340 6pac availability

[6bblgt]

I may be wrong but I think I remember reading a long time ago about the T/A hood being used as a substitute for the Shaker hood N96 option when shakers were not immediately available. I need to go back to my files and check. Possible ??

NOT TRUE!  urban legend

[Chryco Psycho]

I have heard that rumor also

[6bblgt]

Dodge was blindsided by Plymouth with the SHAKER hood (it does NOT exist in the 1970 Challenger price guide)
by the time Dodge caught wind of it & tried to rush their own into production, something was amiss - which lead to delay after delay & very few exist before mid-April 1970 - many early cars ordered & coded for them (N96) were delivered with the STANDARD R/T hood (NO SHAKER)

the T/A hood didn't exist prior to the spring '70 introduction of the T/A Challenger & the memos of the N94 hood's availability on others came out at about the same time frame as the long promised SHAKER's availability

for 1971 Challenger:
N94 - fiberglass fresh air hood (w/340 or R/T) = $152.95
N96 - SHAKER fresh air hood (w/340 or R/T) = $94.00

[cuda hunter]

Wow!  Love the info Dan!  I didn't realize that Plymouth beat dodge to it.  :Plymouth Rocks!

[RUNCHARGER]

How come the early photos of pre production Dodges had a shaker then? I'd say they had it planned as early as Plymouth did. I bet it's just as likely the trim ring mold or the hood stamping got damaged and took long than planned to retool.

[JH27N0B]

I thought the full story was that Dodge suspended shaker hood availability shortly after production began, until they could redesign and retool the hood to incorporate a crumple zone?  With the initial design, the hood could get pushed back in an accident and decapitate the front seat occupants. The redesigned hood would fold up in a crash and not get shoved back into the interior.  Cudas weren't prone to this due to having a header panel between the grille and hood.

[Fastmark]

Let's hope NHRA doesn't scrutinize the fiberglass hood option for 70 cars. They have allowed it for a long time on 70 440-6 and hemi challengers. They need all the help they can get against Fords sneaky actions.

[RUNCHARGER]

Ha: I didn't know NHRA was still in business?

[Chryco Psycho]

NHRA who ??

[cataclysm80]

I thought the full story was that Dodge suspended shaker hood availability shortly after production began, until they could redesign and retool the hood to incorporate a crumple zone?  With the initial design, the hood could get pushed back in an accident and decapitate the front seat occupants. The redesigned hood would fold up in a crash and not get shoved back into the interior.  Cudas weren't prone to this due to having a header panel between the grille and hood.

That version of the story is also urban legend.
The flat hoods and bulge hoods also didn't have crumple zones, and would have had the same problems in an accident as the shaker hood, yet both of those hoods remained in production being installed on cars.
Liability concerns wouldn't be a good reason to suspend production of the infrequently used shaker hood, when the very common flat hood exhibited the same problems.
Whatever the issue was that caused the delay of Challenger shaker hoods (probably a production issue with the shaker specific portion of the hood), it's just a coincidence that the hood vendor had switched to the new crumple zone understructure by the time that the shaker issue was resolved.
The reason we see non crumple zone flat hoods and bulge hoods being used after the shakers were reintroduced, is simply because the assembly line still had the older version of those on hand and needed to use them up before getting new ones from the vendor.
Crumple zones started appearing on both Challengers and 'Cudas late in 70 production.

[Chryco Psycho]

I know of 1 Hemi with a factory T/A hood , red car N94 coded

[mccannix]

I believe there are 4 known documented Hemi TA hooded Challengers...possibly as many as 6 Hemi TA hooded Challengers built,  or as Fram referenced that air cleaner, 70 1/2, part number 3577377.
Dan has comprehensive info on these as well as 340 and the other big block TA hood equipped Challengers.

[BillyB]

A guy that owned a Dodge dealership and sold a 1970 Hemi, Shaker hood Challenger told me that the factory that supplied the Challenger Shaker hoods experienced a large fire which prevented the hoods from being continuously supplied for the 1970 model year. Hence the switch to T/A hoods for a period of time. The guy mentioned 36 Shaker hood delivered on 70 Dodge Challengers. The one he sold he took back on trade, and he kept it. Dealership was in Northeast Ohio. See picture I took of the car when I was at his shop picking up my T/A 340 six pack engine he and his son rebuilt back in 2009. The engine was out being "gone through" and the paint was fresh. I stopped back in 2016 to say hello and that I finally installed my T/A engine...and the big Hemi was still not under the Shaker hood 

This is the story I got. I'm inclined to believe it since the guy lived it.

[JS29]