The Crusty Cuda: Whole lotta Shakin' (N96) Goin' on!

[CTBob]

Hey, again, Steve!

You know me. “Mr. Dogged Determination.” (Woof!) I looked at the photos of the carrier assembly again, and, in the FWIW Dept., it looks like there MAY be a Casting Date Code Pad immediately below the horizontal casting rib, and, above the “81489” in the p.n. 2881489 on the side. Does that appear to be true, and, if so, is there anything distinguishable on it?

…And, regarding that “C” in my 2 immediately previous posts, I probably shoulda’ said, “It doesn’t seem like it should be a “C,” however if it is, the Alpha Date Code for C = March, is the more likely, rather than the Alpha Date Code C = December,” ‘cause, in light of conventional/typical Chrysler Corp. date coding trends, I should have gone with the less unconventional, rather than the truly unconventional! (Doh!)

[CTBob]

Hello, all!

Also, FWIW, I’m basing my information upon the numerous pieces of original Chrysler Corp. literature which I have acquired over the years, my own research/experience with my personal vehicles, that from having assisted NJSteve with the restoration process of a number of the stellar vehicles which he brought back to life (my acronym for all of the "automotive art" which he resuscitated being M.O.P.A.R.s.” (Multiplicity Of Precious Auto Restoration successes)), and tons of research for my own cars (including over 3,500+ hours of research time in the restoration of my current ’71 Charger), which included many helpful conversations, for which I am very grateful, with Roger Gibson, Frank Badalson, Galen Govier, John Grinwald, David Wise, Terry McCann, and, tens-upon-tens more of the absolutely wonderful people in the MoPar community! (Steve’s mentioning Terry, owner of the In Violet 340 ‘Cuda, reminded me of something one of the great Canadian guys (of whom Terry is one) said while we were all hangin’ out “bench racing” & swapping stories in the evening at that ’85 MoPar Nats, which I remember as if it was yesterday. With a laugh & a smile, he said, “Here! Have a Molson! Good one, eh? Not like that cheap American stuff!”

From all of my pre-easy-access-to-the-internet days, I learned so much by talking with friends in the hobby, following connections, and, making phone calls, which resulted in my locating hundreds of correctly date-coded (now rare) NOS parts, as well as gathering information in the process, for my restoration project. Having often located stuff through relentless searching, sometimes I’m astonished, in comparison, about how little I find on the net; amongst the vast plethora of info out there. I, also, find that there is a lot of misinformation, so the last thing which I want to do is be the purveyor of something which is wrong. If you have a question about a comment I made, please don’t hesitate to comment on it, or, ask me about it

Someone who I CAN definitely recommend as a reliable source is David Wise of MMC Detroit. I have several of his amazing books. He’s totally dedicated to date code detail/accuracy, and, extensively identifying even the most obscure fasteners & hardware, and, so much more. I just looked on the net, and, although I hadn’t previously checked, I found a good “Understanding Production Date Codes” page on his site. Here’s the link.
https://www.mmcdetroit.com/Understanding_Date_Codes/

I hope this may prove helpful!

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by CTBob

Hey, again, Steve!

You know me. “Mr. Dogged Determination.” (Woof!) I looked at the photos of the carrier assembly again, and, in the FWIW Dept., it looks like there MAY be a Casting Date Code Pad immediately below the horizontal casting rib, and, above the “81489” in the p.n. 2881489 on the side. Does that appear to be true, and, if so, is there anything distinguishable on it?

I rechecked and it's smooth there. No other numbers.

[CTBob]

Thanks, Steve!

I was hopeful that what I noticed in that area in your photo of the post-hot-tanked carrier (which you included in Post #912, p. 92) was another potential date pad (rather than just the mottled appearance of the cast iron, following the cleaning process). In that photo, the area above the 9 (in "489") gave the appearance of a telltale screw head in the casting, however, maybe not so much IRL. Ah, well…

[njsteve]

Nope, nothing there, just fresh cast metal. Maybe it's like that image of the monkey face on Mars! When you get close enough, it's just a pile of rocks from an extinct volcanic mesa.

[CTBob]

Got it!