With a promise to Kelly that I'd keep the car together until the new Casa del Fuega Molnariano is complete, I've been doing some digging for my favorite thing: markings!
And despite the Crusty Cuda being....well.....crusty
...I found a bunch! Knowing where to look is half the battle and having done so many Mopars before, I sniffed them out like a fart on an airplane!
Rear axle has the date code under the large side support rib, and under the carrier is the paint slashes that indicate the ratio. My car, from all indications, says 3.23 Open. That's backed up with 3 black stripes under the keel of the axle 3rd member. Had this of been a Sure Grip, there would have been an orange stripe there as well. Driver's side axle tube has a three digit axle code that would match the Broadcast sheet code. Only the "0" is visible in mine, which for a 3.23 open would be "073". There will also be a date/ inspector stamp on this tube too. Mine is all but gone. The 3rd member assembly date looks like "21D" but I'm not positive on that yet. April 21st would correspond to my SPD of 4-30. Still researching that. There are other missing markings on the axle which would be a large "E" or "FE" on the back of the axle carrier along with a circle and an "X", "/", or nothing, through it. I've seen all three on both open and sure grip axles with all combinations. Some say the circle with the x through it means sure grip. Having seen examples of that on non-sure grip cars, and no written documentation saying that's what it means, not buying it. Whoda thunk anyone would really care about these anyway!?
My filler plug shows a red paint daub. Can't make out pinion markings yet and until the axle is out, not sure what's on top.
Rear axle brake backing plate shows a yellow daub on the retainer spring mount rivet. Torsion bars show two aluminum daubs on the left side, one aluminum daub on the right coding them to 779/778 respectively (also stamped on the end of the t-bars). That's the standard S13 HD suspension for the 340 Cudas. Drips on the t-bars facing up shows how they were dipped in paint so they could be facing anyway when installed. Small details!!
Lower control arm adjusters have orange/left and blue/right daubs on the ends. This is the first Mopar that I've seen two different colors. Mine are mostly the same color on both. Driver's side arm also has an inspection mark on the large joining rivet.
Transmission markings: 696 for 340 4spd, an orange swipe over the casting number. The red paint isn't anything. Back in the day, someone painted the axle white and the transmission red and that's remnants of that color
. Two white blops are on the shifter mounts and another on the lower shifter gear stud. So freaking cooooool!!!
That's the update here. Tune in next time for more progress updates like, "I know, sweety, but it is in one piece! It's just that all the pieces aren't in one piece! "
Cheers
Dave