The Dodge Challenger Message Board

hi guys,i have now seen many combinations to the shaker hood bubble from photos on this site and many other internet sites. does anyone know the true scoop on what colour the bubble shaker was on particular colour choices. will be interesting to hear the factory set ups or show us your shaker bubble. i have seen them as painted the same as the car/krincle finish black (like mine)/krincle fish argent silver/smooth silver/smooth flat black. are any of these combos wrong from the factory?

From what I've read black, argent and body color were all correct at one time or another. Don't recall the order in which one was correct when though.
Some of the books listed in the book thread have conflicting points of view IIRC

fal308 wrote:From what I've read black, argent and body color were all correct at one time or another. Don't recall the order in which one was correct when though.

I am quite sure that this has been discussed here before but I don´t remember the answer.
I think that argent was suspended (from a certain date) due to dangerous sunshine reflexes.

Btw; Have you seen these threads?:

http://challenger.mpoli.fi/forum/viewto ... 2388#22388

http://challenger.mpoli.fi/forum/viewto ... 9718#19718

I seem to remember that argent was first also. And that it was stopped then body color came next but some colors didn't take to the Shaker as well as others, with matte black being the option during most of the production run. Also matte black would have been easiest to stock on production lines.

I remember reading this in an article from the now defunct Muscle Car review. Mine isn't body colour,(FE5), Red. I know for a fact the Shaker on my car goes back to 1989. I have a pic of it. The whole front end of the car is covered in ice!

At the time the photo was taken the 2nd owner had already purchased the car. The 1st owner is deceased, I am the 3rd owner. I know it's a bit difficult to see but the colour of the bubble is black matte.

Thanks Eddie for clearing that up. At least I was partially correct.

hey eddie,great article. i noticed that article never mentions the black finish coming on the 1970 cars but on 71 cars-yes. hmmmmmmm i wonder if they gooved up. i never really follow a magazines articles as it is hear say by what the writer as heard or discussed with an owner of the car. that old photo you have shows a black cover. confusing but interesting!!! anyone have factory photos of the shaker?

Danny, I agree that magazine articles are nowhere near accurate to be considered as the "factory reference blueprints" or as the engineering drawings that Dave sometimes posts. I intended to shed some further 'light' on the matter. Also I dont know if my bubble is the cars original shaker bubble. The original owner who is now decesed ordered the car for drag racing. My car is a console delete model with shifter boot and the Pistol Grip. He could have taken the bubble off and lost or damaged it and replaced it with a factory replacement. The original owner died in 1978.

Danny, Barc, one of the leading authorities on N-96 1970 Challengers is Scott Smith from Harms auto. www.harmsauto.com and www.shakerhood.com Ben Snobar's place. I have spoken with both and bought Shaker parts from both. Both highly reputable and make exxcellent reproductions of N-96 components for both E-Body models, Challenger/Cuda. It seems that both gentlemen agree with what we have so far uncovered. The N-96 Challenger/Cuda's came with body colour for the bubble in 1970, Chrysler was informed that glare was disturbing the vision in some situations, this would probably coincide with moPar being 'slammed' by Consumer reports for the SE rear backlight preventing rearwrd vision so that option was dropped for 1971 from the Dodge lineup. Of course, you know that 2 N-96 1970 Challengers have surfaced that had a 340 and 383 installed, but I have not seen them or the documentation. The N-96 1970 Challenger only had two engine options that being the 440 sixpack and 426 Hemi. Confused yet?

airfuelEddie wrote:Danny, Barc, one of the leading authorities on N-96 1970 Challengers is Scott Smith from Harms auto. www.harmsauto.com and www.shakerhood.com Ben Snobar's place. I have spoken with both and bought Shaker parts from both. Both highly reputable and make exxcellent reproductions of N-96 components for both E-Body models, Challenger/Cuda. It seems that both gentlemen agree with what we have so far uncovered. The N-96 Challenger/Cuda's came with body colour for the bubble in 1970, Chrysler was informed that glare was disturbing the vision in some situations, this would probably coincide with moPar being 'slammed' by Consumer reports for the SE rear backlight preventing rearwrd vision so that option was dropped for 1971 from the Dodge lineup. Of course, you know that 2 N-96 1970 Challengers have surfaced that had a 340 and 383 installed, but I have not seen them or the documentation. The N-96 1970 Challenger only had two engine options that being the 440 sixpack and 426 Hemi. Confused yet?

yep,getting more confused. that article also says all hemi cudas came with the shaker hood. i dont think so as it was an option. hopefully the black finish was a correct application for my colour combo. thanks ed for those 2 web sites,man are the shaker parts ever expensive!!!

Yeah they are Danny! But the effect is worth it! I thought all 1970 Hemi Cudas had the Shaker as a mandatory 'option'. I have never seen a 1970 Hemi Cuda that was NOT N-96 but I could be wrong.

Another tip for any N-96 afficinados. Carry a fire bottle with you at all times,(I keep a small one in the backseat), dont tighten the fasteners too tight, if the engine backfires and you smell or see smoke, attempt to start it immediately to suck back into the engine any fire), a lot of these N-96/Fresh Air cars caught fire from backfires then fiberglass catching on fire....bad scene.

I too have read in one of my books where all '70 Hemi 'Cudas came with a Shaker. I also recall reading somewhere a long time ago about hoods where you couldn't always get your desired hood and they would substitute another style, don't recall which way though; Shaker replacing Power Bulge, flat replacing ???? or....
There's also a company making an aftermarket Shaker hoods for '90s Dodge and ferd trucks, Keystone. Don't know the quality though.

From my limited knowledge I have found the following to be true: 1970 Hemi Cuda's had the fresh air system,(N-96), when the Hemi was ordered. Since the only fresh air system the E-body utilized was the N-96 Shaker this would make sense. In 1970 Dodge announced the Challenger with available N-96 shaker as an option for 440Sixpack and 426 Hemi only, but there was a problem, Dodge couldnt recieve the Shaker bubbles as easily as Plymouth had done form their respective suppliers, so there was a up to 6 month wait for N-96 equipped Dodges, hence the low production# 184. Would you wait 6 months for your ride? A lot of orders were then "changed" to the regular hood or R/T hood. BTW, I am NOT refering to dealer added options in my discussion. I dont really recognise those. But then again there are the Mr. Norms cars, they are an "official' type of car with documentation to prove it. Much like the Nickey Chevrolets or Don Yenko's cars or Motion Baldwin Vettes and Tasca Fords.

i know this is an old thread but i have decided to paint my shaker the right color. which is the argent silver.
the color i found is almost a perfect match to the back color of my S.E. trim under the trunk lid,it has the same texture and finish as the original.
very happy with the results.
i also changed the black color on the grill to the correct aluminized color.
let me know what you guys think in my before and after photos.
also anyone wants to know the paint i got to do both jobs,i will gladly post the products for you.

What brand of argent did you use? It look like med/dark argent...correct?

burdar wrote:What brand of argent did you use? It look like med/dark argent...correct?

the paint is made by Krylon,
can says Fusion for plastic "texured shimmer" is the color.
it is like a medium dark argent.
i found it in the home section at a department store.
this color is almost a perfect match to the back cove that i have on my S.E. rear tail panel. it has a the same rough texture as the original paint with some sparkle to it. (hard to see in the photos but it does look fantastic). personally i dont think you will find a better match than this.
i hand sanded the shaker with a sponge sander and then put 2 light coats of paint. paint sprays on with no tears/running or blotching.it dries super fast as well and spreads very nicely when painting.
i also added a photo of the rear panel,see over the tail lights as this is were that color is almost a perfect match. (photo is a bit dark under the shade) i have talked to many mopar shaker owners at carlisle and here in canada and most of the guys said to try and match my S.E. rear panel and i would be pretty much there in color. the shker looks great under the sun as it really shows the textured shimmer of the paint.
also the snorkles are semi gloss black on the shaker,those must be removed and painted on there own.

Yeah,,I have wood. Nice JOB Danny!!!

I had heard that the Krylon paint was a real close match. Some people were worried about how well the paint will hold up to the elements. The Krylon is just a cheaper spray paint. The other argents available are accually automotive grade paints, put in a spray can.

Let us know how well it holds up over time.

I used the Krylon on my Grill and headlight surrounds[non r/t] and that was about 4 years ago. It still looks good and has held up very well.

so far i have 300 miles on the shaker bubble and the paint looks as good as new. the 440 6 pack engine makes a lot of heat too but so far so good.
i think i will be fine.

last night at a cruise i saw a 1970 hemi cuda with the shaker hood,it was painted a much lighter argent silver than mine. i really like the paint i got because it is almost a bang on match as it is exactly the same shade as the back tail cove. i think the lighter shade on the cuda just did not look as good as the one i picked up. .

i also forgot to mention that the texture and color are also pretty damn close the the center caps of the 1970 rally rims. see photo.

Here's what I've learned based on a variety of sources, including Galen, the guys in my club who built these, the guys who engineered these, and the guys in Marketing at Chrysler.

Yes, we are all old. More's the pity. The generation is fading fast....

The Shaker option was standard on the Hemi Cuda, and the only Challenger versions sporting shakers were pilots and very early production cars, including the famous red 440+6 in the photo shoots. Cuda's could get it on the 440-6. Challengers started to see the option reliably on the Hemi and 440-6 mid year or there abouts, Galen has a good view of about when. 71's had N96 available on 340's and up, both the R/T-Cuda and base models. I am not aware of any 70 single carb versions.

The color for 1970 was argent textured, except for Red cars. Precedent was set on the marketing cars, so Red is reliably known to have been built. Later in the 70 run, due to complaints of glare, the colors were switched to textured black. That held through the '71 model run.

One more fun fact is by the end of the '71 run, Chrysler ran out of the shaker assemblies and a few late 71 Dodge cars had the left-over TA hoods substituted for the Shaker, I've only seen one (a red, hemi, rubber bumper car) and didn't have time to see how/if these hoods were modified to fit the big block. TAs of course had small blocks! Plymouths continued to be the priority for shakers.

Now the one thing definately known regarding the hippie era of manufacturing was that one-offs, special orders and Dealer changes were common. The legal enviornment in the free love era allowed much more flexiblity than today. So please no hate spam if I may have called into question your car's honor.

There are probalby many exceptions to the rule above, but I've done 3 shaker cars, all original, 2 71 Hemis (cuda and challenger) and one 70 440-6 Challenger. The Red 70 car's bubble was Red (under the black that was on it when I got the car), the 71's were both textured black. All these colors are being re-poped now, and you can just rattle can them to the right color.

Here is the just about finished 70, which took best Mopar at it's first outing.

Hope this helps. Keep the faith.

Um, I do not know where to start with a reply, but some of what you heard is off.

Some of this we have covered here before, like the N96 hoods being replaced with the N94 hoods. That is a myth. The Shakers were available again on the 1970 Challengers before the T/A hood was available as an option.

The N94 hood continued as a 1971 option.

It is late for me, I can get into it a bit more tomorrow night if no one else chimes in first.

I thought there were two 1970 Hemi Challengers fitted with the T/A hood? We had one found on here owned by the bastard that never paid me for the radio I sent him. It seemed completely original.

I see no reason why any 1971 Challengers would be fitted with T/A hoods.

For 1970 N94 Challengers, these totals are known so far;

Hemi - 2

383 - 1

340 - 1

For 1971 cars I know of 2 so far;

340 - 1

383 -1

A guy I know is trying to look at another possible 71 340 car today too.

It seems like this topic comes up about every three months or so, I'll just write up an article with scans for HH so I have all the info in one spot. I can just link to it that way each time it comes up.

For more info on N96 & N94 cars;

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/sho ... art=1&vc=1

Thanks Barry, he'll be missed. I wonder what happened to the paperwork that was in his registry, and the work he put forth into it.? I have my 1970 N-96 Challenger registered with him.

thank you barry for that link,
that was i great read of 4 pages of shaker hood lingo.
i now learned my car has an early no crush zone shaker hood (very rare).
also only 15 R/T S.E. challengers came with the shaker,thats rare.
what i found very interesting is that not all of the n96 coded cars were on the fender tag as they can be on the broadcast sheet only or vise versa.
i wish i had my broadcast sheet.
also the very late shakers did start to be painted black.
great thread.

Hey guys,
I do know that Daniel knew of more 1970 N96 Challengers than I did, so if you have not registered with me yet, please do so if you have not done so already. This link will take you to where you can print out the registration form;

http://www.hamtramck-historical.com/register.shtml

I have been asked if I know what happened to Daniel's research a few times, & the answer is no, I do not.

Barry