3 holes for a Swinger trunk emblem?

[Matt Miller]

OK I need to revive this thread.
I just bought a 70 Swinger 340 and my car has just the Dodge lettering (block) on the trunk.
The car has been repainted and I dont know the history on the car.
I have read this post but I really have not been able to come to a conclusion.
Is there anything in writing that states what is correct.
Did 70 Swinger 340s come with Dart Swinger on the trunk?
Did some come with just Dodge?
My car was built in Canada, I know there were some differences in the Canadian built cars.
Could this be one?

Sorry for the long post, I am just curious and want to learn as much as I can about the car.

See attached photos, one is an example of the Dart Swinger, the other is my car with only the Dodge emblem.

 

[70dart340]

My 1970 Swinger 340 has the Swinger emblem on the deck lid. I don't know if the Canadian Swingers were different, but to the best of my knowledge, all 1970 Swinger 340's were built in Canada. Did you look for welded/filled holes on the inside of the deck lid? Is your car an "H" code 340, or a 318 car? Alaskan TA is a tremendous resource on this kind if question. Paul.

 

[Matt Miller]

Hi Paul
Thanks for the reply
My car is an H code 340 4 speed.
I have not looked at the interior of the trunk yet, car is in storage I will look this weekend.
I did not know all Swinger 340's were built in Canada.
I really don't know a lot about 70 Swingers, this is the first one I have owned.
I did see an advertised as survivor Pink Swinger on COL and it had the Dart/Swinger on the trunk.
My car has all original panels on it and is very low mileage, but has been repainted one time. I really don't know the history on this car so who knows. Maybe the deck lid was switched or they changed the emblems when they repainted the car.
I am just trying to figure out what is correct.
Thanks for taking the time to respond Paul.
Matt

 

[Dartswinger70]

Just drill another hole...take your drill bits, put them in the hole keep stepping up in size till one doesnt fit,go one size down...now measure or ask here what the measurements are for the placement, lay it out and drill it. i had to do it for the quarter emblems on a dart swinger with a replacement quarter. Not difficult. I also have to do it for my replacement trunk lid that had the three holes on it, bit the holes in the frame for the "go wing" I am running...this is the fun of restoring a car LOL!

 

[70dart340]

Hi Paul
Thanks for the reply
My car is an H code 340 4 speed.
I have not looked at the interior of the trunk yet, car is in storage I will look this weekend.
I did not know all Swinger 340's were built in Canada.
I really don't know a lot about 70 Swingers, this is the first one I have owned.
I did see an advertised as survivor Pink Swinger on COL and it had the Dart/Swinger on the trunk.
My car has all original panels on it and is very low mileage, but has been repainted one time. I really don't know the history on this car so who knows. Maybe the deck lid was switched or they changed the emblems when they repainted the car.
I am just trying to figure out what is correct.
Thanks for taking the time to respond Paul.
Matt

I'm glad to help. I can take detailed pictures if it would help. No snobbery here. I'll send you a PM. Paul.

 

[str12-340]

Almost all 1970 Darts of any sort were built in Canada, I have a Dart GT originally sold in Southern CA, a Dart Custom originally sold in Maryland and a Dart Swinger originally sold in Tennessee and all of them were built at the Windsor Ontario plant. The 7th character in your VIN number is the plant of origin and I'll bet yours says "R".

I believe that all 70 Dart Swinger 340s - and only 340 cars (not non-340 Swingers, not Customs, not GTs) had the Dart Swinger badges on the trunk lid. All the rest had a cursive Dodge emblem that looks like the one on the hood but with different posts and only 3 posts. The block letter badge that you have is correct for later Darts, but I'm not sure what years (71-73???). Your situation could be a result of what was available when the car was last painted. I did my non-340 Swinger in 1998 and at the time the Swinger and Dart emblems were available, but the Dodge script was not being made so I use a Swinger 340 trunk lid I had laying around and rebadged the trunk lid.

 

[Matt Miller]

Almost all 1970 Darts of any sort were built in Canada, I have a Dart GT originally sold in Southern CA, a Dart Custom originally sold in Maryland and a Dart Swinger originally sold in Tennessee and all of them were built at the Windsor Ontario plant. The 7th character in your VIN number is the plant of origin and I'll bet yours says "R".

I believe that all 70 Dart Swinger 340s - and only 340 cars (not non-340 Swingers, not Customs, not GTs) had the Dart Swinger badges on the trunk lid. All the rest had a cursive Dodge emblem that looks like the one on the hood but with different posts and only 3 posts. The block letter badge that you have is correct for later Darts, but I'm not sure what years (71-73???). Your situation could be a result of what was available when the car was last painted. I did my non-340 Swinger in 1998 and at the time the Swinger and Dart emblems were available, but the Dodge script was not being made so I use a Swinger 340 trunk lid I had laying around and rebadged the trunk lid.

Someone was nice enough to send me these numbers.
My car was built in Windsor.

~171,205 were built at the WINDSOR, ONTARIO (0R) plant (~89.2%), but
~ 2,818 were built at the Los Angeles, CA (0E) plant (~1.5%) &
~17,963 were built at the Hamtramck, MI (0B) plant (~9.4%)

I agree at some point my car got the wrong emblem put back on it. Something I will take care of at some point.
Does anyone make the stick on emblems like for the Challengers?

 

[str12-340]

there is a swinger factory decal that was used on some later Darts (74-76?) that are available from some of the reproduction companies, and you can get new, correct Dart and Swinger chromed metal script from the same sources. The spacing is the same as for the ones on your quarter panels so you can make a template from them, but then there is getting the whole thing in the right place on the trunk lid - I have seen diagrams of that placement in several threads here over the years. The problem is being very precise with the spacing of the holes for each emblem because if you get it just a little bit off and push the emblem in, it can break (even the new ones which are made of much better metal). They are just that brittle and portions are held together with tiny bridges (see the Dart emblem). It is better to over drill the holes and use PAL nuts with sealer from the back if you can get to the posts.

 

[str12-340]

~171,205 were built at the WINDSOR, ONTARIO (0R) plant (~89.2%)

I was at an all makes car show in Port Townsend, WA 3 years ago with my Windsor built Dart. This show assigned classes by the judges. Boy was I surprised when they call my car for Best Import... but there you have it!

 

[70dart340]

From my research, all 1970 Swinger 340's were made in Windsor, Canada. My build sheet verifies mine was made there, I know it's a stones throw from the USA, but there it is. I've heard rumors that the Canadian built cars had thicker sheet metal, but haven't found any definitive facts to prove this. I'd like to meet srt-340 sometime to pick his brain. Paul.