Is 70 Rallye Hood Unique?

[70 Challenger Lover]

When I picked up my 70 RT, it came with a donor Rallye hood and someone commented it was not a 70 hood. I accepted this and never looked into it further.

In stripping the hood down for repaint, I was going to drill the holes for the hood letters and I noticed on the backside that the bracing had factory cutouts for the letters and I also noticed that someone had filled the old holes with weld.

Now I am starting to think this hood came from a 70. Are there other signs that will help me determine what year car this hood came from?

[erik70rt]

What is the production date of your car?  Up until around Feb/March time frame 1970, they used a hood that didn't have the crumple zones.  That's the easiest way to tell if it's a 1970 hood.  It gets a little harder after that, because the crumple zones were introduced.  A 71 hood would not have the front lettering, so since you have the holes and they were welded up, you can rule out it being a '71 hood.  The 72-4 hoods are very similar to the late 70 hood, but there will be extra mounting holes for the hood release on the very front of the hood behind the lip for the bracket. 

Hope this helps you.

[1 Wild R/T]

Underhood bracing... Look about 1 foot back from the front, late hoods have stamped lines forming a weak point which is a crumple zone...

[JS29]

I remember the diameter of the hing bolts being different. 

[Cuda Cody]

The hinge bolt size is also different on a 1970 hood.  5/16" for 1970 and 3/8" for 1971 to 1974.  But the crumple zone in the front bracing is the best way to tell. 

[70 Challenger Lover]

Hinge bolts are 3/8" for sure.

Look at the small holes in the bracing along the front edge, they too have tiny holes that have been welded up. This is the same as what I found where the letters were supposed to be.

[70 Challenger Lover]

Forgot one of the letter holes welded up.

[6bblgt]

that's a '71+ hood that had the "WIDE" chrome mouldings on it at one time - here's a close up of a '70 non-crush-zone hood
lots of differences in the front stamping area (from what I've seen the crush zones were not around 'til May of '70)

1970 hood moulding bolts thru the leading edge & 1971-'74 screws on from that (wider than '70) flange from the bottom