Found a 70 Satellite for sale. I'm interested but would like input from experienced FBBO members.

[PlagueOfBadgers]

So while looking at one car, came across another one and would like to get opinions on the value and any other opinions.
I will tell you what I know about the car, it was getting dark and did not have time to dig deep.
Clean title, matching numbers (did not check, what I was told). Has most, if not all original parts, the hood is not original. Body seems to be solid, some rust behind rear tires and under the rear window. Did not pull up the carpet to check the floorplans. The fender tag was there but is pretty much roached. The owner did tell me the wiring under the dash was fried so needs all new wiring. I don't know what these cars are going for and would like to find out a real number for the car.
Thank you in advance.

 

[Baller]

I don't think #'s matching matters on a 318 car. How are the rear frame rails? The right rear tire looks a little high in the wheel well, but that may be because the car is sitting crooked.

 

[PurpleBeeper]

I'd ballpark it's worth $3000 as it sits if it has an 8-3/4" rear end, $500 less with an 8-1/4". Here's what I see good:
1. Body overall looks really good + glass is good
2. Front fenders look good (not reproduced - worth $500 each)
3. Has a Roadrunner hood + Roadrunner 14" road wheels
4. Has A/C
5. Has 26" wide radiator
6. Has optional passenger side mirror (& likely optional driver's adjustable side mirror)
7. Appears to have 4-wheel power drum brakes (not bad brakes)
8. Doesn't look like it's ever been hit/wrecked.

Bad (besides obvious):
1. Missing most of the Satellite side trim (looks like one piece is inside car on dash). Not a big deal in my opinion.
2. Missing dash/gages (probably not too tough to find, likely non-rallye)
3. Wiring harness & bulkhead disconnect is reproduced, so that's not too bad.
4. Missing radio (can be pricey)

Overall, that looks like a really good car to me.....Satellite cruiser with A/C or Roadrunner/GTX tribute car. I "bet" the electrical fire is why the car is parked....it might even start up if you were careful with the engine.

 

[JimCoronette]

Pros:
It looks pretty original and unmodified.
The front and rear trim is all there and in good shape.
Factory AC car with everything still there.
B5 blue.
All the sheet metal is available.
An unmodified/uncloned plain Jane 1970 Satellite is always a breath of fresh air (at least to me)

Cons:
AC will be expensive to fix
The dash wiring harness alone is $500
318 column shift. (Not a terrible thing though)
Needs window corners and rear filler panel replacement (a good amount of metal work and welding)

Things to look for:
Rusted torsion bar crossmember
Rusted trunk pan
Rusted floor pans
Rusted frame behind the rear springs
Rusted frame around the front brake line mounts

Value:
If nothing mentioned above is rusted - $4 - 6K
If it is rust free, it will still need around $3K to get it road ready,
You probably wont be able to turn a profit if that's what you are hoping for.
If you plan to keep it for the long run because it's cool, you wont lose money on it.
I personally love these low end cars. They are cheap, cool, fun to drive.

 

[f8-4life]

Its the right year satellite, its got that going for it.

 

[PlagueOfBadgers]

I don't think #'s matching matters on a 318 car. How are the rear frame rails? The right rear tire looks a little high in the wheel well, but that may be because the car is sitting crooked.

Yes, the left front was sitting up on a slight bump. Did not look under the car yet.

 

[PlagueOfBadgers]

Pros:
It looks pretty original and unmodified.
The front and rear trim is all there and in good shape.
Factory AC car with everything still there.
B5 blue.
All the sheet metal is available.
An unmodified/uncloned plain Jane 1970 Satellite is always a breath of fresh air (at least to me)

Cons:
AC will be expensive to fix
The dash wiring harness alone is $500
318 column shift. (Not a terrible thing though)
Needs window corners and rear filler panel replacement (a good amount of metal work and welding)

Things to look for:
Rusted torsion bar crossmember
Rusted trunk pan
Rusted floor pans
Rusted frame behind the rear springs
Rusted frame around the front brake line mounts

Value:
If nothing mentioned above is rusted - $4 - 6K
If it is rust free, it will still need around $3K to get it road ready,
You probably wont be able to turn a profit if that's what you are hoping for.
If you plan to keep it for the long run because it's cool, you wont lose money on it.
I personally love these low end cars. They are cheap, cool, fun to drive.

Thank you for the heads up where to look for problem rust locations. Not looking for resale, just another keeper to enjoy and drive.

 

[Don Frelier]

It looks pretty good to me for a 1970.
The small block and column shift/bench seat are cons, but most of it looks good.
Definitely look underneath, but I'm guessing it's not bad.
I would say $3500

 

[flypaper]

if the bones looked good underneath
I would offer a grand or 2
drag it home,clean it up ,get some really good pics, pimp it out on some sites
you could easily double your money.

once you start putting your money into it
its a bottomless money pit.
good luck

 

[BeeKool]

Trunkpan may be bad judging from the rear window leaks.

Looks like a solid car, everything it needs cost less than a Runner or X.
Would be a great candidate for a mod.
3k is a good offering price.

 

[HawkRod]

I think purple beeper hit the nail on the head.

I would add that with the rear window corners the way they are, I all but guarantee the trunk floor is shot -it is par for the course with these cars. Make sure the fenders are good as they are not reproduced and cost a lot.

I always worry about cars sitting on the grass/dirt if it is not a desert. The moisture seems to trash the cars from underneath. Floor pans are reasonable to fix, but torsion bar mounts and "frame" parts are harder to deal with (they are unit body cars but you know what I mean). Look carefully at that stuff, but if it is OK, it looks like a nice project!

 

[Don Frelier]

Start at 2,500, unless you have competition or you really want it badly

 

[fratzog lover]

Find out how long it has been parked on that frame rotting wet sponge known as Mother Earth. I have seen cars bend when loaded because they were not parked on blacktop, stone or concrete. North Carolina isn't Arizona.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Definitely look underneath, but I'm guessing it's not bad.

Being that it's sitting in or at the edge of a pond, I would seriously doubt that.

In reality, it's a $500.00 parts car.

 

[NJRR]

Being that it's sitting in or at the edge of a pond, I would seriously doubt that.


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In reality, it's a $500.00 parts car.

If you were to part it out, you could probably recoup a few grand. There are some hard to find parts on there that look in decent shape from the pics;
bumpers, chrome trim , grill, side scoops, mirrors, fenders, hood, trunk lid. Pumping money into it might be a money pit like Flypaper said, depending on how bad the rust is. The steering column resting on the front seat has me worried.

 

[66 Sat]

Mate, check carefully behind the front wheels, where the upper control arms are attached. If there frame is rusted there it's a major repair job. I'd say look for another car anyway, one that hasn't been sitting in a swamp - if you can see rust in the photos then it's probably 100 times worse than it looks.

 

[PP1RT]

$2500.

#s and ft/bs dont mean a lot on base models so not a deal breaker. No high dollar resto needed. Build a fun driver and go have fun. Let the others sit in lawn chairs because their car is too valuable to drive!

 

[threewood]

It looks clean and relatively untouched. 70's seem to be pretty popular b bodies. As long as the frame is good I could see him getting $4000 easily.

 

[skicker]

Damn that's very similar to mine...If you can get into that right...(500-1500) you can decide from there what you want to do with it...I bought mine as a parts car with the sole plan of parting it out...Once I got into it everything was very solid and actually too nice to cut up... I ended up with no patches in the unibody only at the rear window corners and some small ones in the fenders and 1/4's...As stated it is a money pit but it will make for a damn nice driver too...
95% of the public doesn't care that it's a Satellite...That car fixed and finished would draw a lot of attention...
I'd say if it's not rusted the hood alone would be in the 5-700.00 range...

 

[69b3rt]

That bench seat seems to be worth some coin these days.