Ben's Satellite

hey, all....

Got my Grandma's old car (1974 Satellite) moved from my parents' yard this weekend... below are a few shots of the process...

Onto the trailer... we had some issues....
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m214/Killi6/283965_2216369925923_1147848229_2648783_8141996_n. jpg

Pit stop for a pressure-wash...
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m214/Killi6/282692_2216371565964_1147848229_2648791_1032815_n. jpg

And here she is at my house.
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m214/Killi6/282186_2216371965974_1147848229_2648792_2288366_n. jpg

I have a five-phase restoration planned... starting with 'move on its own power'... :-p

Cool!

good starter car.

Good luck on the new project!

Good luck! Awesome car man, always loved those satellites

Nice looking Satellite man-good luck on the resto

Onto the trailer... we had some issues....
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m214/Killi6/283965_2216369925923_1147848229_2648783_8141996_n. jpg



Lots of power in those old cars..... LOL!

Looks like an awesome project, good luck with it!

Blog is up... need to update pics of disassembly... I'm worried about the frame so ithink the original plan is shot and I'm just going right into frame-off.

Http://74satellite.blogspot.com

Cool,keep posting pic's....Let me know if you have a hard time with anything..Just PM me :)

I like that car!

Alright! Keeping it in the family. Good luck!

Very cool she's still in the family.........

Looks like it had the vinyl top, cool, seen one on the net today that had one..

Some progress...

Hood off...
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GmmOS1FPwY4/Tj_a9Hbx-yI/AAAAAAAAAEs/_i_FpWVFUrg/s320/DSCF2478.JPG

A better view of what's going on inside... next time I get an hour or so to work on her, I'm taking the panels off the inside and started on the front bumper/lights/other body pieces.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gC4V3Q1jJn8/Tj_bsrShl0I/AAAAAAAAAE8/ymrB5W_w-EU/s320/DSCF2483.JPG

Here's ONE clean part... :thinker:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LddNUA7LQXE/Tj_cB7hw6MI/AAAAAAAAAFI/mII0p1dmJvk/s320/DSCF2494.JPG

Think I can repair that battery tray? :laughing7: And the alternator brackets and bolts... those bolts give me a nice hint to what's going on in the cooling passages, huh?
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_LPc8-SaUdw/Tj_cM7kRIJI/AAAAAAAAAFM/sWtu9Bvc-7o/s320/DSCF2495.JPG

Where the battery tray used to be. Looks like another panel I'll need to buy.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U0jfUmpQoK8/Tj_cXS7QngI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/8uX77vVWErI/s320/DSCF2496.JPG

I got the fan off, bunch of hoses, etc... the heater hoses are really stubborn at the firewall, though.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z2zp0J6ouYY/Tj_cvvQlkoI/AAAAAAAAAFY/spQUv0nVKco/s320/DSCF2500.JPG

I cleaned some more stuff up but didn't take pictures yet. Started taking off the wiring harness, scrubbed up the master cylinder, misc scrubbing off of grease, oil and dirt... hopefully more to come soon. I got all of the lawn mowing done yesterday so maybe when I get home from work today I'll have some time... :edgy:

just read thru your blog. i've always used a come-a-long to load my cars on a trailer,but your way was a little more exciting.how long was the car sitting at your grandma's before you brought it home?

Looks like a great project. Good luck with it. I love that you all keep it in the family also

just read thru your blog. i've always used a come-a-long to load my cars on a trailer,but your way was a little more exciting.how long was the car sitting at your grandma's before you brought it home?

Yeah, a come-along would have been great...

It was at my parents' place... Grandma died in 2003. My brother bought the car in the mid-late 90s, he drove it a bit and was doing some stuff with it, then he moved to Syracuse in 2003 (not because Grandma died... found a girlfriend) and he left the car there, it basically hadn't been touched since then and it had been parked and not driven for a couple of years before he left. So roughly 10 years of not running, parked outside under a tree.

some more inspections done....

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6XbvEXztZws/Tk_QdREYIpI/AAAAAAAAAHY/phglPRX50Wk/s1600/DSCF2732.JPG

is the body welded to the frame?? I haven't found any body mounts yet... I need the shop manuals...

started on the front body... found a wasp nest...
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zAwTjz4XtkA/Tk_R-b4N1tI/AAAAAAAAAHs/JwczByaNZVA/s1600/DSCF2738.JPG

blog updated...
http://74satellite.blogspot.com

There's no body welded to frame per se, it's a Unibody, frame and body integrated as one unit. Looks like you got some adventure ahead of you, discovery and more discovery is part of the fun!

I was just looking at 'Greg's 68 road runner' project... the shots he has of the rear end of the body up on the rotisserie look very familiar, what with the shackles and all.

Funny story... I showed my wife some pictures of someone's rotisserie setup and she said 'so that's what I have to look forward to in my garage?' I said no, no, don't be silly. Maybe she knows me better than I know myself. But to kill the rust inside those 'frame' sections, I don't know that I have any options other than cutting them out to clean them up or dipping the whole body... thoughts?

As far as the wife complaining about the project defiling the garage, just tell her it could be a whole lot worse...........

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i219/crazydave1972/P4171404.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i219/crazydave1972/1972DinnerTable-2.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i219/crazydave1972/CoffeeTable-1.jpg

lol... sez my wife: "No, it wouldn't be... you'd have your own table in the garage with a playpen next to it" (for one or both of the twins).

you're a brave man,my wife won't even let me put anything in the bathtub to wash it off.

Got the motor pulled, took off one body panel, etc.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b1prpP_KlEc/T1dbeR9f7OI/AAAAAAAAAeE/VWRkBJmj3wk/s1600/DSCF3400.JPG

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NOilGEDmaJ8/T1dcMHqC5kI/AAAAAAAAAes/-UzCXhu4Wvc/s1600/DSCF3408.JPG

Now I REALLY want to get the transmission out, except I can't see how to easily disconnect the shift linkage... any tips? I don't see any screws or bolts anywhere. :-(

Started ripping into the engine... distributor and intake manifold are off, no bent pushrods showing...

Great project. For the frame rails; you need to remove the rusted portions. They're spot welded to the trunk pans. Try AMD, Goodmark or Sherman's. I don't know if they're avail for your car. Other option is good used rails. If you just want to get by with it for now, Autorust.com may make a piece for your car to go over the frame rail. Either option requires a welder.

There is a lock screw on the swivel, a small , looks like a small bolt head maybe, if you loosin it, you should be able to pull the rod out... There's also a preload spring inside, your rod gos thru.

Rock n' Roll!!!

Thanks for the tips, guys. Yeah, I picked up a welder this week from Northern Tool and Autorust makes the frame rail 'sleeve' dealios that go over the existing rails to repair or reinforce. I know for sure i need the front frame rail on the driver's side... I should do the same on the passenger side while I've got everything apart, anyway.

Made some progress in the weeks behind...

1. Got transmission out. What a joy that was. No transmission jack, blocks of wood and my hydraulic jack. Transmission cross-member rusted through... structurally not sound. :-(
2. Rolled her out of the garage, cleaned up the garage stall, hosed down the interior, scrubbed a lot of crud out of the engine compartment.
3. Cleaned up the transmission. I'm about ready to put it somewhere in 'storage' until it's ready to go back in, I think. I don't think I need to paint it.
4. Engine broken down to the short block mostly, I can't get the crank bolt off.

I love breaking down the engine, I think I have everything pretty organized still. It looks like some of the rods (I haven't looked at all of them) are stamped with numbers, but they're wrong... like the number one cylinder's rod is stamped with 5.

Picked up some Chrysler Blue engine enamel and want to try it out on the intake manifold, but I need a better attachment to clean out the nooks and crannies before I paint it. I've been using a wire brush attachment on my drill on most of these pieces... engine mounts, the exhaust manifolds and now the transmission housing... to get the caked on crap off. Works great except I get tiny pieces of oily dirt all over my body... and I suppose the rest of the garage, now that I think about it.

I need to practice my welding so I can repair the frame... but in the meantime I think I should get the emergency brake working at least... but I also need/want to keep breaking down the motor which means getting that crank bolt off. Even with my breaker bar, I can't budget it.

I've been thinking about paint... I'm thinking cobalt blue with a pearl/white roadrunner stripe... black for the engine compartment...

Some pics below...

Filthy transmission...
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hi6r2A-obzM/T5WdfTOCspI/AAAAAAAAAiM/eTtbXK9CekI/s1600/DirtyTrans.JPG

Vacant engine compartment...
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MDYGUxnhHcM/T5WdgslKBUI/AAAAAAAAAiU/qovckxOJmdw/s1600/EngineCompt.JPG

Transmission crossmember....
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f2ignaZnzqo/T5WdhA5JHfI/AAAAAAAAAic/bD4s2BwzIms/s1600/Xmember.JPG

Don't do black for the engine bay. That is a chevy/ford thing. You will thank me later.

Don't do black for the engine bay. That is a chevy/ford thing. You will thank me later.

hmmm... well, it'll likely be years before I pay for nice paint anyway...

If you have an air compressor get a gun and some paint and practice. You'll save money in the long run and learn a new skill.

X 2 You can paint it yourself and with some practice you can put a good paint job on it and save a bundle!

I do not have a compressor. :-( But I suppose yeah... for a couple grand I could get a really nice compressor and setup...

So regarding the bolt holding the harmonic balancer on the crank... do I just need a bigger breaker bar to take that off or am I missing something.

And I bought my first 'new' part for the car... a 'remanufactured' transmission crossmember from eBay. Very excited. :blush:

Use an impact gun to get the bolt off the crank. See now you have an excuse to get an air compressor! LOL

Use an impact gun to get the bolt off the crank. See now you have an excuse to get an air compressor! LOL

Yeah, my brain has already gone there... ;-)

My dad said to use a torch to heat around the bolt... but that's the crankshaft so I'm kind of... leery. Plus you can't really torch the crank, it's buried under the damper and the timing chain cover. And there's oil residue in there...

Hmmm... compressor and impact gun... hmmm... then I might as well get a blasting cabinet, too...

Consider this "trick" for cleaning nasty grimy parts like the engine and tranny:

Go to your auto parts store and buy a tub of handcleaner/degreaser - like GoJo. Scrub it on the parts with a bristle brush and hose off the goop. Repeat until clean. It worked really well when I dismantled my engine/tranny/K-frame assembly. I also did the firewall with it.

Enjoy your restoration!
-Art

you can also get a product called "simply green". it is some good stuff,cleaned up the grease inside my engine bay but did not hurt the original paint.

Purple Power is fantastic too, I use it for everything. I just used it to clean up some original wire harnesses, weatherstripping, door panels, engine bay, etc.

All i have now is a 5 hp 21-25 gallon tank, I used Acrylic enamel painting my 73, worked ok, The one thing it will not do is get along very long with a da sander.. Im almost done with project cars unless i find the right one and i don't think i would buy another compressor to do it.. This, if i remember right was under 400 bucks, had it just in case i needed one (which you always do for something) and this car came along, so i used it.. Only a suggestion but i think unless your going to get into more project cars, something like this would do you up fine for this one..

Acrylic enamel isint as expensive as base/coat and it does give it a decent shine at an affordable price.