold and casted this transmission, I don't remember what its from;

The engine and trans mated up:

I also got into some interior details. The blue ribbon I bought for seat belts was too bright, and not the right size, so I decided to play with some white material, and blue paint. I taped a length to my workspace, and then brushed on extremely thinned French Blue Model Masters paint. The end result is about as perfect as I think I can get:

Belts installed on the front bench. Turns out I need to add a center belt as well, no biggie:

(Yes, I know that the belts are supposed to go through the loops. I realized this after I already glued them in place. Debating on if I want to pull it apart and correct, or just leave them as-is.

And some progress on the chassis. I got the front sub-frame installed, along with the front suspension and some additional detail painting. I might pull it apart and make the wheels poseable, it seems easy enough to do, just not sure if I want to go for it yet...

[ian ashton]

Question: what size hose do I need to order to replicate the factory heater hose (firewall to water pump) and AC hose? 5/8" ?(scale of course)

[ian ashton]

I got the poseable wheels finsihed up today, and the Satellite hood arrived! Its pretty nice, not perfect, but will definately do the job for me!

Starting with the steering:

I cut the K frame apart to get the pieces I needed moving ready:

Mocking up the front end - I used push pins bent at 90* to act as tie rods. I drilled the T's that the wheels mount to and drilled a hole at the end of the steering rack, and then poped the pin through the rack, bent it, and pushed it through the T. Super glued them in place, and cut the excess off.

Next I had to make the stabilizer pieces. I believe these parts stay stationary on the actual car, but I'm not sure, and it was easier for me to make them move, so whatever. I cut some spare flat sheet and wired them in with some wire to test 'em out:

Front suspension installed and painted:

Now for the good stuff - some pictures of the hood!

You can sort of see that the hood doesn't have as much of a raised up portion in the center as it probably should, but the difference is so minimal its not worth messing with.

It fit a little large, but nothing a little sanding didn't fix.

Edited October 25, 2010 by ian ashton

[charlie8575]

That hood looks great. Where did you find it exactly?

Charlie Larkin

[ian ashton]

That hood looks great. Where did you find it exactly?

Charlie Larkin

A member of this forum mentioned that he had seen them from time to time on eBay, so I just kept watching for it to pop up - the seller is lots-stuff-4-sale and the quality is excellent. It was $6 shipped.

I was going to try to duplicate it, but my resin casting skills aren't there yet.

[ian ashton]

I've made some more progress to keep you entertained

I wasn't happy with how my previous exhaust looked, so I decided to re-build it. Luckily I have about 15 spare castings of this exhaust laying around, so finding the parts wasn't tough, haha.

The new collector test fitting:

New (left) vs. Old (right):

Starting to do some engine detailing - first up were plug wires:

Belts and alternator installed, and wires for alternator:

The start of my 318 single snorkel air cleaner. I believe this is the stock 440 air cleaner from the Revell Hemi Dart - it was the perfect size. For the snorkel I just used some plastuc sprue trimmed and sanded:

Trimmed up and ready for some paint:

More engine details - I made the return spring from a strand of speaker wire. The linkage is photo etched from MAS. I also added the breather line on one of the valve covers:

Another view:

After this I also built a bracket for the AC compressor - it basically was just hanging there, weird. I need to add a dipstick and trans fluid stick, and I think I'll be about done with engine details and ready to start the rest of the compartment.

I also did some work on the interior. This is the only picture that I took, but in addition to this I also got the front bench seat and dash in. I'm just finishing the woodgrain steering wheel to put in. Pics of that later.

Hoping to get out to the garage this afternoon to shoot some prime on the hood and steelies.

[charlie8575]

Looking good, Ian.

Charlie Larkin

[Tom Kren]

COOL SO FAR WHAT COLOR /BRAND IS THAT BLUE?

[ian ashton]

Mopar B5 from a Chrysler dealership. I'll post the part number shortly for you.

[W-409]

This is going to be very nice! I like that you are not building pro touring, as very often people build pro tourings from this car. It's one of my favourite Mopars and your progress looks very good. That detailing is amazing!