If you wanted to clone a 1970 Challenger,

-
Thats huge undertaking as a lot of the 70 parts are 1 year only stuff and usually cost more because of that.
 
Well the grill, tail light panel, side marker lights, maybe bumpers & brackets depending on year

How picky?

74 has integrated lap shoulder belt, 70-73 separate

Think 70 Challenger dash. Had challenger in script, newer had a rectangle with challenger badge

That is what I remember from my 70 340 auto and 72 340 manual, 73 & 74 that I owned many moons ago

Yeah the 70 is probably the best looking but the 72-74 are good looking too. Sell what you have and find you a 70

I would love to have another 72 Challenger
 
A lot. I've been collecting parts for a few years not to swap my '72 to a '71. Even if you're not looking for a "correct" 1970, ie, you're not worried about interior patterns or if your tach goes to 7k instead of 8, just the exterior parts are a serious undertaking.

Just for starters...

-Grille assembly
-Front fenders-70 or 71 ('72 up fenders don't have headlight buckets, headlights are in the fiberglass grille header panel, so you need '70 fenders or at least the buckets to weld in)
-grille header/latch panel, hood latch and latch release lever- these are '70 only
-side marker buckets and lenses
-convert the rear side markers to '70 style, ie, patch or replace the rear quarters
-tail panel
-complete tail light assembly with brackets and lenses

And, if you get a '73 or '74
-bumpers without the 5mph bumper guards
-bumper brackets to replace the shock mounts and move the bumpers back into the car

And that just takes care of the major external appearance items, not any of the interior differences, so if you're going for a full clone you've still got a long way to go. And, even if you do a complete clone and replace EVERYTHING that's '70 specific, its still a clone. So, it won't be worth what an original '70 or '71 would be, it will always be a 72, 73, or 74 Challenger that looks like a '70.

So, buy a '70. It's easier, and FYI, they made more Challengers in 1970 (76, 935) than they did in 72, 73, and 74 COMBINED (62,203!). So, they're easier to find. Yes, really. In fact, in 1970 there were more R/T Challenger's buit (13,796) than ALL of the Challengers built in 1974 (11,354). So yeah, a 1970 Challenger R/T is technically less rare than any plain old '74 Challenger. And by the time you've converted everything over you'll have spent any money you might have saved getting a 72-74 car anyway.

If that all hasn't dissuaded you, I have a set of headlight buckets that were removed from a set of '70 fenders and can be tacked into a set of '72 up fenders. I found a set of fenders for mine, so I can part with the buckets. And yes, Im still converting my '72. Why? 'Cause its a plain jane 318/904 car that has a broken grille and header panel, rusty fenders and bad quarter patches. Ie, I was already buying fenders, a grille, and quarter patches. And because I can do all the work myself, and I don't care if its a clone or tribute car. That and I like '71's, which are 3x as rare as '70's, so they aren't easier to find.
 
72+ are awesome too. My vote is for leaving it as is! :)
 
I have a lot of 70 Challenger parts available if you decide to go that way PM me
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top