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Mopar newbie

IndySatLite

Well-Known Member
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5:42 AM
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Jul 11, 2019
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Indy
I don't recall if I ever introduced myself on here or not, so better late than never! My name is Mike and I'm in my late 50's. I've been in a rut for awhile now, financially, as well as emotionally, and thought if I talked about the car I purchased, it might rejuvenate me.
A little background info might be helpful here. I used to watch Dukes of Hazzard when it was on tv, and remember asking my dad if I could buy a car from the Trader ads, park it in the driveway, and start working on it so it would be ready when I got my license. He said sure! Unfortunately that never happened. After my sophomore year and a driver's ed class, I spent the summer in Littleton, Co., with my aunt and uncle, working at the local country club washing dishes. While I was out there, my aunt taught me how to drive a stick in a VW bug. One thing she told me was that she met more people by accidents, as in cars, than by regular circumstances. I've followed that path. I averaged an accident or ticket a year for the first 6-7 years I drove. Always had to be at the front of the pack. Anyway, it was 1980, and my first car was a 1974 Mustang II. It was a nice starter car, silver with silver interior. I rear ended someone on a sheet of black ice and totaled it. Sold it as a parts car.
My memory is really hazy as far as order of cars I've had through the years, but the next one was a 1971 Chevelle with a 307 AT. Piece of ****, but it got me from A to B. Next was my first project car, a 1969 Malibu, and it sat in the back of the driveway until I sold it, never doing any work on it. I had a 63 Nova bracket car that once finished, I never raced. I bought a '71 El Camino, with a strong 402, AT, from the son of the guy who helped me build the 355 engine for the Nova. After that I found my dream car, a '69 Chevelle SS, 396, 4 spd. A guy I worked with at the time rebuilt the engine for me, and I had the car partially restored. Probably had that a good 10 years before it became a fixture in the driveway and decided to sell it. There were other cars mixed in, like a forest green '71 Rally Nova, '66 Biscayne, and a beautiful white 77 Ford Granada my folks graciously bought for me when I got in trouble with the law. It had a nice blue, bucket seat interior, with a consoled 4 speed. It was a great car until I totaled it. See a pattern here?
After I sold the SS, I lost interest in owning muscle cars. I was in debt, my insurance had been high risk for years, and I needed to grow up and get my life in order. That happened! Knock on wood, I've only had two fender benders in the last ten years or so. I still want to be in front of the pack, I speed, and give slow drivers dirty looks! One of my younger brothers bought a '66 GTO 6-7 years ago at the annual Auburn auction. He followed that up a few years later with his own '69 Chevelle, with a 502 engine from Mecum. Not jealous, good for him, he's doing well in life. It still didn't get me back into the hobby.
I was visiting family in my hometown of Defiance, Ohio, and was at the Big Boy restaurant, and about 50 yards away was a beautiful gold '65 Plymouth Satellite. I really knew nothing about Mopars at the time, sorry to say, but this car was perfect! The stance, the look, it reinvigorated me to get back into the hobby. I started going to car shows again by myself, hoping to see a car that resembled that '65. I had to work one Saturday for OT, and I told my buddy I was headed to look at a car after we got off. He said, why don't you ever invite me to go with you? Told him I never thought about it. Anyway, I said the car is in Illinois, a few hours away. He said it wasn't a problem, so he dropped off his car and we hit the highway. The car was a white '65 Fury, it looked pretty nice, 383, AT with console. It needed some work, and the guy was asking 5K. My buddy called me to the back of the car and pointed to where his hand was, and told me to put my hand there. There was some creative bondo action going on there, enough to turn me away. He asked for an offer, but I didn't give him one. I only had about $3000 in the bank at the time, and the bodywork scared me away. It was more of a fact-finding mission, just seeing what was out there, learning about Mopars in the process. We probably looked at another dozen Mopars, as well as other makes in the next two years. One of our other co-workers got involved in the search too, and he was sending me anything Mopar related from Facebook marketplace.
In the summer of 2019, I finally saw my dream car, a '65 Satellite called Detroit Iron, one of those nostalgia super stock cars, with gold stenciling down the side. I talked to the owner and told him that was my dream car, although I was basically just looking for an original stock version of the car. He said, oh yeah, and we struck up a friendship from there. He was sending me ads for every Satellite he saw on Facebook, as well as other sites on the web. It wasn't just Satellites, he sent ads for Coronets, and Monacos, and Furys too. I talked to people across the country about their cars and he would give me a checklist of questions to ask them if it had this or that on the car. At this point, it didn't bother me if it was a Satellite or not. I took advantage of a 401k loophole and took a lumpsum of 20k out for my future purchase. Unfortunately, it wasn't really enough to buy a finished example of a '65. Probably needed @35k for that. The ads he was sending started drying up, and I was starting to think there just wasn't anything out there for me.
Probably after two weeks of not getting any ads from my new buddy, he sent me an ad for a '66 Satellite with a 440 in northern Indiana. I talked to the guy a few times on the phone, and ticked all the wants and needs off the checklist. I made the decision to make a withdrawal from the bank. We scheduled a day to head north and my buddy hooked up the trailer, and I knew it was a point of no return for me. My other co-worker buys cars a lot , but he wouldn't get his trailer out unless I was positive a car was coming back on it. This was the first time my new buddy actually went with me to look at a car in person. We got to the car's location, checked it out and got her started. He gave me "the positive nods" as he looked over the car. It was the week before Christmas, 2020, and it started snowing as I was taking it for a test drive. The guy basically told me his bottom line on the phone and I had no issues with that..it was a fair price. I went to the truck to get the money. I had never paid more than 10 grand for a used car in my life, and having this much cash in my hand was a first also, and then I just handed it over to him! I was gung-ho after I got the car, making a wish list, gathering information and working on it here and there.
My finances started spiraling downward. My HVAC system needed to be replaced, the transmission on my daily driver needed replaced, it was the middle of Covid and it took a month just to get it into the shop because of a worker shortage; I had a rental car for 6 weeks. I was also without insurance after my first colonoscopy cost me nearly 3 grand because I hadn't met my deductible. My savings went from 10k to literally nothing in no time at all. Needless to say, I lost interest in the car.
My buddy who helped me purchase the car is the president of the Indy Mopar Club, Jeff Platzer. Maybe some of you know him. I went to a monthly meeting in April, hoping to "get a spark" to start working on the car again. Didn't really do the trick. He asked me before the meeting was done if I was interested in writing an article about my car for the monthly newsletter, but I shook my head NO. I felt bad as soon as I got home that night. I thought about apologizing to him for saying no, but I didn't do that either. This guy went out of his way to help me try to find my dream car, which he did; it's not the same year, but I chose to buy it. The least I could do is write an article for him. Hopefully, this will let the rest of you know that he's a cool guy and he'll lend a hand or give you feedback when you need it. I'll probably use this for the newsletter if it's not too long.
Anyway, about a month ago, I decided to get my *** out in the garage and work on the interior. I had ordered a new package tray for the car after I bought it and it took awhile to get it. The seat belts were really dirty, so I decided to clean them before going any further. I posted an ad on the interior forum on the B-body board. Unfortunately, after nearly 500 views, and half a dozen replies I'm nowhere closer to where I was when I asked my initial questions. This brings me up to date with the car. I did a refinance on my house back in March, and my debt is gone, and my savings account is starting to grow by leaps and bounds again. Not really interested in a full restoration, but she does have some bodywork that needs done on the driver's quarter and right fender. Originally a 318, AT, AC car. Now she has a 440 from a '74 rv that was in the car when I purchased it If the Certicard is correct, the original owner was W. IMG_0299 (1).JPGR. Boone from Trenton, TN. Unfortunately, the guy I bought it from wasn't able to supply me much information about the car's past. I would love to know more about it if anyone knew Mr. or Mrs. Boone.
So, below is a pic of the car the day we bought her. The second pic is the Satellite that sparked my new interest in old cars.
Thanks for your time!IMG_1484 (2).PNG
 
Welcome
better late than never
 
Welcome from Missouri!!
 
Thanks for the welcome wagon wishes! It appears I wrote a very brief introduction for myself back in January of 2021.
 
I don't recall if I ever introduced myself on here or not, so better late than never! My name is Mike and I'm in my late 50's. I've been in a rut for awhile now, financially, as well as emotionally, and thought if I talked about the car I purchased, it might rejuvenate me.
A little background info might be helpful here. I used to watch Dukes of Hazzard when it was on tv, and remember asking my dad if I could buy a car from the Trader ads, park it in the driveway, and start working on it so it would be ready when I got my license. He said sure! Unfortunately that never happened. After my sophomore year and a driver's ed class, I spent the summer in Littleton, Co., with my aunt and uncle, working at the local country club washing dishes. While I was out there, my aunt taught me how to drive a stick in a VW bug. One thing she told me was that she met more people by accidents, as in cars, than by regular circumstances. I've followed that path. I averaged an accident or ticket a year for the first 6-7 years I drove. Always had to be at the front of the pack. Anyway, it was 1980, and my first car was a 1974 Mustang II. It was a nice starter car, silver with silver interior. I rear ended someone on a sheet of black ice and totaled it. Sold it as a parts car.
My memory is really hazy as far as order of cars I've had through the years, but the next one was a 1971 Chevelle with a 307 AT. Piece of ****, but it got me from A to B. Next was my first project car, a 1969 Malibu, and it sat in the back of the driveway until I sold it, never doing any work on it. I had a 63 Nova bracket car that once finished, I never raced. I bought a '71 El Camino, with a strong 402, AT, from the son of the guy who helped me build the 355 engine for the Nova. After that I found my dream car, a '69 Chevelle SS, 396, 4 spd. A guy I worked with at the time rebuilt the engine for me, and I had the car partially restored. Probably had that a good 10 years before it became a fixture in the driveway and decided to sell it. There were other cars mixed in, like a forest green '71 Rally Nova, '66 Biscayne, and a beautiful white 77 Ford Granada my folks graciously bought for me when I got in trouble with the law. It had a nice blue, bucket seat interior, with a consoled 4 speed. It was a great car until I totaled it. See a pattern here?
After I sold the SS, I lost interest in owning muscle cars. I was in debt, my insurance had been high risk for years, and I needed to grow up and get my life in order. That happened! Knock on wood, I've only had two fender benders in the last ten years or so. I still want to be in front of the pack, I speed, and give slow drivers dirty looks! One of my younger brothers bought a '66 GTO 6-7 years ago at the annual Auburn auction. He followed that up a few years later with his own '69 Chevelle, with a 502 engine from Mecum. Not jealous, good for him, he's doing well in life. It still didn't get me back into the hobby.
I was visiting family in my hometown of Defiance, Ohio, and was at the Big Boy restaurant, and about 50 yards away was a beautiful gold '65 Plymouth Satellite. I really knew nothing about Mopars at the time, sorry to say, but this car was perfect! The stance, the look, it reinvigorated me to get back into the hobby. I started going to car shows again by myself, hoping to see a car that resembled that '65. I had to work one Saturday for OT, and I told my buddy I was headed to look at a car after we got off. He said, why don't you ever invite me to go with you? Told him I never thought about it. Anyway, I said the car is in Illinois, a few hours away. He said it wasn't a problem, so he dropped off his car and we hit the highway. The car was a white '65 Fury, it looked pretty nice, 383, AT with console. It needed some work, and the guy was asking 5K. My buddy called me to the back of the car and pointed to where his hand was, and told me to put my hand there. There was some creative bondo action going on there, enough to turn me away. He asked for an offer, but I didn't give him one. I only had about $3000 in the bank at the time, and the bodywork scared me away. It was more of a fact-finding mission, just seeing what was out there, learning about Mopars in the process. We probably looked at another dozen Mopars, as well as other makes in the next two years. One of our other co-workers got involved in the search too, and he was sending me anything Mopar related from Facebook marketplace.
In the summer of 2019, I finally saw my dream car, a '65 Satellite called Detroit Iron, one of those nostalgia super stock cars, with gold stenciling down the side. I talked to the owner and told him that was my dream car, although I was basically just looking for an original stock version of the car. He said, oh yeah, and we struck up a friendship from there. He was sending me ads for every Satellite he saw on Facebook, as well as other sites on the web. It wasn't just Satellites, he sent ads for Coronets, and Monacos, and Furys too. I talked to people across the country about their cars and he would give me a checklist of questions to ask them if it had this or that on the car. At this point, it didn't bother me if it was a Satellite or not. I took advantage of a 401k loophole and took a lumpsum of 20k out for my future purchase. Unfortunately, it wasn't really enough to buy a finished example of a '65. Probably needed @35k for that. The ads he was sending started drying up, and I was starting to think there just wasn't anything out there for me.
Probably after two weeks of not getting any ads from my new buddy, he sent me an ad for a '66 Satellite with a 440 in northern Indiana. I talked to the guy a few times on the phone, and ticked all the wants and needs off the checklist. I made the decision to make a withdrawal from the bank. We scheduled a day to head north and my buddy hooked up the trailer, and I knew it was a point of no return for me. My other co-worker buys cars a lot , but he wouldn't get his trailer out unless I was positive a car was coming back on it. This was the first time my new buddy actually went with me to look at a car in person. We got to the car's location, checked it out and got her started. He gave me "the positive nods" as he looked over the car. It was the week before Christmas, 2020, and it started snowing as I was taking it for a test drive. The guy basically told me his bottom line on the phone and I had no issues with that..it was a fair price. I went to the truck to get the money. I had never paid more than 10 grand for a used car in my life, and having this much cash in my hand was a first also, and then I just handed it over to him! I was gung-ho after I got the car, making a wish list, gathering information and working on it here and there.
My finances started spiraling downward. My HVAC system needed to be replaced, the transmission on my daily driver needed replaced, it was the middle of Covid and it took a month just to get it into the shop because of a worker shortage; I had a rental car for 6 weeks. I was also without insurance after my first colonoscopy cost me nearly 3 grand because I hadn't met my deductible. My savings went from 10k to literally nothing in no time at all. Needless to say, I lost interest in the car.
My buddy who helped me purchase the car is the president of the Indy Mopar Club, Jeff Platzer. Maybe some of you know him. I went to a monthly meeting in April, hoping to "get a spark" to start working on the car again. Didn't really do the trick. He asked me before the meeting was done if I was interested in writing an article about my car for the monthly newsletter, but I shook my head NO. I felt bad as soon as I got home that night. I thought about apologizing to him for saying no, but I didn't do that either. This guy went out of his way to help me try to find my dream car, which he did; it's not the same year, but I chose to buy it. The least I could do is write an article for him. Hopefully, this will let the rest of you know that he's a cool guy and he'll lend a hand or give you feedback when you need it. I'll probably use this for the newsletter if it's not too long.
Anyway, about a month ago, I decided to get my *** out in the garage and work on the interior. I had ordered a new package tray for the car after I bought it and it took awhile to get it. The seat belts were really dirty, so I decided to clean them before going any further. I posted an ad on the interior forum on the B-body board. Unfortunately, after nearly 500 views, and half a dozen replies I'm nowhere closer to where I was when I asked my initial questions. This brings me up to date with the car. I did a refinance on my house back in March, and my debt is gone, and my savings account is starting to grow by leaps and bounds again. Not really interested in a full restoration, but she does have some bodywork that needs done on the driver's quarter and right fender. Originally a 318, AT, AC car. Now she has a 440 from a '74 rv that was in the car when I purchased it If the Certicard is correct, the original owner was W. View attachment 1301810R. Boone from Trenton, TN. Unfortunately, the guy I bought it from wasn't able to supply me much information about the car's past. I would love to know more about it if anyone knew Mr. or Mrs. Boone.
So, below is a pic of the car the day we bought her. The second pic is the Satellite that sparked my new interest in old cars.
Thanks for your time!View attachment 1301792
Welcome & thanks for the dialogue. I think I know more about you than I know about my wife after fifty years—-Enjoy the process
 
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