Here's the ones I bought....I'm not going to post ten pictures and there's no clear date on the box itself. Both boxes have shipping labels attached, one is date 1977 and the other 1980.
Either they came in both natural grey and a gold colour plating or I got ripped off

They have the same part numbers casted as the ones shown above.
My camera sucks, they appear more gold in natural light

Take note of the bottom corner of the door and bottom of the fender.

Emergency brake cables...

Thats how they were Alan. I have seen more original ones with the different style cables than with the same type!

Had to flip this picture up side down!!

Hey Beast....just curious. Were factory assembly line 440 resonators welded to the head pipes or bolted on with clamps like the Hemi ones were? (Just wanting to make sure that some involved here don't hypocritically overlook their short comings while incorrectly assuming certain aspects of others.)

NOTE: Ignore how the resonators (head pipes) are not lined up even. They were not supported/held by the exhaust hangers at this point.

This has turned out to be a very interesting and informative thread. My thanks go out to everyone who has contributed . That car did originally come from the Huntsville, AL area. A buddy of mine actually remembers taking it for a test drive
when it was for sale sometime around 1977 .

Greg

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Hi Tav. Hope you are doing well. I have seen three or four sets that appear to have been silver. (Same place where I located the hoods/original cars for research.) Are they worn off? I didn't think they were. I have seen inner fender side marker retainers also in silver. Most of those are gold however. Just when you think you have every answer, a sample pops up to defy all logic. I have stopped making absolutes regarding any feature about these cars. Since I have about 35 hours of work a day over the next 3 weeks, I think I will leave it to some of the others making the “absolutes” to prove their case on this one. Certainly it is only fair that I should not be the only person having to prove my points (constantly) as well as having to disprove every statement or “feature” made by others. Someone posts a gold picture; I post a silver. Who is right? Who is wrong? Neither I would think.

We found that it ended up in that area but was not originally sold from a dealership in that locale.

Just for the record, back in the 80's when Downer was THE guy with the NOS parts, I traded for a pair of NOS Challenger park lite assemblies for a Challenger I was doing.
He had no less than 10 NOS pair on hand at any given time, with correct 70-71 pigtail. There were as many boxed with the gold colored finish as there were with the bare finish.
We went throught them all to make sure I got a pair that matched, and again all were NOS in the boxes.

Thanks for the info Dave. Anyone else find any (on cars) that were silver all along without the gold coating?

Since I've never inspected a silver one up close,... Are they coated in anything like a corrosion preventative, or are they just raw material?

Tav

I wanted to say to Mr. Beast that I apologize for an earlier post I made regarding the parking lights in the valance. It appears that the lights I researched DID have traces of gold showing on them. I cannot say for sure if they all came this way but I am thinking they could have. I shouldn’t have come across with the “ax to grind” attitude but you would not believe how many anonymous messages I have received second guessing everything that we have done on this car. Again I apologize if I have promoted any information that was not correct and for the manner in which it was conveyed. Thanks for the input and please keep it coming!!

Just double checking to make sure I've got this right. So Dave, we're back to No (0) known examples of assembly line turn signal housings without the gold coating?

Tav

Hi Tav,
I have one set still in the valance and I cannot find one iota of gold coloring in the nooks or crannies. Steve checked his in his car and it HAD gold traces on them. I don't know what to tell you about this one. Different times of the year? Different suppliers? Same suppliers that changed their product to save money? Not enough info? Conflicting info? YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!