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Could it have been identical to the S36 "E" bolt above?

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I don't know but that's what my original 71 340 has, unpainted bolt and cable.

Thanks, Scott. And speaking of coils (other thread), my 69 340 coil (from a Hamtramck car delivered to Houston) was made in Canada. Never seen a Canadian repro offered...

Here's the original stencil marks.

Another, slightly rotated.

And here's the totally anal question: What the heck is the meaning of a "10A" date code? The car was built November, 1968.

Could 10 be October and A stand for 1968?

That's exactly the same battery cable bolt my 71 340 has. (I need 4 of these bolts in black or plated...Anyone?)

The only confirmed original 340 coil I have handy (71 vintage) has a date of 330 and does not have the "Made in Canada" or the 10A, but that could have easily been wiped off over the years.

This Dart that I have has never been apart. I am the third titled owner. It came from Florida is a non udercoat car and in decent shape really. It is a running and driving car, although at this time I'd need to spend a weekend going over mechanicals before I'd leave the drive. I'm pretty sure that if someone needs a picture of something original from a 69 GTS 340 Dart I could get it. If it was not for a repaint in the early 80's I would call it a survivor. The stripe is original and was masked off during the repaint. I have the build sheet and fender tag and all the numbers match motor, trans, body.

I can confirm that the clamps were copper clad then blackened. I have one that's about half worn to copper and another that's nearly all black. What I'd REALLY like to know is whether or not they were on the engine when it was painted, there may have been a year to year variable, as well and an engine plant variable such as when they went from orange to blue (Windsor to Mound Road) in late 1971. I have seen a pretty fair number with engine paint over spray, almost too many to write them all off as "day two" touch up over spray jobs.

Pic shows the clamps after I cleaned them up.

Here's a pic of my 1970 Duster 340 distributor clamp. The engine was never apart until I took it apart at 135,000 miles. You can see remnants of orange paint on it.

FJR, what is the bolt head marking? Any chance that orange paint could have rubbed onto the clamp from a freshly painted engine? Does it have any spray speckling?

Scott, I can't tell from my pictures. I'll go out to the garage tomorrow and take a closer look in person.

Here are close ups of the little bit of paint left on my clamp. The bolt is marked "E" with 3 lines.

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FJR, yes it looks like over spray, albeit a very small amount. The head markings seem to have varied, the same bolts were likely used in other applications.

Speaking of that on the coil bolts, they were used elsewhere as well. My Federal Power Steering pump had this exact style bolt holding the reservoir can to the pump assembly.

71 340 in my convertible.

BS27H1B344342

SPD 3/31/71

Blue Mound Rd. engine.

Bill Rolik

I cleaned my distributor clamp off of rust by soaking in Evaporust. Very little of of the original copper plating remained afterwards. Anybody have suggestions of how to duplicate the blackened appearance? I thought about gun bluing but just wanted to see if anybody has any other suggestions.

Try dipping it in Eastwood blackening solution and sealing it with something like RPM