I am finally dragging my project back out after 5 years of sitting in the garage...rebuilding the motor right now, which is partly why it sat so long, it spun a rod bearing on the crank, and messed some others up as well, looks like a lack of oil...






Anyway, so here i am back at it, and i have some resto questions...Here is what the fender tags read...and im trying to figure out certain things for the formal roof option, what it didnt use that was used in 70 SE cars etc...Any other input is welcome as well, as im very rusty after being away for so long, it feels like its been forever...Thanks in advance

(Fender Tag #1)
M31-Belt & hood molding
M42-Front end molding
M44-Hood & fender molding
M91-Luggage rack deck lid
N41-Duel exhaust
CTD-continued
J25-3-spd variable wipers
J41-Pedal dress up
J45-Hood pins w/lanyards
J54-Sport hood 70-71
M21-Roof drip rail moldings
C26-Over head roof consolette
C55-Bucket seats
G11-Tinted glass
G31-O/S RH manual racing mirror
G33-O/S LH remote racing mirror
H51-single air w/heater
V1W-Full white vinyl roof
U -Built to US specs
A46-Exterior trim molding group
A78-Formal roof package 71
B51-Power disc brakes
C16-Center console w/buckets
999-Special order paint (mine was Gomango)
H6x9-Black standard vinyl interior
000-Full door panels
413-Build date(April 13th)
K45021-"K"-special handling code
E55-340-4brl
D32-HD auto 727 torque flite

(Fender Tag #2)
Y39-Special order car
26 -26" radiator
EN2-End of tag 2
N42-Chrome dual exhaust tips
N85-Tachometer
P31-Power windows
R36-am/fm radio(thumbwheel radio/console cassette)
V6W-White RT side stripes

Great well optioned R/T!!
The A78 "formal roof option" included: small window, vinyl top, formed headliner, & overhead consolette.
Basically it lacked the moulding package & "SE" emblems on the "C"-pillars, compared to a '70 Challenger "special edition" model.

From a restoration aspect the car is missing a host of mouldings (front valence, back of hood & fenders, tops of doors & 1/4s, luggage rack), A/C, the R/T stripes & the 340 should be painted "blue".
Passenger-side inner fender is '70 style, replacement?

Man that is a sweet ride. That is just how I would have ordered it from the factory.

Thanks for the compliments, im just glad to be working on it again, and ready to get her ready for some shows.

6bblgt, thanks for the info, and i actually have all the molding the car calls for that you mentioned, its polished and laying in the trunk, everything looks great except the valance, its kind of rough on the inside but the outside rim that you see looks good. I never installed it because the car was never wet sanded and buffed(can it still be done after sitting so long?), the guy who did my paint and body was put in jail back when we were working on it, and as stated the motor had issues, just a bunch of stuff led to the car sitting so long. 6bblgt, i also have the compresor and some hoses and most of the AC stuff, but its all original and im sure it doesnt work, and i wanted to ask around to see who works on this and if it can be refreshed. As far as the engine block goes, i was told it could have gone either way, and being that it was an earlier production 71 and special order the block was prob more than likely orange. Maybe you would know, i was told it actually had a lot of the TA componants, i know it originally had a TA steering box(which i got rid of before i realized its significance)and a few other things, but cant remember what i was told...And as far as the inner fender and firewall, the guy i bought the car from had replaced some of the engine bay due to a wreck the car had suffered, it was stolen from his shop, and he repainted panther pink aftwards, and actually the reason i was able tpo get the car is because someone tried to steal it again, and wrecked the thing asgain, i only had to replace the hood, fenders grill etc, everything else starightened out. I actually screwed up and got a 70 style hood, it doesnt matter to me atthis point, maybe later on down the road i will do a rotisserie, but for now i just want to have some fun at local shows etc...The prob w/the 70 hood is the molding clips from the front edge, and in 71 its supposed to screw from underneath. WIll the 71 still mount to the underside of a 70 hood?(I hope!)

Thanks again

I Agree with Dan. The A78 option doesn't include any of the moldings that come with the SE cars.

Most of those SE moldings were still available in 71, but they were optioned seperately.

The only one that you couldn't get was the rear astrotone panel. (It's an aluminum molding with argent paint on most of it.) Of coarse, you also don't get SE emblems in 71.

Your car IS optioned with those extra moldings, so that's about as close as you can get to a 71 RT/SE

Sweet Car!!!

Tav

Thanks Tav,
OK, so that makes more sense, now i understand what Dan was saying...The formal roof option basically was just that, the OH console and back window etc...The belt moldings on the doors, quarters, fenders and hood, wouldn't normally be with that option, but being that mine has the other trim options then it still has all that trim. I was curious as to exactly what trim was with which option,

M31-Belt and Hood, is this all the belt molding including on the doors and quarters etc?

M42-Front End, Im assuming this is the valance trim?

M44-Hood and Fender, kinda was confused on this if this was the back edge as well? or front edge of hood?

A46-Exterior Trim Molding Group, What all is included in this group? Am i supposed to have the rocker trim too?

As far as badging goes, i need a little help, wish i could find some good restored 71 RT pics, I wouldn't have to ask all these petty questions, I do appreciate the help though.

- I have the White side RT stripes, and i went ahead and bought the white "RT" for the hood, was this standard on RT's w/stripes? And im pretty sure the "Dodge" letters were only on 70 cars.
- On the fenders i should have the "Challenger" badge and an "RT" badge correct? And one of them gets the "Gold Pentastar" just dont remember which one...where is the best place to get dimensions/measurements for placement?
- Decklid gets "Dodge" emblem
- Hood gets the 340-4brl
- Grill gets "Dodge" but does it get anything else like RT?

And i may be forgetting something, any help is appreciated...Thanks

- I have the White side RT stripes, and i went ahead and bought the white "RT" for the hood, was this standard on RT's w/stripes?-

I think they are all black

- And im pretty sure the "Dodge" letters were only on 70 cars. -

Correct

- On the fenders i should have the "Challenger" badge and an "RT" badge correct? And one of them gets the "Gold Pentastar" just dont remember which one...where is the best place to get dimensions/measurements for placement?-

stick on Challenger.

The R/T is an ongoing open debate. did you have origihal fenders. did they have r/t's? if not leave them off.

pentastar on bottom passenger fender

- Decklid gets "Dodge" emblem-

yep

- Hood gets the 340-4brl-

340 magnum I thought, but check on that.

- Grill gets "Dodge" but does it get anything else like RT?-

Yep, no RT its all ready on the hood sticker

Here's a 71 R/T A78 we see at the Flings out here.

Here's a 71 Challenger convertible loaded survivor (when pictures were taken).

I can't read the tag, but it had fast ratio steering. So good chance it was a later car like yours.











Easier just to do this.

www.cpwclub.com/images/71ConvRefBehindTailpanel.JPG
www.cpwclub.com/images/71ConvRefBrakeValve.JPG
www.cpwclub.com/images/71ConvRefDriverHoodHinge.JPG
www.cpwclub.com/images/71ConvRefDriverInnerFender.JPG
www.cpwclub.com/images/71ConvRefFtDriverInnerFender.JPG
www.cpwclub.com/images/71ConvRefFtMotor.JPG
www.cpwclub.com/images/71ConvRefMidDriverInnerFender.JPG
www.cpwclub.com/images/71ConvRefPassInnerFender.JPG
www.cpwclub.com/images/71ConvRefRadSupport.JPG
www.cpwclub.com/images/71ConvRefRrMidDriverInnerFender.JPG
www.cpwclub.com/images/71ConvRefSpareTire.JPG
www.cpwclub.com/images/71ConvRefUnderTrunklid.JPG
www.cpwclub.com/images/71ConvRefUnderhood.JPG

Quote:

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- I have the White side RT stripes, and i went ahead and bought the white "RT" for the hood, was this standard on RT's w/stripes?-

I think they are all black

---

Well it calls for V6W-white side stripes, so i was going to just put a white RT on the hood, are you saying it should have white side stripes and a black hood RT?

And i remember now that you say that about the RT on the fender being an issue, and i dont think mine had it originally, b/c of the side stripes saying it.

It seems like i remember this was a question back then too, and i remember being told the 340 chargers had magnum, and my challenger should be 340-four-barrel, but id like to know. We had purchased the 340-four-barrel emblems, but Id like to install the proper emblems.

Autoxcuda, thanks for all the detailed info, i really appreciate the pics too, that will help for reassembly...If you have more of those 2 cars, id take as many pics as you can send, if you would prefer to send through email i can give ya that...let me know thanks...

I thought I heard the R/T hood decals were all black.

Wonder if the parts manual lists a white hood lettering decal.



I have pictures of the moldings, but you allready have them. R/T specialties has the clips. find out if you are missing any.

Does your build sheet say wide rocker molding?

This thread needs to be moved to the resto section.

I didnt know there was a specific resto section now, this site has changed so much since i last used it...Thought i was in the right spot...

I have all my molding clips i think we ordered from RT specialties back then, so should be good to go, and i dont have a build sheet, 2 previous owners before me, had just gotten rid of the original seats like 2-3 months before i contacted him, to the same guy with the original block, and i could never get anyone to answer a phone, so i gave up...Kinda thought about getting back out and looking again...at least for the block, and who knows may luck into the seats...there used to be a site you could turn in found build sheets etc, and others could look to see if theirs was in there, sound familiar?

FYI.

Sounds like a cool car.

JS29, Nice car...I love the 70 body style as well, i think most all of that stuff only pertains to the 70 model year. I love your combo though.

I also have a 70 Challenger convertible, its underway too...Plum-Crazy Purple, white interior, white top, its an original 318 car, going with the 440, turbo-action tranny, rallye gauges etc...It will be a 440 magnum clone car...The thing should run like a scalded dog, added frame connecters. Want to have them both ready for Big Daddy Don Garlits show down here in Florida...Its got the motor dropped in, working on the wiring and engine bay componants, and interior. The body and paint work was done by an Moparts member friend of mine "Reflections7" Does awesome work , i cant wait to get the car done. When i get ready to redo the 71 properly, i will try to work around his schedule and do some serious sweet talking if he is no longer doing cars...Hopefully he will...

Quote:

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It's SPD is April 30th 1971. So it's a later car. Blue block and log manifolds. And all 340's got T/A boxes after March. There is a Chrysler memo on that. The only other TA thing could be a left over block. That would be casted into the block and you could see the thick main webs when you rebuilt it.

---

Im not sure what SPD means, im trying to understnad my production time frame...A little help here, how do i determine its early or late?

does anyone have a good close up of the exterior chrome on the SE back window?

Heres some descent pics of the trim your asking about in this ebay auction...Its not my ad, i just saw it, but I actually have an extra whole setup at the house if you were looking for some...Let me know

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1970-Dodg...sspagenameZWDVW

The SPD is the Scheduled Production Date. Yours being april 30th, better than half way through the production run.