‘73 & ‘74 Roadrunner differentiation

[PlymCrazy]

The holidays often bring opportunity to catch up on old TV shows again. I pulled out my Dukes collection and started right from the beginning of the series.

Seeing Daisy’s yellow Roadrunner after all these years again, I finally took notice that it was a Roadrunner. As a kid, anything post ‘70 didn’t grab my attention much. But nowadays anything pre-1980 always catches my eye.

So my questions are:

1) What year was Daisy’s yellow Roadrunner? I see differing answers on the internet.
2) How do you differentiate between a ‘73 & ‘74 Roadrunner by physical appearance alone?

Go easy on me here fellas please. I know this thread is an easy one to highjack. Please try to keep it on the road lol.

 

[YY1]

First season was a 71/72.

Then was replaced by a 73/74.

 

[YY1]

Obvious differentiation between 71 and 72 is grill and side markers.

 

[YY1]

Outward differences between 73 and 74 are more subtle and can be changed easily- rubber bumper guards are different and vent at back of hood is different.

 

[T2R9]

74 was also the first year of the three point seat belts.

 

[Davefinan]

I had a 74 twenty or so years ago , I knew about the vent behind the hood difference but never noticed the bumper guard difference……constantly learning something on this site.

 

[PlymCrazy]

@YY1 , may I kindly challenge your claim that season 1 was a ‘71/‘72?

I watched the first 3 episodes. And although I’ll admit, my eyes weren’t on the screen 100% of the time, what I saw was a ‘73/‘74.

Unless my DVD collection is mislabeled, season 1, first 3+ episodes was this car.

 

[Curiousyellow71]

We have a 73 roadrunner, and a second hood off a 74. 73 has hood vents and the 74 has none. Our 73 has 3 point seat belt harness, I thought all cars did in 73? Hard to see the hood vents in any of the pictures posted. Bumper guards would be a better way. I think the 74 plasticbumper guards look like the pictures posted, so I am going to say that car was a 74...
First season of the dukes was great.

I don't remember the 74 being in many episodes? I remember being really upset when later It went off the cliff and wasn't happy with the Jeep as a replacement. Our TV was broke at the time and we then had to watch the dukes at my grandparents. But my brother and I still managed to see most of the first season as they came out on tv. If I remember right, a 71 satellite went of the cliff. I think that 74 was the only roadrunner...the rest were satellites.

 

[YY1]

Hmmm

Not an RR

 

[YY1]

73 shoulder belt is separate and stores above the window.
I've never seen anyone use it. Retractor is beside front seat.

74 shoulder belt is integrated and retractor is in lower rear seat panel below window.
Makes getting in back seat a PITA.

74 also had an ugly (IMO) steering wheel, compared to the 71-74 wheels (non-tuff).

74 also got the PITA seat belt interlock, which you can see the bypass module under the hood.

73 windshield washers are in the cowl and come up through the hood vents.
74 windshield washers are in the wiper arms.

 

[DeltaV]

Long story here:
'Dukes of Hazzard' Producers Sent Daisy Duke's Car Off a Cliff for This Rumored Reason

 

[YY1]

Post #7 looks like no hood vents and all rubber 74 bumper guards.

 

[PlymCrazy]

I’m always trying to figure out the years of the vehicles when I see them. And this one stumped me. From the outside the ‘73/‘74 RRs are very hard for me to differentiate on TV.

That article helps make more sense of what everyone is saying here.

Thanks @YY1 for hashing this out with me.

@DeltaV thanks for sharing that article. Good read.

@Curiousyellow71, one heck of a memory you have there man.

Thanks everyone who chimed in here

 

[QuickBpBp]

The bumper guards are the same for both years it’s just whether they were standard bumper guards(solid rubber) or deluxe guards which were chrome with smaller cushions..

As stated the hoods are different and seat belts.

The dash bezels are different, the lower rear interior panels are different, the trunk floors are different and the steering columns are different.

Also in 1974 they used T handle slapstick’s & Ball mounted shifters like the 70 e bodies..

 

[Nacho-RT74]

73 shoulder belt is separate and stores above the window.
I've never seen anyone use it. Retractor is beside front seat.

74 shoulder belt is integrated and retractor is in lower rear seat panel below window.
Makes getting in back seat a PITA.

74 also had an ugly (IMO) steering wheel, compared to the 71-74 wheels (non-tuff).

74 also got the PITA seat belt interlock, which you can see the bypass module under the hood.

73 windshield washers are in the cowl and come up through the hood vents.
74 windshield washers are in the wiper arms.

Same differences than Chargers

adding some more althought hard to check on a pic

74s got:
-humped trunk floor for the humped tank
-gas straps bolts on front side
-LCA press in ball joints
-interlock seatbelt starting system (so a reset button is visible on engine bay)
-A body firewall steering column bracket and firewall hole for it.
-small steering column rubber coupler setup (not the big “puck”) closer to the firewall.
-rear springs front oval bushing setup (althought I have seen 74s still being round with diff dimensions than earliers.. mine is one of them)

and all body/frame differences to all those mentioned.


not every 74 got the round ball shifter, some still got T handle.

about bumper guards… dunno on Plymouths but on Chargers both years got full rubber (standard) and chromed (DeLuxe) setups, but the diff is the length, more noticeable on rears… on either setups. 74s got way longer guards. I have no reasons to think Plymouths were diff.

 

[Nacho-RT74]

About bumper guards, there is another difference. 73s uses an straight brace to attach to an extra “offset” bracket attached to frame rail, while 74s got a curved brace which meets the frame rail and frame rail gets provisions for U nuts.

Here is the diff (on Chargers) about the guards lenghts between 73 and 74s. Using same example (DeLuxe) for the comparison, but standards are the same

I guess Plymouths should be the same

 

[Nacho-RT74]

Plymouths are the same about guards

73

74

the length diference is the same for standard (full rubber) guards, just not posting the pics to fill the thread with unnecessary pics once diff has been stated.

 

[Basket case]

First season was a 71/72.

Then was replaced by a 73/74.

first Five episodes used a '74 road runner, then a '71 Sattelite Sebring until the Jeep was brought in.

 

[RemCharger]

Same differences than Chargers

adding some more althought hard to check on a pic

74s got:
-humped trunk floor for the humped tank
-gas straps bolts on front side
-LCA press in ball joints
-interlock seatbelt starting system (so a reset button is visible on engine bay)
-A body firewall steering column bracket and firewall hole for it.
-small steering column rubber coupler setup (not the big “puck”) closer to the firewall.
-rear springs front oval bushing setup (althought I have seen 74s still being round with diff dimensions than earliers.. mine is one of them)

and all body/frame differences to all those mentioned.


not every 74 got the round ball shifter, some still got T handle.

about bumper guards… dunno on Plymouths but on Chargers both years got full rubber (standard) and chromed (DeLuxe) setups, but the diff is the length, more noticeable on rears… on either setups. 74s got way longer guards. I have no reasons to think Plymouths were diff.

And was there something about a big harmonic weight bolted to the Floorplan?

 

[QuickBpBp]

And was there something about a big harmonic weight bolted to the Floorplan?

I believe 71’s had them also.. in the trans tunnel…