The Dodge Challenger Message Board

If my 71 Challenger came with a 340, does it mean that it comes with the ralley gauges? I noticed on my build sheet that it came with the wood grain sterring wheel but I'm not sure where to look for the code for the gauges. Also, I heard that if it came with a 340, it also comes with a ralley hood because of the 340. Is this true? Thanks

Not all 1971 Challengers with 340's were R/T's. Look for A62 on the fender tag - that's the Rallye instrument cluster. Look for the letter S in the second position of your VIN - that would tell you that you should have a the R/T hood AND the cluster as the 340 performance package (A66) was a 1970-only option applied to JH23H0 cars. If the second letter is an H, you have a stock flat-hood, regular cluster car. Since you were referring to your build sheet and the codes on it, you should have put this question in the Option Codes section of this board. Please do so in the future.

All 340 Challengers would have come with the J54 hood unless the N94 or N96 hood was ordered.

The Rallye cluster code is A62, it should appear on your fender tag and broadcast sheet if the car came with it. If A62 is coded, N85 will be coded as well.

T/Ake care,
Barry

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I have never seen a 1970 340 car with a flat hood, it was possible to get a flat hood on JH23N0B car and BH23N0B as well as JH27N0B and BH27N0B cars, but all 1970 340 cars came with the J54 hood standard.

This started as a 1971 thread, but since it was brought up I figured I better throw in my 2 cents worth.

T/Ake care,
Barry

Dodge built 6933 JH23HO cars. I know I have seen a JH27H0 with a flat hood and will be watching the shows this spring to see if I can find a JH23H car so I can check that statement. I do not buy it that the 340 Performance Package option (A66) or even the R/T (J54) hood was standard on that car because the hood was not even available as an option on the 340 cars until 11/26/69, about one quarter of the way through the year's production.

So my car came with the "power bulge" hood as standard since it came with a 340-4bl, if not the statement under 1971 of home page of this web site is wrong.It states that if it was ordered with a 340-4bbl, the power bulge hood was standard. As far as the gauges, I guess I'll look for it on the build sheet.
" Since you were referring to your build sheet and the codes on it, you should have put this question in the Option Codes section of this board. Please do so in the future."

Does this mean that since I mentioned the 340 engine, I should have put it it the "Engine" section? And since I mentioned the gauges, I should have put it in the "Interior" section? But since I mentioned the build sheet , it should have been put in the 'Vin" section?

I quess in the "future", I will have to post it in all the sections. The question was the gauges, I said something about the build sheet so everyone would know I had the build sheet.

Shatar, my point was that with all the ground you were covering....... engine, instrument cluster, hood, build sheet and defining what is or was standard equipment for your car, the proper place for your post was the VIN and Option Codes section. I have a keen interest in this area, plenty of reference material and am happy to help answer your questions. My apologies for being so gruff - I got to your your post at the end of a very long day, so here's a properly researched answer.

According to John Schild's book, "Original Challenger and Barracuda 1970-1974" the Sport Hood was standard in 1971 on ALL V8 four-barrel and multiple-carburator Challengers. The flat hood came on 6-cylinder and 2-barrel V8 cars.

I had some extra time this moring so I looked up A66 in regards to the hood issue.

The 1970 Dodge Data Book states;

Challenger 340 Parformance Pkg. CODE A66
(Available with 2-dr.Hardtop & Conv. N/A S.E. & R/T)
340 Engine (Code E55)
F70x14" Tires with RWL (Code T87)
R/T Performance Hood
Heavy Duty Brakes
Heavy Duty Suspension
Bumble Bee Paint Stripe (may be deleted)
"Scat Pack" Decal on Rear Quarter panel
The Std. Wheel lip Molding is deleted

The only thing that does not jive is that the Scat Bees actually went on the rear quarter windows, not the rear quarters themselves. But the point is that the book provided to dealers to order these cars mentions that the A66 package did indeed include the R/T hood.

I also looked into the J54 code further by looking at fender tags and photos I have here. All the Hamtramck built 1970 model year A66 car tags I have prior to B20 (November 20) do not have the J54 code on the tags, while all of them after 122 (Jan 22) do have it coded. If anyone here has a 1970 A66 car between those dates I would love to see a photo of the tag, maybe we can nail the date down?

Another J54 mystery pops up with the Challenger T/As, most of them are coded for the J54 hood & the N94 hood, some times the "extra" J54 coded comes and goes on cars sequential to each other. I may never figure that one out.

T/Ake care,
Barry

Just so everyone knows, John Shild's book does have some pretty pictures, but it has lots of errors and mis-information in the text.

Barry

Here is a photo of the A66 info from the Data Book.

So my car came with a Ralley hood? It was built 11-70. I'm not sure with all the info that we are talking about a 70 or a 71.

As for the books....... Paul Herd's book is well known for its inaccuracies and Jim Schild's book may have some as well. I have found GG's books to be pretty solid on most things, however, and his book is where the date on the J54 option came from. In the MOPAR game from the 70-74 era, there were so many exceptions that the "rules" appear to be more like guidelines. Speaking of rules, Shatar began this thread about his 1971 Challenger and this whole 1970 340 thing has been dropped of it. A little out of bounds, don't you think?

Well Shatar4. If you are confused don't worry. You are not the only one!

So what was the answer to the question?

I believe the answer was that a 71 Challenger with a 340-4 bbl came from the factory with a Ralley hood. Or was it a 70? No, I think it was a 71. Yea, a 70 came with one only with the A66 package, or was it the J54 option? Wait, what was the year of my car again?

http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/overh ... photo.html

Positive evidence is at hand! The Challenger they "made over" at the link above is a 1971 340 Challenger. If you look through the eight pictures, you will see a standard cluster AND a rallye hood on that car. Shatar, your sense of humor is to be commended.

JackT wrote:http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/overhaulin/episode/season2/episode208/photo.html

Positive evidence is at hand! The Challenger they "made over" at the link above is a 1971 340 Challenger. If you look through the eight pictures, you will see a standard cluster AND a rallye hood on that car. Shatar, your sense of humor is to be commended.

Even though I got confused, I still learned somethings. I don'y mind topic when they get off subject because you get more info then what you set out for. I think it's great.

JackT wrote:http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/overhaulin/episode/season2/episode208/photo.html

Positive evidence is at hand! The Challenger they "made over" at the link above is a 1971 340 Challenger. If you look through the eight pictures, you will see a standard cluster AND a rallye hood on that car. Shatar, your sense of humor is to be commended.

I missed the begining of the show, but the "Before" pictures they show its has a big block in it, so how do you know it has a 340?