Satellite/RoadRunner structural differences?
 

Back in high school a friend's dad had a 69 RoadRunner that got parked in the garage in the 80's after an accident. His mom wouldn't let him sell it to me, but I fell in love with it, and decided that some day I'd have one. I've had my eyes open, and have found that it's much cheaper to find a 69 Satellite (seen running examples for less than 3K) than it is a real RoadRunner (people want more than 3k for a usless rusted out hulk).

Hood's different, but otherwise the body panels are the same. Other than heavy duty suspension, what else would need to be changed from say a 273/318 Satellite to make a 383 RoadRunner clone? New front K-Frame? Sub-frame reinforcement?

I've seen some of the 318 cars claim to be backed by the A727, but I thought the small V8s all got the A904? Also, were there any differences in a 8.75" rear behind a small V8 and the 383s?

Any light you could shed on this would be great.

You'll need the complete driveline, you'll need the BB trans & you don't have an 8 3/4 in a 318 car. BB radiator with shroud. HD shocks/torsion bars/sway bar up front. HD springs/shocks in rear. They did make 383 Satellites by the way.

If you get a V8 car, you won't have to change the K frame. Also, there are "swap" mounts to allow the use of a /6 K frame with a V8

Lighter/ smaller springs/ torsion bars/ brakes and no sway bars are typical suspension differences. My 69 383 4 speed car had 11" manual adjust , no power, drum all the way around. If I was building one I'd sure seriously consider at least front disc.

I've never been very clear on the "coupe" versus "hard top" thing. My 69 RR had the flip out rear windows, my '70 was a "hard top" but the rear windows only rolled down a few inches. In other words, I don't know whether the flip out windows came on the Sport Satellite/ Satellite or not, or just the RR's

Regardless of which engine you have It will have the 8 3/4 rear end. Unless you have a hemi. If you drive it it is almost mandatory to add disk brakes. Use the 73 up A body spindles with the larger ball joint and use the rest- Caliper adapter and the slide Caliper, dust shield, master cyl and disk. from a Volarie, Aspen disk brake vehicle You could also use the larger Cordoba type disks with 15" wheels with the matching parts. You could also use the pin type calipers from the Challanger, but they may be hard to find I had pin type calipers & Volare disks on a 67 Coronnet Worked great, Aligned to fact specs. The lighter torsion bars will work, common for the drag racers to use the lighter bars. There were lots of LA small blocks with the 727 trans. IF you are going to a big block you need to change the trans

I stand corrected, I was thinking 9 3/4.

Just so I'm understanding correctly.

Any original V8 Satellite (even if it was an LA block car) will have the same correct K-Frame that would have under-pinned a base Roadrunner?

A small block 727 and a big block 727 do not interchange. If I wanted to use a trans from a Satellite, it would have to be out of an original big block car?

An 8.75" rear is an 8.75" rear. No difference between the small and big block cars? (Obviously, open/limited slip not withstanding)

Then it's just a matter of HD springs, shocks, torsion bars, and sways. No extra chassis reinforcement?

If this is all correct, I think I might be in pretty good shape looking at making a clone. Resto-mod is kinda the way I had planned, so it's probably better not to butcher a real RoadRunner for it anyway. Right?

The only difference would be that most small engine cars tend to come with smaller brakes. Both my '64 426 and my '69 RR had manual, 11" X 2 (2 1/2?) brakes

So an 8 3/4 out of a 318 car might, probably would, have smaller brakes. Typically, no front sway bar on the smaller engine cars.

I know of no special chassis reinforcement, but I'm no expert on that. I hear that certain cars -- hemi, example--do have chassis pieces here and there.

The thing is, it just depends on how much HP you are going to put into the car. I've seen pictures of the old superstock cars "off the line", wheels in the air, buckling the rear sheet metal. If you are not building a 10 second car, I wouldn't worry about it.

kotobuki -

Years back (1980 +/-) I converted a 74 Charger from a 318 to a 440.

The trannys are not interchangeable, due to differences in bell housing sizes.

If you have a 8.75 rear, you're fine, but you might have to check drive shaft length (that will mean a new drive shaft, if it doesn't quite match up.) Check your U-joints and figure out what the gear ratio is.

You will need new motor mounts, easier today than 30 years ago, as shumaker has specific mounts for the conversion.

You may need a new/custom oil pan for clearance (I did).

You do not have to change the suspension. It may not be a bad idea to do so, but the small block t-bars, etc will hold up to the weight/torque of most street-built big blocks.

The conversion I mentioned, back in 1980 (+/-) was street driven, raced and still running/holding up fine to this day.

Sub frame connectors are also a nice idea, but that will depend on how hard you plan on running it. The Charger was an honest 12 second bracket car and didn't have the connectors. (I might put them on sooner or later, but it's not a priority.)

Hope that helped.

Archer