Quirky 1968 Charger details

[Magnumcharger]

Ok, I THOUGHT I knew a fair bit about Chargers.
Turns out, I'm STILL a novice after 30+ years of being an "authority" among my friends.
I guess you can never know too much!

Things I've learned in the last two days from this forum:
There were SEVERAL different trunklids used on 68-70 Chargers. An early "two-piece"...a "regular"...and a "Wing cut-out" version for 1970's.
See pic for comparison...
Now I also find out that "early" 1968 Chargers may contain 1967 carry-over parts. -Whew!-

Can somebody answer me this: Why do some 1968 Chargers have the Dodge medallion in between the speedometer and Tach/clock, and others have the "bulls-eye" medallion.
Inquiring minds want to know!

[Troy]

Here's an old thread on the medallions: http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,7623.0.html There was a much longer (more detailed one) on the old site. I'm not sure there ever was a consensus but I have 2 of each.

Troy

[CHASWINGMAN2]

My 68 (Aug 67) has the bullseye in the dash.  The funny 2 piece trunk, red white & blue medallions, 67 vent pulls, 67 sunvisors, 67 mirror (longer post)  67 GTX style air breather, trunk braces on taillamp panel, 67 seat belts, 67 washer bottle, and some other stuff I can't remember.  Now that said, I did not buy this car new, in fact I just got it.  Some of those oddities could have been done at any time, but from looking at the car and the items mentioned, I belive them to be all original to the car, just can't be 100% sure.

[rarefish]

I have been wondering the same thing about the bullseye vs the triangle. After viewing a lot of 68s on e-bay. I have found that there seems to
be a patten as to built dates. Everytime I saw a bullseye they were early 68 production. Triangles were later production.  My car was built on 1-8-68 and it has the bullseye. There might have been a mid year change on this part. Keep an eye out for this and see if you notice a pattern.

[smasherofall]

a couple more things i noticed, early 68's had metal outer vents on a/c cars. The glove box catch on earlys are bent wire type, laters had the screen door latch style.

[CHASWINGMAN2]

a couple more things i noticed, early 68's had metal outer vents on a/c cars. The glove box catch on earlys are bent wire type, laters had the screen door latch style.

Yep, mine is the bent wire type, good catch, I hadn't even noticed.

[Magnumcharger]

OK...ALL good information....
As my Charger R/T has some of these features, and is missing others, and is also missing it's build tag and broadcast sheet, I have no idea whether or not my car is an early build or not.
Would the VIN, being sequential, give an indication as to it's approximate build date?
XS29L8B356031

[1BAD68]

OK...ALL good information....
As my Charger R/T has some of these features, and is missing others, and is also missing it's build tag and broadcast sheet, I have no idea whether or not my car is an early build or not.
Would the VIN, being sequential, give an indication as to it's approximate build date?
XS29L8B356031

yes it would give an indication but hard to pinpoint due to all the other models being built at that plant. I would check dates on anything that may be original to the car like wiper motor, carb etc.. they should be within 60 days of your build date.

I had a 70 Charger R/T that had a R/T emblem on the dash just above the glove box door. Other 70 owners said that those were not installed in the Charger R/T but I found out that the Coronet R/T was also built in St. Louis and it had the R/T emblem on the dash, so it was just a matter of what the guy on the line grabbed at the time, I have since seen several 70 Chargers with that emblem in the same spot

[bull]

If the '68 registry site ever gets going we might have a place to share and store all this information that's easily referenced.

[PocketThunder]

If the '68 registry site ever gets going we might have a place to share and store all this information that's easily referenced.

sounds like you just volunteered! 

[Troy]

If the '68 registry site ever gets going we might have a place to share and store all this information that's easily referenced.

Send me a PM and you can start storing information to your heart's content. If you want it easily referenced send a check. A large one.

Troy

[ds440]

Great thread.

I have an early '68 R/T with the red/white/blue door emblems, the metal A/C vents and the two piece trunk lid.  My medallion is missing so...?

But I had a question that I have yet to recieve a consensus on.  Door handles.  My '68 (SPD 9/18/68) has a chrome button.  My brother's '69 (SPD 12/4/68) has the black button.  I have been told that it should be the opposite.  I've seen '68s with both and seen '69s with both.  I did a search and couldn't find a definative answer?

Also, my seat belt buckles (I'm confident they are the originals) are chrome, but I have also seen some that have a black krinkle coating on them?  What is considered the "norm" (<--I use that loosely )  Anyone?

Thanks in advance...

[Mean 318]

OK guys, I have one that I hope you could help me with. The rally gauge set up has a spot for a "Break light" I have a rally gauge set from a 69 Bee that says "Break System" on it and I also have another from a 70 Bee that is just red and has nothing on it. My friend has an all original 70 Bee and there is a 68 Charger that both say "Break System" too. I was thinking maybe it just depended on what pile they grabbed out of. Anyone know? I am also posative that these gauges are out of the cars I stated.

[MM1R/T]

Would the VIN, being sequential, give an indication as to it's approximate build date?
XS29L8B356031

Magnumcharger:

It is possible to come up with a reasonably close guess as to your car's scheduled production date from the VIN.

I've been collecting 1968 Hamtramck VIN/SPD combo's for a couple of years.

The ones I have near yours are:

XS29L8B353917-419
XP29G8B357848-424
XS29L8B357900-424

I'd say that your car PROBABLY had an SPD of somewhere in the 3rd week of April, 1968. Not really an early production car.

I'm surprised that your car has some of the early stuff on it. Was it original when you got it?

[bull]

Well, I hope they all say Brake System, not Break System. I don't want to see anyone's brakes taking a break.

Second, one clue to the woodgrain dash setup is that the woodgrain was not an option in '68.

[DC_1]

tell me more

[Mean 318]

Brain Fart... Good to see Bull is looking out for me!Here are some pics
the first pic is a 69 Bee set up
the second is a pic of a 70 Bee
the third is a 68 Charger
the last is a pic of a 70 Bee

[JimShine]

That letting wears away often. In the shot you posted in the '68 bezel, you can still make out the faint lettering.

[Charger_Fan]

Those are some pretty significant differences with early & late 68's. Very interesting.

That letting wears away often. In the shot you posted in the '68 bezel, you can still make out the faint lettering.

Same here.

[ds440]

I just checked, and I also have the bent wire type glovebox latch.  And definitely have the "hood type" decklid.  My problem now is that the idiot who owned it before me attached a spoiler and drilled four lovely holes in it.   Is that worth fixing?

I also read somewhere about an early style trunk torsion bar set up?  Anyone have any pics/info on that?

[Magnumcharger]

Would the VIN, being sequential, give an indication as to it's approximate build date?
XS29L8B356031

Magnumcharger:

It is possible to come up with a reasonably close guess as to your car's scheduled production date from the VIN.

I've been collecting 1968 Hamtramck VIN/SPD combo's for a couple of years.

The ones I have near yours are:

XS29L8B353917-419
XP29G8B357848-424
XS29L8B357900-424

I'd say that your car PROBABLY had an SPD of somewhere in the 3rd week of April, 1968. Not really an early production car.

I'm surprised that your car has some of the early stuff on it. Was it original when you got it?

Ok...here's what I've got: Glovebox latch - screen-door type, ashtray - slides down (early or late?), Dodge Medallion (Fratzog) in dash instead of Bull's-eye, other than that...regular trunklid, no tailpanel support.
So I guess the April build date sounds feasible.

[MM1R/T]

I have also read that some of the early '68 production R/T cars came with 915 heads. Does anyone here have a car that came with 915's?

[Recharger]

I've got a 68 (non RT) with an April 25th build date, and it has the bullseye on the dash.  Mine came from the St. Louis plant, maybe that plays some part in the equation of what car got what?    FWIW, it also has the all-red ring on the door panel emblem, the screen-door style glovebox latch, and black-button handles.   


ds440, I would assume if it's just 4 holes the trunk lid is definitely worth saving...I haven't checked prices on decklids lately, but nothing's cheap anymore.

[JimShine]

The bullseye shows up on Hamtramck cars as well.

[hemi68charger]

Here are the headlamp bezels of which '69's or '70's don't have........