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New Member + First Mopar (71 Satellite) + 1000 questions!!!!!!!

poconos_power

Active Member
Local time
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Jun 3, 2021
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Location
Poconos PA
Hey everyone! New member here!

Greetings from Northeast PA, in the Poconos. So, about me... I've only really started wrenching in the last 4 years, otherwise I'm an IT guy the rest of the time. Something about these classic cars, with no computers in them, very refreshing! I know I'm not the youngest person here, but I'm in the next generation group at 33 I think, hopefully keeping things like how to rebuild and tune a carburetor alive.

So, I recently got my first mopar, a 1971 Plymouth Satellite! Overall I'd say it's in good condition, I think, hmm, I could use some second or third opinions possibly. The car sat for about 10 year before I got it but prior to that it was built into something nice by someone else, not sure of the complete history though. It's got a 383 with aluminum intake, 4150 carb, headers, mild cam (I think, from the sound), but it's an automatic, which is fine for now I guess. Would I be insane to think in about 3 to 4 years I might swap in a manual transmission? Of course I barely got it to run enough to get it on the trailer, home and into the garage, now it won't start, so the fun has already begun. However I think I got really lucky with the interior! It's all there, maybe some trim pieces warn, but it's bucket seats with a console shift for the automatic trans!

Ok, enough of that, time for pictures (and some questions).

Have not taken too many full ones, but this was off the trailer at 10pm. Not wild about the green, it's some Volkswagen green, since I've got to do some body work, I was thinking of getting it painted different.
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That was the good, now the ugly :(
Trunk lid is mostly good, but it's got this giant hole in the corner, and I'm trying to figure out if I see if I can fix it, or replace it.
0723211518a.jpeg


That giant hole led to...
0723211514a_HDR.jpeg

I have the assembly and welding documentation, I'm thinking I can just pull this piece out and repair it and slap it back in. Would I need to support the car structure if I did this? or can I just work on this part as a single thing? I think I saw a new one of these from a supplier I may be able to use instead.

Let me ask you all about this however. Do the quarters right behind the doors rust out because the rain runs down the window into the panel and cause the following?
0723211516b.jpeg


I think it should be fixable though, I see some panels online. It looks like I have stable metal behind it, of course I'll have no idea until I get into it. Did I mention I don't know how to weld of do body work? I mean, I've got the internet, so I think theres a chance, but it's new to me! I just hope there isn't that much rot behind it. Question, what does it wrap around on the wheel side? Is that the inside of the outer wheel well? It's a little... gone-ish. I'll need to make that exist again.

Going forward, how common is this?
0723211516_HDR.jpeg


Seems like both sides are a little, eh, but it looks like I should be able to knock the rust off, fill it in, and make it good again, right?

I have a lot of other questions, but I'll save it for later. I'm happy to be here, I saw that this is an active group and even got together in person at Carlisle a few weeks back. I'm pretty excited to join and to learn and get this thing on the road!

Thanks for welcoming me and putting up with the questions!
 
Welcome aboard from the Pacific Northwest. :thumbsup:
There is information and first hand experience here from all over the planet. You can become really good at many skills working on your b body mopar.
Build this car the way you want to and when you are driving around the feeling is like nothing else. The best way to learn is by doing and lots of patience and laughter helps too.
Thank you for your posting pictures :lol:

:luvplace::xscuseless:

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Bienvenido desde México, for a1000 you'll get 1 million answers, this guys although old, really know their stuff, just be Shure to post your question in the proper area.
 
Welcome from WA state (also).

Looks like a good project car to be sure and if you stick with it you will acquire a lot of skills along the way. It will be easy to become disheartened and disillusioned but just remember, the car was built by men and it is just metal and therefore can be fixed.

The rust you see is fairly typical and yes they rust out there from water getting down inside and it just sits there. Remember that back in the day Chrysler (as well as the others) didn't car if these cars lasted more than 5 or so years, they wanted them to get traded in so that they could sell new cars. Not saying that they actively engineered them to rust or fall apart but I am saying they obviously didn't go out of their way to make them impervious to rust.

On think I will tell you is that the rust you see is only the beginning.

Good luck, start a build thread where we can follow your progress and you can ask whatever questions you like. Pictures are invaluable both for you and the members here, take a lot.
 
Welcome aboard Sir, from the middle of the mitten. Check out the member's projects and restorations. That will give you several ideas and answer a lot of your questions, or at least point you toward success. Best of luck and don't be afraid to ask questions, we all had our own beginning.
 
Welcome aboard from N.W. Joisey! Nice car, thanks for posting the pictures. By the way; that looks to be pretty much a Mopar paint color that VW copied from us! It's either Sassy Grass or Lime Light from the same era the car is from 70 74 or there abouts.
:thumbsup:
 
Everyone around here calls this lime green. This was the way my Charger was until I got the nerve to attempt a vinyl wrap last summer for my Covid-19 project. Now it’s matte lime green and matte black and good for a fun daily driver.

360BD3D7-AF5D-4519-A7DF-5E1C314C1713.jpeg D40F5082-CE7F-412A-81E4-2E6D83E00C84.jpeg B060654E-8BA0-486A-AA4A-5F66F3AA7D8E.jpeg B73395F0-5E0B-4BE1-A17B-94CFFB093B6C.jpeg 0AC01832-F778-43BE-95C7-6F7A86B8C83C.jpeg A5772AEB-2207-4C04-A185-D9981141FC76.jpeg 8E379C77-4211-4C8C-ACE1-75B30A6C4B0F.jpeg
 
Of course I barely got it to run enough to get it on the trailer, home and into the garage, now it won't start,


Did it have gas sitting in it for 10 yrs? THAT could be your problem. Even if you put fresh gas in it, the tank could be full of crud.
 
Looks like a great project! I’m about the same age, but have been fiddling with Mopars most of my life.

Looks like you’ll be able to get it running/driving without too much hassle, which is a great place to start. I’ve found it’s easier to stay motivated (especially while learning) if you can hop in and drive it occasionally. Good luck!
 
Greetings from NC.
Don't know much about body work, but looks like you're gonna learn.
They'll be alot of advice coming I'm sure.
Enjoy.
 
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