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1972/1974 Charger Cannibalization project questions

Honestly, 73/74 Chargers in good shape are still relatively affordable and relatively easy to find.

If you don't have to have a factory 440 car, it shouldn't take too terribly long to find a good deal on one.

I bet you could find a solid 318 or 400-2 car for 8K or less in a matter of months.
 
Sell the 74 to someone that could use it to fund the sunroof car and move along . It’s your car and money but that’s what I would do as not many parts really interchange .I don’t believe in ripping a complete car apart anymore they are too hard to find. I’m at the point in my time where I believe we need to save them all because once they are melted down they will be lost to time even the four door cars... they make good family cruisers now a days that are more affordable for some...
I'm actually with you there but the owner already raided the car for what he needed for his- It would be a LONG way back to get it going again but maybe someone wants to do it still. They definitely should. Here's what it looks like

01010_l5cWo5eSZuYz_0CI0t2_600x450.jpg 00y0y_6lmznMEbxZEz_0t20CI_600x450.jpg 00i0i_imcdYmszMM5z_0CI0t2_50x50c.jpg 00g0g_iFtIdBp15O0z_0CI0t2_600x450.jpg
 
Honestly, 73/74 Chargers in good shape are still relatively affordable and relatively easy to find.

If you don't have to have a factory 440 car, it shouldn't take too terribly long to find a good deal on one.

I bet you could find a solid 318 or 400-2 car for 8K or less in a matter of months.

Yeah my plan is to slap my '74 together (once it has a non-leaking roof) and just drive it here in Los Angeles where cars get annihilated in parallel parking situations, dings, dents, etc and then buy a nicer one down the line to keep garaged when my living circumstances change and I can have a garage.
 
That full vinyl top trim can be pricey, too.
 
I know a guy here in Spain who is searching a 72 tail light setup no matter if standard or SE for his 72. He has been searching for years without success. At a decent price of course.
 
I know a guy here in Spain who is searching a 72 tail light setup no matter if standard or SE for his 72. He has been searching for years without success. At a decent price of course.
wish we had talked! I ended up getting about $250 for them- lenses, lights, wiring and all
 
this is a recent search... it began maybe a month ago. I used to be curious about parts stock on the web so since EVER I use to know what is available and what is not or is hard to get ( usually because I don't have a life so keep surfing on ebay and stuff LOL ). When this guy contacted me I was aware about the dificulties to find them but I never posted a wanted ad. Hell!!! I try to help when I can, but is not my problem really LOL.If some floats around, will let him know.

so far so good I found him some regular 72 lenses in Venezuela and still working on get them shipped to Spain ( a friend of mine there is working on that ). They are not nice, just "decent", but better that than nothing
 
a 72 Charger and a 74 Charger are very different cars, While you could possibly move the 74 quarters to the 72 body, you would also have to use the 74 doors. The body lines are completely different. The quarters are totally different than the 72, including the door latch pillar, and rear upper quarter end caps and related parts. The doors on the 74 have a lower belt line by about an inch and a half, so you have no choice but to use those too. and they are heavy! the 72 doors are taller, but way lighter since they have no door beams.
If you did do all this, you would end up with the regular 62-72 K frame and torsion bar setup, which would be a bonus for handling and weight.
 
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a 72 Charger and a 74 Charger are very different cars, While you could possibly move the 74 quarters to the 72 body, you would also have to use the 74 doors. The body lines are completely different. The quarters are totally different than the 72, including the door latch pillar, and rear upper quarter end caps and related parts. The doors on the 74 have a lower belt line by about an inch and a half, so you have no choice but to use those too. and they are heavy! the 72 doors are taller, but way lighter since they have no door beams.
If you did do all this, you would end up with the regular K frame and torsion bar setup, which would be a bonus for handling and weight.

brown car is a 74. Green car is a 72.
Here you can see how the door handle position stayed about the same, but the door top was lowered a lot, which makes the side windows appear taller on the 74. Interior panels changed in height too.
As well, the lower body lines were raised on the door

IMG_8537.JPG IMG_8538.JPG
 
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Totally different body lines. The 72 upper line is basically straight and fades away at the rear. The 74 is heavily sculpted and kicks up at the rear. The 74 lower body lines on the quarter to door, are raised up also compared to the 72. Brown car is a 74. Green car is a 72

IMG_8541.JPG IMG_8542.JPG
 
The 74 front fenders have the wheel opening raised up a lot too. The brown fender is a 74, the orange one is a 72

IMG_8545.JPG IMG_8546.JPG
 
The 74 quarters have a concave sculpt to the upper body line, while the 72 has a milder convex shape.
Aside from having the same roof stamping, and basically interchangeable hoods and trunk lids, these are totally different cars. Not to mention the entire front frame section, K frame, suspension, electrical, fuel tank, trunk floor, and other parts that were radically changed in 73

IMG_8539.JPG IMG_8540.JPG IMG_8543.JPG IMG_8544.JPG
 
thanks for the input; yeah I chatted with the guy and he's gonna let me out of the deal if I want. I think i'll probably wind up taking a few rust-free parts that are the same and just let the car go.
Almost none are the same
 
something like this... on Red, the aprox 73/74 "belt line" shape over a 71/72 body. This makes top interior panels don't fit either

View attachment 1105814

difference is around inch and a half or two


so you can figure out now also the diff inner sheet metal parts too.

Maybe lower half of door will meet with quarters, but definitelly not the top half.
Lower doesn't match at all. The lower line on a 72 is about 2 inches up from the door bottom, and the lower line is about 3 1/2 inches up on the 74. It's like Chrysler told the stylist "lets move every body line 1 1/2" for 1973"
 
Yeap, the concave shape above the top line makes it to look sharper body line. That's another thing I like more on 73/74s!

Another interchangeable parts are floor pans ( but considering center 74 trunk diff ), cowl panel with a minor hole diff on 74s for a wiper conector, firewall but the steering column hole on 74s, dutchman panel ( or rear deck filler panel depending how you want to call it ), rear valence but the cut outs for the bumper guards, rear frame rails and parts but some provisions here and there, etc...
 
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Finally, some actual, documented evidence!
 
we had this measurements posted on pics on the 3rd gen Charger board, that's why I know about this I mentioned, but with the Photobucket "crash", most of them were lost
 
The 74 quarters have a concave sculpt to the upper body line, while the 72 has a milder convex shape.
Aside from having the same roof stamping, and basically interchangeable hoods and trunk lids, these are totally different cars. Not to mention the entire front frame section, K frame, suspension, electrical, fuel tank, trunk floor, and other parts that were radically changed in 73

View attachment 1108881 View attachment 1108882 View attachment 1108883 View attachment 1108884
This is some amazing documentation! Thank you!! To be clear- I can't use a '72 K frame on a '74?
 
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