silly new guy question - 68-70 almost the same?

[BB73Challenger]

OK, tried to do a search and didn't come up with much, but still learning the B-bods.

Want a '68 - the major dif I can see from the 68-69-70 would be grill, side marker lights, tail lights?
Am I close?

The car I want would be a ground up build, and if I needed to "cut & paste" to achieve that is not a problem.

Thoughts or input greatly appreciated - thanks again! 

[RECHRGD]

You are basically correct.  The '68 grill and taillight are unique to that year.  In '69 Dodge screwed up and put a big ugly divider in the grill and put some funky elongated taillights out back.  In '70 They realized their mistake with the '69 grill and tried to correct the situation, but messed it up by wrapping the whole thing in a bunch of chrome.   Bob

[694spdRT]

Various interior changes as well. Especially in 1970.

[Mike DC]

 
The 1968 and 1969 cars are genuinely almost alike except for the obvious differences.  There's a ton of little crap like the grain patterns on vinyl interior pieces, etc, but from 15 feet away there's not much to swap. 

(The various "Dukes of Hazzard" crews have always used 1968 cars just as much as 1969s.  They put 1969 grille dividers & taillights onto the 68 cars, smooth over the round '68 signal lights, and then the 1968 cars were virtually indistinguishable on camera.  They sometimes even used 1968 cars for closeup actor shots without giving it a second thought.)



The 1970 cars still looked similiar to the other two when you squint your eyes.  But this time the # of parts with major changes totalled up a much bigger percentage of the whole car.  The dashboard, the steering column, the front buckets, the entire front end sheetmetal including the fenders & hood, etc.
 

[Laxy]

You are basically correct.  The '68 grill and taillight are unique to that year.  In '69 Dodge screwed up and put a big ugly divider in the grill and put some funky elongated taillights out back.  In '70 They realized their mistake with the '69 grill and tried to correct the situation, but messed it up by wrapping the whole thing in a bunch of chrome.   Bob

That's the best quote I've ever heard!!!

[Khyron]

You are basically correct.  The '68 grill and taillight are unique to that year.  In '69 Dodge screwed up and put a big ugly divider in the grill and put some funky elongated taillights out back.  In '70 They realized their mistake with the '69 grill and tried to correct the situation, but messed it up by wrapping the whole thing in a bunch of chrome.   Bob

ohhhh, ohhhhhhhh, with the other thread locked I was looking for someone to go after next

[Khyron]

ohh, and on 69 The fuel cap says "FUEL" on it and the 68's didn't... you see, the 68 owners weren't very bright and kept pouring the gas all over the car, putting it in the rad, in the 710 cap as well.... so the engineers figured they may have to buy a new car soon and labeled the caps accordingly.   

[G-man]

The dash in 68 went up on angle slightly towards the middle making a point sort of like an upside down V just not as obvious while 69/70 dash was flat.

I still wish they made the 70 tail-light on the 68

[clanton]

Now the 69 had some problems they fixed in 70, the 69s were train magnets.

[Ghoste]

 

[Khyron]

Now the 69 had some problems they fixed in 70, the 69s were train magnets.

lol, naaaaa, just one was a magnet.....


ohh and the door locks are in further in on the 69's and 70's ...... apparently the 68's where easy to break into so them moved the locks...

see, i put good info with the 68 digs

ohhh and the 68's where 1 number shorts of a great night

[BigBlackDodge]

The '70 fixed all the problems with the '68's and '69's thus achieving b-body perfection! Dodge could not improve it any more and decided to start all over again with a new challenge.........the third gens...

BBD

[1969chargerrtse]

Man all the funny stuff here. They almost got it right. Obviously they tried hard with the 68 style and perfected it in 69. By 70 they realized they screwed up again like in 68 and just came out with a whole new stlyle that until this day still doesn't come close to the style perfection of the best designed car ever...... The famous and most loved, 1969 Dodge Charger. Thank you. Thank you.

[moparstuart]

68 was the best then they broke the mold   

[RECHRGD]

I believe I recall an article back in the day that stated the "changed grill design on the 1969 Charger was inspired by the Edsel".   Bob Bitchen.

[Tilar]

68 was the best then they broke the mold   

I always suspected you were the smart one of the bunch.

[BB73Challenger]

You guys are a hoot! 

Thanks for the input 

[Darkman]

ohhh and the 68's where 1 number shorts of a great night

That's why the 68's are the best. Nothing like being in a 69 when it backfires

[Khyron]

they broke the mold before they made the 68   

and then they fixed it for 69

fixed it for ya.

[Mike DC]

                                                       

[Brock Lee]

They rushed the 68 out so quick, they didn't have time time to design a set of taillights, so they used a set off a tag along trailer to get by while they actually designed a set that appeared on the 69 model year 

[Dans 68]

1968 - The brunette...

1969 - ...the blond....   

1970 - ...and the redhead.   

Now, let the disparaging remarks begin. 

[Khyron]

The Red Head has a big hoop ear ring

[BigBlackDodge]

The Red Head has a big hoop ear ring

Nose ring my friend.....nose ring!


BBD

[Blakcharger440]

This is how the story went. In 68 they thought they had perfection...close but no cigar. In 69 somebody
let a monkey in the design studio and it stuck a banana in the middle of the grille,they thought it was cute
so they went with it. In 1970 the mighty muscle car gods shined down upon the Charger and thus
the ultimate musclecar was reborn......or something like that.