3rd Time's a Charm?

[Magnes]

Well I haven't posted anything in a while so I thought you guys might enjoy a little update / something new to look at and read.

My last post about a month or so ago I told y'all that I had sold the black '72 Satellite Sebring Plus / Roadrunner Clone car.



I got a damn good price for it so what the hell, right? It was a fun quick build and I made a good profit off of it. I hated to sell it to be honest but I want to keep building and saving cars so the money will go towards those ends. The new owner is supposedly doing a few mods to it and then shipping it to Europe to resell. It will be missed.

I really want to build one of these cars to keep for myself so as soon as that car sold I began searching again. Last week I ran across another 72 Satellite Sebring Plus over in Texarkana, TX. We shot out there last weekend, showed up early for the appointment, and scooped it up quick before the other people who were coming to look at it had a chance to buy it. One other guy showed up there before we even had a chance to load it and I was offered more than I paid for it but I had to pass. I just got it unloaded this afternoon. It's now in the garage and I'm chomping at the bit to get started on it...

I took these pics of it where it had been stored all these years.



















It's REAL solid. The only rust is 2 small areas that need patching in front of rear wheels and there's a few very small areas that need patching around the upper quarter on the driver's side because of the vinyl roof, but that's it. Nothing else anywhere. I've been over the whole thing so far and it's amazingly clean and untouched. I have that old 72 Sebring parts car to use for the patches so that's a cinch. The underside of the car looks amazing, not one spec of rust. It was last on the road in '97 and the car has been in dry storage for many years. It has 80K miles and every part is there. The only things not stock is the Holley 4 bar and an aluminum Edelbrock intake.

I washed it off and some of the paint even shines still. The interior is solid. The dash isn't even cracked. There's a lot of cleaning to do and some upholstery work. The front fender has a whiskey dent but other than that the car is straight as an arrow.

All that being said there is a lot of work to do. I am still trying to figure out what my end goal with this one should be... Restoration or modification.

It has a lot of cool options and I love the console and the deluxe black/white interior combo. I really want this car to be the one I end up keeping. It was built at the same plant my black one was, but this one was built 5 days earlier than that car. The build date on this car is my father's birthday, he turned 19 that day. Pretty cool.

Anyway, I thought you guys would want to see the new one. I hope you enjoy the pics. I will add more later and update as I go.

[sdweatherman]

That's a pretty nice score. My 2 cents - If its completely numbers matching - I would stay fairly original with only bolt on goodies to make it a nice driver. A 72 high impact color Sebring Plus with chrome racing mirrors and center console/slap stick is a pretty sweet ride. Again - just my 2 cents. Its your car - you make it like you want it. Scott.

[ILUV72RRs]

There's tons of clone '71-'72 RRs out there. But you just don't see a Sepring Plus this neat out there. I think it would steal the shows or cruises you'd decide to go to showing up with it basically restored back to stock, and I've owned '72 RRs most of my life. Only had one Sepring Plus and I kick myself for selling it as it would of been a nice driver piece to enjoy and it was just a 318.

[71Satellite98661]

Very nice score, congratulations! Most of the time I find myself walking past the "popular" cars to gawk at cars like your SSP. Hey, I'd even keep the hitch and tug around a little camp trailer!

[Magnes]

I hear what you guys are saying. I just wanted to see what it would look like if I buffed the paint with some rubbing compound and these are the results...









I believe most the paint can come back to life as good or possible even better than this area did. It almost makes me want to fix it up as a survivor. Just clean her up real good. I dunno. I am going to keep going in this direction and see where it ends up.

[Magnes]

The front clip, passenger side, and rear of the car buffed up nicely. Waiting on parts so I'm just cleaning it all up. I can't work on a nasty car. By the time the parts arrive I should have this thing pretty clean. A shame that vinyl top is so bad off, otherwise she'd be looking pretty good about now. Not too shabby for 42 year old paint.

[road chicken]

What a Steal- That car would be cool just put back. The color combination is great and all the trim is mostly there. Very sharp car. I assume the white plastic isn't all chalked up either? Great buy, I'm actually a little jealous. BTW I know your plight. I just can't have dull paint. The car may be in the weeds, but that damn paint is gonna shine!!!!

[Magnes]

Thanks! Well some of the white plastic is kinda chalky. If I go to restore this one I will just mix up some of that plastic spray "dye" and shoot white on the plastic interior parts from my green parts car. I actually have all the exterior trim now. The only save-able pieces left on my green 72 Sebring parts car just so happen to be the missing or messed up pieces for this car so that worked out.



I spent a lot of time cleaning the interior today. Pulled the back seat and found a tattered build sheet. Here's some shots of the de-funked the interior. It's hard to take very good pictures in the garage.







To me, it just helps having everything clean before I start working on the car. Easy to stay motivated. Easier to work.

Next up is the trunk. Should be easy to clean. No rust. Still has the original trunk mat, spare "road wheel" / tire, and the jack / lug wrench.

Then I will start cleaning under the hood. It's pretty dirty but I think it will also clean up well.

I'd like to go tomorrow and get some tires for it. I'm tired of looking at these flats plus it's a pain to get the jack under there, lol. Just want to get something stock looking... White walls for sure!

[mopar71]

Nice! are you keeping the vinyl top?

[Magnes]

Haha, there's not much of a vinyl top to keep! But, I know what you mean... And I haven't decided yet.

If I keep it stock, I will put the vinyl top back on it after I repair the rust and before I replace the windshield and headliner. If I mod the car, I will not have a vinyl top.

You know it's really a shame because the Satellites just don't get the love that the Roadrunners do. I mean, that's why there are so many clones out there. No one goes out really looking for a Satellite. They go out looking for a Roadrunner then get the "sticker shock". So lots of people will buy a cheaper Satellite and make it what they wanted... That's what I did with my black car. That car worked out well. Looked awesome. Ran strong. People couldn't tell if it was or wasn't a Roadrunner unless they knew that there should be a M where there was a P on the VIN plate, lol. And the guy that bought the car couldn't have cared less. He wanted a bad ass black Roadrunner and he bought it. There were 3 real black 71-72 Roadrunners on ebay when he saw mine and he paid more for my clone than 2 of the 3 real Roadrunners sold for.

As much as I like this car, as original as it is, as cool as the color combos are... Is it really worth it to even bother keeping it stock? Or should I look at it as an opportunity to build a better car than I did last time? That's where I am at. A crossroads of sorts.

I haven't even tried to start this car yet. In a way, the car will decide it's own future. The parts I ordered last week should be here this week. When they arrive I will go over everything. If it starts up and runs without a major catastrophe then I may take that as a sign to keep it stock. The car was probably parked all these years for a reason. Not many people park a good running / driving car for decades. We will see what this car wants and I will give it what it needs.

[sdweatherman]

Hey Magnes,
I think the path is ultimately decided by what you want to do with this car. If you plan on keeping the car for cruising and occasional shows, then stock is the cool way to go. But if you are looking to resell to get to an even better car, the money is in the cloning - as much as I hate to say it. Again just my 2c.

On a side note. This baby is a Plus. The emblems on the sides say Plus. But I can't make out the trunk emblem in your pics. Does it say Plus back there, or just Satellite Sebring?
Thanks, Scott.

[71Satellite98661]

I don't remember ever seeing "Plus" emblems on any SSP deck lid.

[Magnes]

Thanks sdweatherman. It is pretty cool, and I appreciate you saying so. And really, that's what I was thinking... If this 318 runs good in it, then I will just keep her as stock as possible. But if it's a bad engine and I've got to pull the original engine, I will probably just build the whole car differently.

The emblems are in place but the trunk emblems do not say "Plus". They only say Satellite Sebring, and I think 71Satellite98661 is right... I don't remember ever seeing the "Plus" emblems on a deck lid either. I can't imagine these had ever been changed because hardly anything on this car is not stock.

[sdweatherman]

Thanks Magnes and 98661,
That is what I am running across on a majority of Plus cars - No Plus emblem on the trunk lid. I have seen a couple with them on the trunk lid, but they were restored cars - not survivors. Scott.

[Eric]

Agreed, Plus cars did not have that emblem on the decklid