1970 cuda blackouts

[1970 cuda Joe]

The 1970 cuda I purchased was built sometime in mid to late November according to the VIN (no fender tag) I've read the information in the David Wise book but still don't understand completely about blackouts on the rockers of a BS23. Was this being done in Nov 1969? Thank you, Joe

[mtull]

I've emailed MMC asking for clarification on certain things and have been fortunate enough to always receive a response.  Sometimes it takes several days for them to respond.  I usually reference the manual name and version number in the email.  Your questions may help them revise or expand on a specific topic in future versions. 

One day I called MMC and was pleasantly surprised when Dave answered the phone, he was kind enough to send me the latest info on the topic I was researching.
   

[headejm]

FWIW - the date on this engineering drawing is 10-2-69.

[Mr Cuda]

 To my knowledge,  70 Cuda's  did not receive rocker blackout. Pinch area on the rocker bottom,  maybe.
 70 barracudas have black bottom,  like referenced in those engineering  diagrams  on m46 cars.
 So naturally we would like some confirmation to assist you.

[anlauto]

Depending on the colour of the car I believe the bottoms of the rockers and pinch welds would have been blacked out.

[1970 cuda Joe]

I looked into David Wise's book where he talks about rocker moldings. He says the pinch well should be black but says nothing about the rocker paint until the 71-74 model year. I don't have my car yet. Do the fish gills go all the way to the bottom of the rocker? Is that what they line up on?...Thank you

[MoparCarGuy]

Barracuda GranCoupe (B-P on diagram) and Cuda (S- on diagram) models got blacked out rocker panels on initial engineering illustrations.
Blackout was planned for the area below the centerline of the moulding holes on BP and BS models. The larger blackout on the rocker area was not beneficial for either the GranCoupe's moulding or the Cuda "Fish Gill" rocker moulding. The blackout paint under these mouldings was essentially wasted which led to an engineering change which appeared on the later engineering illustration drawing.

The later drawing on the right below shows the running changes which reduced the rocker blackout on Barracudas (B models) to pinchweld only (see drawing). This drawing also included the Challengers (J models) and planned for the G-Series 1971 models as well.

Of note is the the F-Series 1970 models did not blackout this area or the grille area on TX9 - Black, EB7 - Medium Dark Blue Metallic, or EF8 - Medium Dark Green Metallic.
G-Series 1971 models excluded TX9 - Black, GB7 - Medium Dark Blue Metallic, GC8 - Indigo Metallic (Chrysler), GF7 - Medium Yellow Green Metallic, or FY9 - Dark Gold Metallic.

[MoparCarGuy]

I looked into David Wise's book where he talks about rocker moldings. He says the pinch well should be black but says nothing about the rocker paint until the 71-74 model year. I don't have my car yet. Do the fish gills go all the way to the bottom of the rocker? Is that what they line up on?...Thank you

Yes, the Fish Gill Rocker Moulding (M25 - Body Sill Moulding) goes right to the bottom edge of the rocker area.
The GranCoupe moulding (also M25) also goes to the bottom edge.
The Cuda below should have the pinch weld blacked out.

[1970 cuda Joe]

Thank you all for the discussion, drawings & pictures. I think I'm getting a handle on what I need to do once my car get delivered to my home. It would appear that Chysler didn't want any body colour showing below the moldings, except the dark colours didn't really matter. Merry Christmas......Joe