Challenger Blackout behind rear lights?

[Banana]

Hi, for 1970 Challenger, was there a body blackout right behind the rear light bezels?

Thanks

[6bblgt]

ONLY on Challenger T/A

[1 Wild R/T]

Yup, correct on T/A only... But it looks really good & some folks do it anyway.... 

[Brads70]

There was also a rear finish trim panel , that was black or argent.

https://forum.e-bodies.org/parts-misc-for-sale/9/about-the-elusive-1970-dodge-challenger-sewss-rear-finish-panel/10207/

[tparker]

Mine had the finish panel which was blacked out. It is a western sport special which is mostly a trim package.

[6bblgt]

Mine had the finish panel which was blacked out. It is a western sport special which is mostly a trim package.

the finish panel on a WSS should be "astrotone" 

[6bblgt]

& to complete the subject: the early R/T SE or R/T with the A63 "Challenger moulding package" BLACK finish panel 

[1 Wild R/T]

& to complete the subject: the early R/T SE or R/T with the A63 "Challenger moulding package" BLACK finish panel 

And plenty will insist that panel was always astrotone... But mine was black when I bought my R/T SE back in 74-75 & my uncle bought an R/T SE new that also had a black tail panel....

Which to me means it's possible that WSS came with a black panel...

At one point I had it pointed out to me that the parts manual only lists the Astrotone panel... To which I say there are dozens of assembly line part variations that aren't listed in the parts manual...

[6bblgt]

early in the model year:
JH29 or JH23/27 w/A63 = "astrotone" (to match the grill)
JS29 or JS23/27 w/A63 = "BLACK" (to match the grill)

at some point production & use of the "BLACK" panel was cancelled & everything got "astrotone" (part # 3444 175)

I have the May 1970 version of the parts catalog & that's the only panel listed - anyone have an earlier version?

WSS was a JH23 spring offering - none should've seen a BLACK panel

[R/T's 4 R/P]

I do recall a salvage yard car I pulled the taillights out of had the recess area for the taillights painted black . Only around the perimeter...so a way to hide the body color from being seen in that small gap between the bezel and the body.
Looked the same as the method and color as rocker pinch weld paint, or cowl.
It just jumped out at me.
Never saw that in any engineering drawings.
Would seem peculiar that an owner would have done that back in the day.

[anlauto]

Is it just another one of those "never say never" situations ?

You have the people out there who claim their car was originally painted black back there from the factory...like the previous owner of the FE5 Challenger sunroof car I restored...he claimed the tail panel was black from the factory before he stripped the paint off....

He made the claim that it was a shame I restored the car "all wrong"

[tparker]

Mine had the finish panel which was blacked out. It is a western sport special which is mostly a trim package.

the finish panel on a WSS should be "astrotone" 

Yes your right. I call it black but i think technically it is astrotone.

[ledphoot]

Is it just another one of those "never say never" situations ?

He made the claim that it was a shame I restored the car "all wrong"

I'd love to have my car restored all wrong by somebody like you some people just aren't happy if they aren't complaining.

[70 Top Banana]

Personally, I like the tail panel a different color, either black or Astrotone. I also know there were a lot of those painted after the car was bought. Some dealers would take cars out of inventory and paint them because buyers liked it. Dealers even took cars out of inventory and painted them before they sold them. So, you could have someone who bought the car that way and not know the black on the tail did not come from the factory.

[dodj]

Hmmm. Until this thread, I had never heard of astrotone...so it's like a dark grey? or is it secret recipe kind of colour like argent?