The Dodge Challenger Message Board

Just wondering where to look up date codes. I THINK the date code on my car is 219. Does that mean the 19th of February 1970? Or is the date code 121 204? Anyony who knows? - Robert

Hello Robert. You are correct when you say that your car was built on the 19th of February, 1970. The number that follows on the same line on your fender tag is the order number.
Bob

Well.....

The date is called the SPD which stands for Scheduled Production Date.

It was the day that the car was predicted to be built when the order was placed. In actuallity for Hamtramck it could have been built up to three weeks before or after that date. There is no way to know for sure what day any given car was actually built.

Barry

Thanks Barry. I learned something new today. I just assumed that it was the actual build date. This is why I should not assume anything. Does this suggest that the fender tag was stamped before the car was even started to be built? Why were some option codes left off of the tag?

Bob

You couldn't put every code from the build sheet on a fender tag. It would take up most of the inner fender!

So only the main information is on there.

I am not sure at what point the tag is made. I would be interested to know. But when ever it was made it would still have to have all the information and dates that were selected when the car was ordered. That includes the "build date".

However I believe the door decal will have the "actual" build month on it.

My own car has September 17th 1969 on the tag but October 1969 on the door decal.

Mine was July 1969, which wasnt supposed to have a black shaker bubble, another mopar site claimed I was wrong and my car was incorrect! I dont go that site anymore.Frank Badalson and Roger G. said they had seen others with the same combo.

My understanding of the shaker bubble color was that at the start of the 1970 model year it could be ordered painted to match the body. That went away as the shaker hood became unavailable. When it once again could be had, it was available in either argent or black but could be ordered red to match a red FE5 car if the buyer wished to have it that way. I've never been able to document this, but I am repeating the lore as it was told to me by Julius Steuer and it seems to agree with what you got from Roger G, Eddie.

JackT wrote:That went away as the shaker hood became unavailable.

Why?

Thanks Jack, I had a little run in with the dudes on MoParts.com seems that they have ALL the answers and I and my car were wrong, oh well I never lent any credence to that site anyways, I am interested in what Mr. Struer had to say. His restorations are world class. At least with the Dodge brand I have discovered that the factory put in the order with the supplier, they didnt deliver as many that the factory needed at that time. Plymouth was getting the Cuda ready and they had enough N-96 parts to build the cars. Dodge either miscalculated or the supplier had a problem, dont know which one is valid, I do know that the colors,(black,body color and argent),were available on all 71s? I would think that Chrysler would want to get those N-96 packages to the customers who had already put orders in for those cars. I "heard" from salesmen and dealers who operated during that era that the Dodge guys would grow impatient waiting for their N-96 Chally, so to appease them the dealers would order an R/T hood to save the sale.

Thanks for all answers about the date code, this topic went somewhere else after a while though, hehe.

My fault sorry RA. Just too interesting! I dont know about the date codes. Have you the little "white" books by Galen Govier, three that I know of, they provide valuable info on parts casting numbers and such.

Don't worry Eddie. Yeah I think I might get those books, was never too interested in numbers before since I'm not even near matching numbers but it's kinda fun to do some research anyway.

BTW, I've just received all the paperwork from previous owners of my car in Sweden so now I'm gonna try to look them up and ask about it's history. It's a bit much to ask for but someone just MIGHT have some original parts lying around, who knows...but then again I just have the names and previous addresses. Does anyone know how to get ahold of previous owners in the US or is that impossible? Guess I need the former US title for that???

Rock animal, Yes you can track the U.S. owners. Do you know its origin? What state and also the first owner, where is he from. Having asked these things I would start with their state Dept. of Motor Vehicles. Some states like mine,(Indiana), will even give you the address of the first owner because its on the Title and the excise Tax form. Then you could do a people search or make some phone calls. Pretty cool really! I wish my cars first owner was still alive. He was 65 when he ordered it in 1969. He then wrecked it after driving it for only a few months, and lived a few more years before dying. The second owner gave me this info as the old mans family kinda scatterd over the years and theres not anyone left I can find. Some states have much stricter privacy laws, Ind. is pretty backwards, you can get a lifetime concealed handgun permit and carry it on you anywhere with no reason needed, felons need not apply, all for 125.00! Also can you do a car search on your car to "see" if it had U.S. owners? If you need a "contact" over here to assist you calling let me know I would be happy to help.

Thanks Eddie for the kind offer! But one problem remains. I don't know ANY U.S. history of the car whatsoever (except Hamtramck...) so it might be a bit hard.

No, problem, I wonder if you contacted the Chrysler registery, would they be able to inform you of the dealership the car went to? If so, this would at least give you a starting point. Also, Barry Washington? the curator of the Alaskan T/A site might have some ideas as well as Galen Govier,(he"s hard to get ahold of however), anything to get you started on a "lead" to the point of origin,(dealership). Galen did lead me to two different dealers for my car. One was a specialist in performance cars but was 60 miles away, the other was a local Dodge dealer. I "picked" the local for my re-pop window sticker.

airfuelEddie wrote:as well as Galen Govier,(he"s hard to get ahold of however)

If you are very rich or very well known you have no problems getting in touch with him.

dave-r wrote:

airfuelEddie wrote:as well as Galen Govier,(he"s hard to get ahold of however)

If you are very rich or very well known you have no problems getting in touch with him.

Since Galen is quite well-known himself, he can afford (or is wise enough?) to only take the most lucrative jobs.... Money talks, I wish I had more of that commodity. I set my hope on Santa!

Galen Govier did my paperwork along with A.G. Backeast. Yes Galen took a long time to complete it and it cost me a pretty penny, however, who else do you go to when he is the only game in town? Dave R. is correct though it seems that money talks in all aspects of life.

christer wrote:Since Galen is quite well-known himself,

He has worked hard to be well known thats for sure.

Rubbing shoulders with the "right" people seems important to him than the cash. At least the people I know that have met him seem to think that.

I couldn't possibly comment as I have never met him. Although I do know of several people he has threatened leagal action against for using "his" numbers.

dave-r wrote:

christer wrote:Since Galen is quite well-known himself,

He has worked hard to be well known thats for sure.

Rubbing shoulders with the "right" people seems important to him than the cash. At least the people I know that have met him seem to think that.

I couldn't possibly comment as I have never met him. Although I do know of several people he has threatened leagal action against for using "his" numbers.

I really didn´t mean it as a negative comment. I am sure that Galen is a super-nice guy in every way. I seems to me that he is a great asset to the Mopar lovers. Thanks for giving us a helping hand, Galen! Nothing wrong with earning a couple of $$$ at the same time, right?

dave-r wrote:I couldn't possibly comment as I have never met him. Although I do know of several people he has threatened leagal action against for using "his" numbers.

Neither I have met him, so I shouldn´t comment on him, I guess.

About"his" numbers: At first glance it may look strange and odd to use legal actions in such a matter. I think that what he did was a very clever thing to do. From my point of view, people are just copying his work from top to bottom.It must be quite frustrating for him. Nowadays, people in general don´t seem to care much about copyright laws, do they? I guess I am not perfect either....

(Background: Galen has added a couple of figures to his work that were purposly wrong. The idea was to trap people who copied his work.)

Yeah but they are not HIS numbers are they. They are Chryslers.

He has given up on that one these days. He has also given up on some of the other things he used to do.

dave-r wrote:Yeah but they are not HIS numbers are they. They are Chryslers.

If you see it another way: Pretend that you are an autor of a historical book. Since history is not an exact knowledge, you will have to do a lot of assumptions and interpretations along the way. I don´t find it unlikely that Galen has worked in the same way (or?). The point is that no-one for sure can tell what is right and what is wrong.