My intro and Mopar

[Satellite Stephanie]

Hey everyone, my name is Steph and i live in Arizona right now. Soon to be moving back to Alaska. I'm a Mopar girl all the way, starting out with a 1974 Plymouth Satellite Sebring Plus as my first car. So when i finally got to replace my beloved Mopar i went to ebay and i found my new love. I own a 1974 Plymouth Satellite Sebring Sundance edition. When i saw it on ebay, at first i thought something was wrong, cause i'd never heard of a Sundance Satellite....but after looking it up on google i wanted it bad!!! And i was in luck cause it was only a 300 mile trip to pick it up!! I ended up paying 2500 for it and we ended up dead towing it most of the way home (radiator blockage). It's got a rebuilt 318 with a new eldebrock intake and 4 barrel carb, running a 727 auto. I love the stripes on it cause they are so unique, i haven't seen that kind of striping on any old Mopar. Cause of the "specialness) of the car, i plan on restoring it to original, since there's not alot of them around to appreciate. And i also love the design, it grows on you after a while.
But i'm not just a girl who owns a Mopar and lets my husband work on it....oh no, i'm a mechanic also. I learned how to work on Mopars only cause my good friend Frank is a Mopar freak....and after your dumb ass ex breaks your car more than he fixes it, you develop a desire to learn how to do it yourself. lol. Frank taught me all i know about mechanics and i pride myself on knowing more than most women care to know. It's really great when your husband, also a mechanic, asks you for your opinion on a vehicle before he asks his friends. Heck, my husband met me the day i was working on brakes and wheel bearings on my 76 Cordoba.....i had bruises on my thighs from holding the new rotors between my thigh and the side of the car while i was wiping the excess grease off the surface.
I also have 2 kids with my husband, one being 8 and the other 4. They love Mopars too, i'm teaching them early!! lol.
So that's me and my ride in a nutshell. Can't wait to meet and talk with all the other Mopar freaks on the site, lol, in my opinion, Mopar people are some of the nicest, friendliest people in the world. Later all.

[Ray Bell]

My daughter, now a little older than you, once had her partner ask her, "How come you know so much about working on cars?"

I can relate with some pride that he told me her answer was, "You don't live with my dad all those years and not learn things!"

But a word of caution, as my experience tells me I should warn you about this... your radiator probably blocked up when the freshly rebuilt engine was installed. While the block was out and drying right out, rust would have been flaking loose inside the water jackets, then with a fresh flush of water through there it's pumped itself up into the rad.

You need to give the block a really good flush... or put a radiator filter in the line once the rad is done and keep cleaning it for a while.

Otherwise, just keep teaching your kids like you've learned how...

[Satellite Stephanie]

Originally Posted by Ray Bell

My daughter, now a little older than you, once had her partner ask her, "How come you know so much about working on cars?"

I can relate with some pride that he told me her answer was, "You don't live with my dad all those years and not learn things!"

But a word of caution, as my experience tells me I should warn you about this... your radiator probably blocked up when the freshly rebuilt engine was installed. While the block was out and drying right out, rust would have been flaking loose inside the water jackets, then with a fresh flush of water through there it's pumped itself up into the rad.

You need to give the block a really good flush... or put a radiator filter in the line once the rad is done and keep cleaning it for a while.

Otherwise, just keep teaching your kids like you've learned how...

Hey thanks for the advice...i bought a new radiator for it after i got it home. So far i haven't had any blockage problems and i keep checking it for rusty looking fluid, but so far so good. I'm thinking the radiator was already blocked since the guy said that the car hadn't been run in years. The only reason the engine got rebuilt was because the guy that sold me the car was going to make it his daily driver, but then he got a call from a guy that had bought another vehicle from him and they had to sell it....the guy said it was one of his sentimental cars so he had to buy it back, then the wife told him he had to sell one to keep the new one....thus how i got the car. I don't think he had enough time to install a new radiator....when i got it, the engine hadn't even been fully broken in!!!
And yes, the kids are getting their lessons in mechanics, lol, my 8 year old daughter has known her tools since the age of 4. She also understands alot of the workings of an engine, and she's always asking questions. my 4 year old son seems to want to drive them more than anything, lol. I have to hide the keys or he'll try to take the Mopars for a joyride. lmao. I see my kids being a brother and sister race team, my son driving the car and my daughter working on it. lol.

[Ray Bell]

I think I'd still give the new rad a reverse flush before any crusty stuff starts getting stuck in the tops of the tubes... and I'd still give the block a substantial flush, just to be real sure.

Keep up the good work!

[rumblefish360]

Hello Steph. Welcome aboard. I haven't seen a "Sundance" model. Snap a few shots and post'em up.

My wife helped me build a 318 and also works on her brakes. We used to work on cars togther alot. (UNTIL she became a NURSE! , Now I have no one to pass me a wrench, yet.....
She's gotta keep cleaner than clean hands for the job. sigh)

Why are you moving back up north?

[Satellite Stephanie]

Originally Posted by rumblefish360

Hello Steph. Welcome aboard. I haven't seen a "Sundance" model. Snap a few shots and post'em up.

My wife helped me build a 318 and also works on her brakes. We used to work on cars togther alot. (UNTIL she became a NURSE! , Now I have no one to pass me a wrench, yet.....
She's gotta keep cleaner than clean hands for the job. sigh)

Why are you moving back up north?

Wow, that's no good, but i'm sure she's making good money and she won't have to worry about being out of work, it seems the medical field is the only career with job security right now.
Well right now, i'm still in AZ, while my husband is up in Alaska trying to get hired on the North Slope. He left about a week ago cause he's been out of work since January of this year and we've been looking for jobs in AZ since!!! Right now, the local paper hasn't had a jobs section for about 2 months!!! My husband wants to start working in ALaska through the winter, then come back here in the summer. He's talking about just staying here. I think his thing is he wants to be able to restore the Sundance down here, since alot of businesses in the lower 48 won't ship to Alaska, and he doesn't want to have that disadvantage. Plus i have a few friends down here that are set up to do my paint and stripes. The job market in Alaska has been booming while it's been nothing here, and when you get on the North Slope, you make mad cash and you're in the door for the next season.
I'm going to attach some pics of my Satellite Sundance since you requested it, lol, i'd never seen a Sundance either till i bought one! Thanks for writing, love to meet more Mopar people!! By the way, what kinda ride do you have?

[mopardave]

Welcome aboard! Not a bad lookin' car to start from on restoration. My wife won't wrench on my cars, but she does drive all of em' and she has put up with my Mopar habit for the last 37 years. Good luck to you on your resto.

[kowalski]

Wow! That's a cool Satellite- must've been a regional dealer option. My woman(Tammy Joe) can and does wrench-also knows what she's talking about when it comes to cars- God bless her. It's always welcome to hear from another woman that does,too. I have a sleeper 69 Coronet 2dr post, white with blue bench interior, steelies and dog dishes, flat hood, manual discs and 20:1(Firm Feel) steering, auto on the column. Pumped up 440RB drivetrain being worked on. Hope for low 12/high 11 quarter mile potential when done. It's presentable and mostly original, just starting to show her age, though solid underneath-very rare find in Indiana.

[Walkercolt]

My Mom actually taught me the most about working on cars. When her and my Dad first got married (1944) they had a variety of pre-war cars that needed major TLC and attention. One person can't hold-up the rotating assembly of a '37 Buick RoadMaster straight 8 and tighten the main caps(under the car). So my Mom helped. When I was 12, my Dad was out-of town and our '63 ChevyII needed a new carb. So she and I went and bought one and installed it. Personally, if you drive any vehicle, I think you should know how to make basic repairs on it, from moped to semi. My cousin that lives next door to me can't grasp "righty-tighty". I was his mechanic until about 5 years ago. My 55 year-old body don't enjoy crawling under old cars like it did when I was 14. And working in driveways leaves everything to be desired. Welcome.