I'm new to the mopar world, and the world of of old cars really. I've always admired them but never has the opportunity nor the need to learn much past the basics.
Why i'm here? I came across and took into my possession a 71-74 Dodge Charger (in a perivious post is said it was a 67 but no, the guy told me wrong). I say 71-74 bcasue the car is a shell, no engine, no rear bubmer, no front grill, no interior, nada. It was free so what the heck. I need to go back to his garage and pick up the pile o' stuff including guts of the cracked 440 it had (no block but has everything else), the seats, glass, dash, etc. The only identifying thing on it is the code plate inside left of the engine compartment.

END
M26 M31 R11 V7W 28
M51 J25 J52 L31 M21 M25
V1W U D41 C56 G11 G36
GB5 H6B5 BB5 619 220199
E63 D34 WH23 M3G 231644

So says the Fender Tag

Anywhere where i can learn to read that lil plate? I guess i just want to find out what year exactly it is first. Anything i can look for? Good place to start looking for body parts? Needs new floor. I appriciate your help. Thanks.

 

Hooray! MaxWedge.com!!

WH23M3G231644

This vehicle is a 1973 Dodge Charger
2-door Hardtop,
400-2v V8 engine
and was the 131,644th car scheduled for production at the
St. Louis, MO assembly plant.

Help me and see if i got this right after hours of serching..
END
M26(Wheel Lip Moldings)
M31(Belt & Hood moldings) R11(AM Radio)
V7W (?)
28 (?)
M51(power sunroof)
J25(3 speed windshield wipers)
J52(Inside hood release)
L31(Hood or fender-mounted turn signal indicators)
M21 (Roof Drip Rail Moldings)
M25 (Wide Sill Moldings)
V1W(white vinyl top)
U(Vehicle built to specification for U.S.A.)
D41(Clutch H.D. 9 1/2" Diameter)
C56(??)
G11(Tinted Glass)
G36 (Left remote control & right manual painted racing mirrors)
GB5 (exterior light blue)
H6B5(Brite blue interior w/ vinyl bucket seats )
BB5 (??)
619(birtday 6/19)
220199 (build, order #)
E63 (engine 383hp)
D34(727 torque flight trans)
WH23M3G231644 (VIN)

I'm missing a few

 

See additions/corrections in bold- it's a pretty well optioned car, or at least it was. Hopefully, you have most of the parts needed to make it whole again, because some of them may require some effort and $$$ to obtain. Floors should be available as repros from any of the major parts suppliers- Year One, Hardens, etc. Pick up a copy of Hemmings or Mopar Collectors Guide and you should find them easy enough.

 

Thanks. That helps.

on that fender tag it says BB5.

the front is rusty so i took a pic of the back of it and flipped the immage to make it easier to read...

Oh, and even though the tag says it has a sunsroof, car has no sunroof... weird. Someone had painted it flat black but there are plenty of spots that show the blue paint job and the paint under the tag when i pulled it off matches the blue on the unpained car areas so i'm hoping its not a defferent fender.


[IMG]local://upfiles/23180/BCB6C507FBA345FFBABADF6726116C79.jpg[/IMG]

 

As a sanity check, verify the VIN form the dash tag and the fender tag are the same. It is kinda weird that the code M51 is there, but no sunroof is on the car. Something sounds fishy there, but the price was right, so you're not going to lose, no matter what! By the way, the fender tag is attached to the inner fender, which is welded into the front body structure. Changing the fender itself wouldn't affect the tag location; if the tag is different, either the tag itself was changed, or the entire nose of the car was probably replaced.

Edit- after looking at the tag pic, are you sure its M51, and not N51? That would make more sense, as that is Max Cooling, which would make sense with the 28" radiator. I can't make out that protion of the tag because of the rust. It does look like BB5, but I can't relate that to anything in my books.

 

No dash tag on the car

and now that i look at it, its H51

 

H51 is air conditioning. Still pretty well optioned. Is the whole dash out, or is just the VIN tag itself missing?

 

Wow!!! That's a bit rusty but like TeewJay said flip it over and see what it says. How about some more insite:

1. Option codes go in alphabetical order starting with (a)codes and ending with (Y) codes. First that M51 is out of sequence so it probably isn't (M). probably H51 like you said.

2. That D41 is probably B41(Front Disc Brakes). D41 is a HD Clutch and this car is auto tranny so it must be B41.

3. BB5 is where they usually code the upper door panels and BB5 might be the code of Bright Blue upper door panels.

I think you guys have the rest covered......

Chris

 

Yes it is a B41 and i remember it does have front discs so cool.

The car is a shell, no dash or interior at all to speak of and no dash vin #. In a few weeks I'll go backto pickup the pile o' stuff that came out of the car.

 

Im not sure with the newer B bodys but my 70 also has the vin stamped in the top rail of the rad support and under the trunk weatherstrip on the drivers side.