N94 T/A Hood

[cataclysm80]

The T/A Pilot cars were built on the assembly line as A66 340 Performance Package cars on February 4th, and then modified into something similar to a T/A, but they used a prototype hood which is a little different from the production T/A hood.

Has bumblebee stripe
Has fender emblems instead of side stripe
Missing grill emblem
Chrome mirror instead of painted
Has wheel lip moldings
Has prototype hood
The hood has a spot for a hood emblem
The hood scoop is positioned slightly differently, more rearward if I recall correctly.
The underside of the hood has some subtle differences
Not sure if mufflers had been made yet in this pic.
No tail panel blackout
Has prototype spoiler
Oddly, the rear bumper guards have cushions. These bumper guards with cushions were only supposed to be installed if the car had front & rear bumper guards. This car does not have front bumper guards.

[cataclysm80]

There were two cars built like this.
They started as production line A66 package cars, and were built into what you see.
The other car was FC7 Plum Crazy and had a radio, but no vinyl top.
Here is it's fender tag.
It has since been restored to look like a regular production T/A instead of keeping this cool unique prototype look.

[cataclysm80]

Here's a picture of the bottom of that prototype hood.
Prototype hood on the left, with regular production T/A hood on the right.

[cataclysm80]

After they were done using the prototype hood, it ended up on El Hemi.
(That's why it's painted body color in the previous pic.)
The prototype hood is still on El Hemi today.
http://www.elhemi.com/

[cataclysm80]

Here's a flyer announcing the upcoming availability of the N94 T/A Hood.
It's not dated, but this flyer was out before T/A cars were released.
It might be hard to read, but it lists the available engines as 340-4, 383-4, 440-4, 440-6, & Hemi
The flyer says that it comes with hood pins and if you order a radio it would have a rear mounted antenna.
Note: The entire flyer is Not E body specific. The Tuff steering wheel listed here is not available on E bodies.

[cataclysm80]

The story about T/A hoods being used during the Challenger shaker shortage is only a myth. It's not true.
The Challenger shaker shortage went from October 12th 1969 to April 9th 1970. T/A hoods were not available during that time frame.
The car dealerships were notified when shaker hoods became unavailable, so that they would know not to submit orders for shaker hood Challengers.
If an order form came through for a shaker hood, that car received the sport hood that was standard on an R/T, OR if there was a note that the purchaser would only accept a car with a shaker hood, then the Scheduled Production Date was set to April 10th when the shaker hoods were expected to be available.
I've talked with some people who feel that these shaker cars were actually built on April 12th, though the fender tag Scheduled Production Date is the 10th. (Scheduled Production Date is Not the actual production date)

The T/A Pilot cars were built on the assembly line as A66 cars on February 4th, and then modified into something similar to a T/A, but they used a prototype hood which is a little different from the production T/A hood. There would need to be time for this car modification, redesigns, and then to get a new test hood made for final fitting and approval before mass production of the hoods, then time to make them and ship them to the factory.  T/A production began during March, and production T/A hoods would have been at the factory being installed on T/A cars, but not available for use on other cars.  The hoods arrived in multiple shipments, and they needed to make sure they received enough to build the number of T/A cars required for race homologation before they would use any T/A hoods on other cars.
If a shaker car had been ordered during that time in March, it would have simply been scheduled for an April 10th build date, not far away when shakers were expected to be available.  Dealerships had been instructed not to sell shaker hoods though, so for this to happen, either the salesman wasn't paying attention or the customer was insistent on a shaker.

On April 13th, there was an announcement that the Shaker Hood and T/A hood were both available for ordering now.
It also says that you can't have both hoods on your car at the same time. 
You also can't order the N94 hood on an SE or with the A63 molding group. This is because the rear hood trim that comes with these options won't fit onto the fiberglass hood.

[cataclysm80]

Challenger N94 hood came standard on all Challenger T/A cars
Also optional after 4-13-70 on 340+4 barrel, 383+4 barrel, 440+4 barrel, 440 Six Pak, & 426 Hemi. (being an R/T was not a requirement, but most cars with these engines are R/Ts)

It was not available with A63 or A46 molding group, M44 hood rear/fender molding, or on SE or A78 formal roof cars due to the rear hood molding. V21 Hood Performance Treatment was also not available on this hood. If the car was ordered with J55 Undercoat/Hood Pad, the hood pad would be deleted.

Cars with this hood option will not come with a hood pop up spring or any hood latch mechanism. As such, J45 hood pins are required with this hood and will use rivets instead of screws to attach the bezel to the hood.

It was always painted organisol, not body color. It did come with the cowl blackout and fender edge blackout like T/A cars had. Along with the hood, you also got the T/A hood springs (not the same as AAR), T/A windshield squirters (same as AAR), shorter fiberglass hood style radiator to hood seal (same as AAR), longer retainers on front of hood trim (due to fiberglass being thicker than steel), and the appropriate air cleaner to go with your engine/hood combo. If you had one of the optional radios, you were also supposed to get the rear quarter panel mounted antenna (passenger side) like the T/A cars had to provide less engine interference with your radio, but so far the few non-T/A examples I've heard of came with the regular fender mounted antenna.

[cataclysm80]

The T/A hood is heavier than the AAR hood.   
The T/A hood goes all the way to the front of the car, unlike the AAR hood.   The T/A hood has a heavier scoop.
The T/A hood came with stronger hood springs than the AAR.

Here's a picture that shows the difference.

Warning #1 Many reproduction hood spring vendors have their T/A & AAR labels transposed.  The manufacturer mixed up the labels, and most vendors don't know better.  It's been that way for at least 15 years.  I've recently noticed that a few vendors have caught on and corrected the labeling for their stores.  Pay attention to what you're getting if you order reproduction hood springs.  Use the pic below for reference.

Warning #2 Having the hood springs installed usually warps the fiberglass hood.  If the springs are removed, the hood should eventually flatten back out.  Many people leave the springs off and use a prop rod for this reason.

[cataclysm80]

The reproduction T/A hood which most resembles a production hood is made by ASC&P.
They've been making them since 1990, but will cease production at the end of February 2017.
If you know anyone that wants a T/A or AAR hood, let them know because time is running out!!
http://larrythephoenix.wixsite.com/ta-challenger-hoods/about-ascp

The nicest non-original looking T/A hood was made by AAR Fiberglass.
It had a very clean finished looking underside (unlike original) and was a good quality part.  They stopped making it about 10 years ago.  I see that they are currently offering it again though.  The new one is probably the same as the old one (same molds), but I haven't seen it in person yet.
https://www.aarqualityfiberglass.com/
Update: I bought one of these hoods to use, so I've had a good look at it now.  The metal mesh cowl screens are expanded metal instead of the correct flat square pattern, however they're not preinstalled, so you could use a more correct screen if you can find one.  Also, these hoods are missing the side flaps which come downward to contact the spring loaded hood wedges on the fender, so you'd need to recreate those fiberglass flaps if you want them.  I picked it up in person and toured the facility.  It's a neat place to visit, and they make quality products, though not necessarily with fine attention to OE details.  It's probably fair to say that the owner is more interested in building a beautiful hot rod than painstakingly recreating factory paint runs.  He's a nice guy though, very helpful, and I enjoyed visiting with him.

A few other companies have made T/A hoods, but they usually don't offer them for long because T/A hoods are one of the more difficult hoods to make.
The white gelcoat hoods that came out of Texas (Mexico) via eBay, consistently had good reviews when they were available.
The T/A hood sold by Year One also gets decent reviews, but did have complaints about not having enough clearance at the back edge for the windshield wipers to operate.  Make sure to test fit it before paint, and consider the wiper arm clearance, you may need to sand down the bottom of the hood at the rear for wiper clearance.

Original hood squirters were metal.
Reproduction hood squirters have been made from plastic by ASC&P, and also from metal by First Place Auto Products.
I've used both, and they both work, but the metal ones are Very nice and would be my first choice.
https://www.fpap.com/products.asp?cat=15

The N94 fiberglass hoods don't have a provision for the outermost clip to hold the ends of the radiator to hood seal.  For this reason, the N94 fiberglass hoods use a shorter hood seal, which can be duplicated by cutting down a full sized seal.

The T/A front hood trim has a different part number than regular Challenger hood trim.
The trim itself is the same, but it was packaged with the retainers, which were slightly longer for the fiberglass hood, hence the different part number.
I've seen a lot of people incorrectly claim that the trim was different and point to the part number as proof.

[cataclysm80]

If you ordered the N94 hood on a 440 Six Pak car, it used the same air cleaner that the T/A used.

[cataclysm80]

If you ordered the N94 hood on a Hemi car, the air cleaner looked like this.

[cataclysm80]

Here's the air cleaner for a 340 4 barrel with the N94 T/A hood.
Yeah, the round air cleaner doesn't fit as nicely in the oval hood hole.
It has drains on the bottom.
It has the plates on it which can be opened up in cold weather to let warm engine compartment air into the air cleaner for faster warm up.

[cataclysm80]

Another 4 barrel air cleaner to go with the N94 T/A hood.
Not sure which engine this is for.
It could be 383 or 440, or it could be a rejected prototype because it wouldn't work with air conditioning, or it could be a prototype for the canceled 1971 TA since the six pak was not allowed on the race cars.
It's extremely rare. Fram was the air cleaner vendor. This was found leftover at the Fram plant by the guy who did the spotwelds back then.

[cataclysm80]

5 non-T/A 1970 cars with N94 are known.
There were probably some more (though not many). These are just the ones that have been found so far, and have documentation to back it up.
I'll list some info about them below.

JS23R0B336419
HEMI Challenger R/T
Y14 "SOLD" car
TX9 Black paint
E74, D21, A33 & N94 are its ONLY extra cost options
HEMI 4-spd w/3.54s - black interior, '450 wheels, manual steering, manual drum brakes, NO radio, NO console, NO vinyl top, and NO stripes.
Sounds like a "racecar"
car has broadcast sheet & fender tag
Vehicle Order Number 076275
Scheduled Production Date May 12th 1970
For many years, this car was rumored to have been destroyed, but it was found in hiding, waiting for a restoration.


JS23R0B376234
HEMI Challenger R/T
Y14 "SOLD" car
FE5 bright red paint
E74, D32, A32, A45, C16, & N94 are its ONLY extra cost options
HEMI auto w/4.10s - black interior, '450 wheels, manual steering, NO radio, NO vinyl top, and NO stripes.
Sounds like a "racecar"
car has broadcast sheet & fender tag
Scheduled Production Date June 12th 1970
It was ordered new and raced by a mechanic or service writer out of a Dodge dealership in Indiana or Illinois. This is the same car that was in Texas in the '80s, Florida in the '90s & the east coast during the '00s. It is the car that Restorations by Julius restored in California.
Pic near Rio Dodge in Austin Texas, 1980's
(The car is red, it's just an old faded picture)

[cataclysm80]

JS23N0B405351
383 Challenger R/T
Y14 "SOLD" car
FF4 light green metallic paint
D32, B51, C16, C92, G11, H51, J46, J55, J81, N94, M85, R11, R31, S77, S79, U82, V1F, W21, & W34 are its extra cost options
383 auto w/3.23 open, black interior, V6X & a few options to the point of having a window sticker price near the HEMI cars.
car has broadcast sheet & fender tag
Vehicle Order Number 076823
Scheduled Production Date July 2nd 1970
Dan purchased the car from Shafi Keisler in the mid-'90s thru an ad in Mopar Collectors Guide.