74 Rallye - Charger Opinion Needed

[71vert340]

 I know - it's not a Challenger but it is my current project. It can be switched to another forum category if necessary. A little about the car. I bought it in 1988. Its the HP 360 Auto trans, column shift, Rallye Dash. B5 blue exterior, bright blue bench seat interior, blacked out power bulge hood. It has the first year rear window electric grid defroster, so the heavy duty alternator system. It's a fun car to drive. I've replaced the rubber iso-mount k-frame bushings with aluminum pieces ( maybe a mistake?). I've asked on a couple of other Mopar sites but didn't get much help. The car had the 73-74 side body stripes in black. It had a black half canopy vinyl top which I had to remove. No rust at all on the body. It was my daily driver for years. The rebuilt engine and transmission have about 35k miles on them. I'm restoring the car just enough to be a cruising car, not so much of a show car. I have my Challengers for shows. I'm attaching a photo of the tag. The way I read the tag, it has the black body stripe with a white vinyl top. I just can't see in my mind a blue exterior, blue interior, black side stripe and hood with a white vinyl top. I have not found a photo of a car with that combo. I do not want to buy a white vinyl top, install it and then hate it. I know what it looks like with a black top. I'm thinking of painting the half top white after painting the body B5 blue, put on the black stripes and see what it looks like. If I don't like it, I can then order the black top and install it. What are others opinions? I've been following the discussions concerning members with cars beside Challengers and the people here seem to like all Mopars. I'm really trying to make up my mind. Painting white seems to be the way to go to see what it looks like. Thanks for your input.
Terry

[6bblgt]

great car!
I'll "ASSUME" the car is from a warm climate state? no A/C but cloth & vinyl seats and white top to keep the temps down. (stripes & hood treatment not available in white)

does it have 3.55s? - rare combination by '74, my brothers & nephew have been playing with '73 Chargers

[RUNCHARGER]

I think the white top would pop nicely especially as it's just the canopy style. Your to paint the roof white to see what it looks like is great. Then you can install a black or white top after you see what it looks like.

[71vert340]

 The car has been in eastern Washington State for since built near as I  can tell. Yes it had the cloth headliner ( SMS said a C-body cloth) and cloth and vinyl seats. I'm trying to keep the cost of going through this car to less than $10k. I don't need to rebuild the engine and trans. I'll paint it myself. The expensive things yet - no one makes the cloth headliner but SMS said they could do it for $400. I bought the standard perforated vinyl headliner for less than $100. The cloth and vinyl seats (bench front) are not made by anyone. I'm sure SMS would make them but probably $1K. Only the front bench is worn and has one torn vinyl panel. Re-chrome bumpers. I'll probably use the best set I have and have the 3M chrome vinyl installed to see if it holds up ( a few hundred if they'll do it). The rear diff is a 3.23. It had a Chronometer Mopar clock installed in it. Not sure if I'll put it back in. The numbers flipping over was distracting.  I'll include a few photos of the seat material, headliner material and broadcast sheet.. Thanks.
Terry Walker

[71vert340]

My bad. Here's the entire broadcast sheet.
Terry

[6bblgt]

I'd bet a "local" upholstery shop could come up with something close for the headliner & seat inserts 

curious why it has the 28" radiator w/o 3.55s or A/C ??

[cuda hunter]

That's a great coded 74.
Looks like a V4 W to me.
It will look good with the white top. 

[6bblgt]

here's the closest color combo I could find 

[71vert340]

 I'd seen that car photo also. Here's a few more facts about this car. It has cruise control with a switch that is clipped on to the turn signal lever. The speedo cable from the transmission goes to the vacuum operated cruise control box in the engine compartment. It must be dealer add on like the clock. The car had A/C but it was an in-dash unit. The car has the two vents and the non-A/C heater box which did not have the A/C coil in it. That was in a unit under the dash. The dash frame had been hacked for the A/C vents.  I'll include a photo of the unit I pulled out and the A/C controls.  The radiator core support has the panels for the wider radiator. It had a Mopar flex fan. I'll include a photo of the engine compartment from awhile back. In the engine bay photo of the cleaned engine, you can see the cruise control unit below the air cleaner snorkel and the washer fluid tank.
Terry