cudak888

Nice to see another Miamian here! ::thumb:: -Kurt

Nope. Glad I held onto it too. Valiant has been sold though.

Everything is pretty much gone - sorry.

Pretty much adds up then. Decided to pass on those springs, even though I think "250lb" was more of a convenient number that the seller pulled out of his butt than anything else... -Kurt

Doubt it. "They are the 4 leaf stock height 250lb more weight capacity helps with squating under hard accel." He knows what it means. Still, sounds like a hell of an upsell. -Kurt

I know Q will probably beat me over the head for this, but before I go ahead and frame table my '71 Mach to verify whether I've got a tweaked framerail or not (long story - check the build thread for details), I figured I might as well swap the rear leafs - just to make sure the slight squatting I have on one side isn't by chance a sagging spring. At any rate, I've found a rather good deal on a pair of what are claimed to be new, 4-leaf, factory-ride height springs, which is what I want - except that the seller also claims they have a 250lb spring rate. That sounds a bit exaggerated for 4 leafs. I could see that with 5 leafs though. But maybe I'm completely mistaken. Anyway, the only real data I've found is the Eaton chart on NPD - and the toughest spring listed is an 152lb rate application for the Boss 351. Unfortunately, it also doesn't list the number of leafs. And so that's my question to those in the know here - given your experiences, is it a good chance that the seller is just a wee bit on the hyperbole juice, and that there's no real chance that these 4-leaf springs are that aggressive? Sure hope that's the case. Thanks! -Kurt

The entire frame is taller by about a quarter of an inch for it too. Probably a different supplier. I've seen at least two other variants too - one from the '50s, and the other a transition to the two here (or a transition between, don't really know). Been missing the Mustang scene myself, but I've had Soylent on hold ever since I started giving serious thought to Q's assessment that the rear framerails might very well be tweaked. I won't touch it until I've dragged it to the local shop's frametable for an assessment. Perhaps it is just one leaf spring sagging more than the other, but I'm not going to weld anything back together until I'm sure. It's not like a Mopar, which may list a bit to one side because someone was off adjusting the ride height bolt that contacts the front torsion bars. -Kurt

It only took a year (one year and four days, to be exact!), but I wound up getting my hands on one more LA City Ford frame (the one on the left) - and this one is bang-on screen correct :D Now if I could only finish a Ford around here in my sea of Mopar crap. -Kurt

Wow - that goes back a long time. Pretty sure I don't - but check with forum member BigBlue. He might have one. -Kurt

It was a busy day today! Drove about 40 miles north to pick up some '80s B-van rims from a gentleman who had them on his '70 Challenger. Threw them on, and immediately went to tackle the Belvederization of the interior - covered in better detail here: http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/threads/68-satellite-4-door-light-refurb-and-big-fat-engine-swap.96118/page-10 Yes, it's Duplicolor vinyl paint on the pads. Camo tan on the dash too, and neither matches. Deal with it, purists, it's what Craptastic Auto Parts had in stock! There are enough factory jobs of this era that it doesn't look out of place. That, and I HATE dark interiors - this one is inviting, by comparison. Also - despite all the bench testing and what-not...the fuel and temp gauges are STILL dead. Oh well, more to troubleshoot. At least I know exactly what I'm grabbing at behind the dash now. But it was no time for complaining - it was time for PICTURES! Went out specifically for a photo drive and came back with these beauts: 1968 Plymouth Belvedere (Satellite) - "Adam 12-1/2" by cudak888, on Flickr 1968 Plymouth Belvedere (Satellite) - "Adam 12-1/2" by cudak888, on Flickr 1968 Plymouth Belvedere (Satellite) - "Adam 12-1/2" by cudak888, on Flickr 1968 Plymouth Belvedere (Satellite) - "Adam 12-1/2" by cudak888, on Flickr 1968 Plymouth Belvedere (Satellite) - "Adam 12-1/2" by cudak888, on Flickr 1968 Plymouth Belvedere (Satellite) - "Adam 12-1/2" by cudak888, on Flickr 1968 Plymouth Belvedere (Satellite) - "Adam 12-1/2" by cudak888, on Flickr 1968 Plymouth Belvedere (Satellite) - "Adam 12-1/2" by cudak888, on Flickr 1968 Plymouth Belvedere (Satellite) - "Adam 12-1/2" by cudak888, on Flickr 1968 Plymouth Belvedere (Satellite) - "Adam 12-1/2" by cudak888, on Flickr P.S.: Anyone have a Belvedere instrument cluster bezel/surround they'll part with? -Kurt

I figure I can get away with a delete plate for the moment; there is a dent on my right front fender which renders modification a moot point, and I'm rather partial to keeping it the way it is right now. In short, the Fox delete plate would give me some easy flexibility. Might be able to have it plastic-chromed too, if the finish can stand the outdoors. -Kurt I know this is an ancient thread, but did you ever found an antenna delete plate that fit? I may end up going to hardware store to find a screw that fits there for the moment. Sorry to say I haven't, Tony. Back end of the car is still in bits, so the antenna is still priority #20,409,234 in line. I still put a hollowed-out tennis ball over the antenna stub when sliding the car cover on... -Kurt

I really can't believe I shared these photos on the Mopar forums and forgot to do so here. Looks like I have something to chase the Mustang with now ;) But those photos were taken ages ago - and ages have gone by as the Satellite is barely the same - suspension and brake-wise - as it was when these photos were taken a few months ago: 11" Budd brakes in the rear replaced the original 10" drums: And the front disc brake conversion began. This may have been the single most "one step forward, three steps back" job I have EVER done on any car. Some genius engineer set the B-body Mopars of this era up so the master cylinder is mounted with knurled studs that face inboard (unlike the Chrysler A-Body of the same period!) - and to get it out requires some serious contortion work under the dash. But then try to get the master cylinder BACKING PLATE out. Four hours later, the dash looked like this (and it still does - gotta do the ammeter to voltmeter conversion). Thankfully, the master and repainted backing plate now look like this. Yes, one bolt of the four is missing, that's how it was when I found it. And knowing where one has to go to tighten it under the dash, can say with all honesty that I am VERY GLAD THIS SUCKER IS MISSING. But I finally got around to installing the rebuilt LCAs, disc brake spindles, and tubular UCAs...all of one side, because everything - and I mean EVERYTHING possible either went wrong or took too long to do. And to add insult to injury, I came back to it the next morning to find the rotor stuck to the wheel (or vise-versa, if you prefer): The short version is that the rotor hub pilots had been machined to 71.8mm when they were supposed to be 71.2mm. Wound up tightening it to the drum late at night when buttoning up the left side for the night, and didn't realize what had happened. Thankfully, Bendix stepped up to the plate and took them in return - and exchanged them for a set that was properly machined. But in the meantime, I had the tire shop throw on a junk P235/75/R15 (the only thing they had) on my spare rim just to hold the car up, and that's when brilliance happened: Not only does the black 1980's Dodge B-series 15x7" van rim look GREAT (I need four more - if anyone has some around, PM me), the bigger tire REALLY suits the car. Reminds me of the Belvedere taxi in The Killer Elite. Last weekend, I was able to get the other side swapped (much easier job!) and this Saturday, I installed the new Bendix replacement rotors (I also painted the rough areas on front and back that would otherwise rust, and took them to the local shop to be machined smooth) and - for once - mounted the F/M/J-body brake calipers to it: I also found out that the ideal brake line for a rear-facing caliper conversion on a '68-70 B-body is a '69-72 Camaro/Nova brake line. Who would have known? (Left, M-body front brake line, didn't work | Center, B-body drum front brake line | Right, '69 Camaro brake line) And here they are on the car: Still waiting on some retainers for the right brake line (one went missing) and some time to drag this pile of green $h!t to the alignment shop. -Kurt

Guess what I did today? The 2.76:1's got ousted for 3.23:1's. Unfortunately, I screwed up setting the axle endplay a tad too tight, so I've got to go back in there and re-adjust it again tomorrow...and I'll probably be aching all over worse than I am now. At any rate, a quick spin around the block is much improved :) -Kurt

Just sitting around here with the back end still not taken care of, nor the left quarter panel damage fixed to my liking - mainly the crease in the lower bodyside. The metal has been badly worked over so much that I'm really considering replacing the lower rear quarter, but I refuse to use the Spectra patch - and I'm not really in the mood to spend $300 for a full panel. Also, I've been re-thinking that framerail, and I now have my doubts about it. Everything seems to suggest that the rail might have been knocked forward about 1/4" and up about a half inch. I'm not touching a thing in the back until it has been measured by a competent shop, and put on a frame straightener, if necessary. -Kurt

Thanks guys! And nice to hear from you, Q! -Kurt