Have a very early VIN "1000xx" (if that matters) '70 Barracuda that came to me many years ago with a '72-'74 grille and lower valance. I can't blame the previous owner...we're talking mid '90s here so there weren't a lot of budget friendly options.
I'm getting ready to spend some coin on the car now and would like to go back to the correct setup. What am I up against? Past experience tells me that the screw holes in the headlight surrounds don't all match up to the fender but beyond that I haven't dug into it much. The car is about 2 hours away.
Thanks!

header panels are different from 70 to 72,you will need a 70 header panel to mount the 70 grille back in,good part is all parts are reproduced,just cost.the lower valance is the same,you will need just the 70 plastic insert

Wow! I used to own 100327 that was a 70 with a 72-74 grill. Car was Panther pink. Same car? I had to notch some of the sheet metal in front of the rad to allow the grill plastic to fit. I remember the headlight bezels weren’t exactly perfect either.
I bought the grill for $150 (NOS) back in 1994 when 70 grills were going for $800.

Nope, this is earlier than that.
I was at a Mopar show back then where a restored '70 grille was going for $1500 FIRM. Main grille assy. only, no lower valance.
***Correction: The show I attended would have been early 2000s.

Yeah, remember when year one had NOS 72+ grills for around $150. I still have one, never been bolted on. Im not certain if the headlight bucket area will be the same as a 72+ vs 70. Both single headlight but you know how 70 is unique everything so I would look into it.

Bumping this back up to ask for recommendations on where to get:
-the '70 grille complete with bezels/trim
-the lower insert
-the header panel
None of the grille ads I've seen in the past year include marker lights. Still un-obtainium?
Nice driver quality, don't care about "correct shape/placement of the Pentastar in the casting where nobody ever sees it anyways" type stuff.

If you could find one of the B,E,&A grills someone has extra laying around, you’d be golden. They were the best. The only thing I did not like about the grill was the bottom straight trim was the same as the top and it did not fit the profile quite right. However, if you look at a oem grill and trim, they did not fit either were they met with the headlights. Other than that, his paint, headlight bezels, turn signals were better than oem. PG classics and Classic Industries are your best bet now. One of those may be making turn signals housings and lenses by now. They probably have the same grill from the same Chinese sweat shop and I don’t think they paint them. Let us know about your findings.

BEA was a no-go like a year ago when I first checked (and confirmed today) great guy though, gave me a couple tips on how to proceed and what to expect in the end.

Ordered grille w/ trim, header and park lights from Classic Industries. Grille and lights arrived today...I am not impressed.
-One marker light chipped where it WILL show when installed. Bag for second light torn in the exact same spot...poor packaging.
-Backside mounting holes for markers do not match up to holes in the grille. This will push the lights out (forward) about 1/4" without some "adjustment". Not sure if lights or grille is wrong.
-Excess flashing on grille where plastic "nuts" slide in to mount headlight bezels. Not a major issue by itself.
-Stainless trim is completely the wrong profile...
--Top trim: When laid in place on the right side the left side sticks out from the grille 1".
--Bottom trim: When laid in place on the right side the left side sticks out from the grille 1/2". Note: upper/lower are same trim here.
--Headlight trims: The curve around the bezel is too "open". With bottom of trim aligned the top portion at the end sticks up 1/2".
-- Either the tabs on the grille are too thick or the slot in the trim is too narrow. It doesn't even begin to seat with moderate pressure so I'll get to risk damaging the grille or trim AFTER I paint it....great.

This car is just intended to be a nice driver but I don't want to have to pay for parts twice if I damage them trying to get get them to fit together. I feel bad for the guys who are doing in-depth restorations if this is the quality of parts we're stuck with.

Awaiting a response from Classic Industries on how to proceed. Will follow up with their response.

Yikes, I heard the fitmit was not good on the repo parts, but that is way bad.

There is a person selling a 70 header panel on the board.

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthread...0-cuda-header-panel-wiw.html#Post3245751

Well, thanks for the update. This is pretty much what I’ve been afraid of. Mike had special care when he had his grilles and everything made. People complained about the price. I thought it was reasonable since a good used oem grille cost about twice as much as his new ones. Then these guys came along and put out what everyone wanted. Cheap Crap. I was smart. I made some extra money just to invest in a couple of spare grilles from him.

If if Pacnorthcuda simply modified (only notched the other side of the clip openings) you probably don't need a header panel.


Here's one in Denver
https://denver.craigslist.org/pts/d/arvada-1970-cuda-barracuda-header-panel/7767715310.html

I notched the curved area uprights (the ones closest to the headlight on each side). I didn’t modify the header panel itself.

If you are saying you got a '70 grille into a '72+ header can you please elaborate? It might save me from having to get this new header painted and it not matching the fenders/hood.

It's states above that it's a 1970 with a 70 header panel
Pacnorthcuda commented and it appears that this may be the same car he owned and states he performed some minor mods to fit a 1972 grille

He never specified that he used the '70 header and I took the "in front of the rad" to mean the core support. Everything I've read says it must use a '72-'74 header so I figured he had swapped that too.
We also established that my car is not his old car.
Now I see that you 2 are talking '72 grille in a '70 header with minor mods to the header and implying that my car may also have a modified '70 header. I will definitely look into that. Thank you both for the info. I truly hope that is the case so I can avoid paint mismatch.

Yes, all the sheet metal on my 70 Cuda was original. I bought it without any grill at all, then bought a NOS 72. I had to cut the curved sheet metal vertical supports in order for the 72 grill to fit (my guess is the 72 grill is just a bit bigger than the 70 in this area.
Perhaps the person that did it to your car did it the same way?

Well, no luck. It definitely does NOT have a '70 header panel in it. It appears that the hood release lever (maybe entire latch assembly?) is different from '70-'72+ also. The notch in the grille is much lower in the repop '70 grille i got. Any insight appreciated there.

Other notable finds while I had the grille out:
- One fender is not a 1970. It doesn't have the little screw tabs/inserts to mount the plastic headlight surrounds or the 2 holes down low for the header to bolt to.
- It appears somebody broke a bolt that holds the main headlight bucket in. Rather than drill out the bolt they rotated the bucket counter-clockwise and drilled all new holes in the fender to install the bucket....great.
Minor annoyances but annoyances all the same.