Telltale signs of a real 340/360 car

[Purple73Cuda]

Hemi cars and six bbl. cars have special items that help confirm the car to be a real (not cloned or counterfeited) car. For example, K member skid plates, 3/8" fuel lines, boxed spring perches etc. Other than VIN and fender tag, are there certain items that confirm that a '72-'74 E body is an original 340/360 car, not a 318 car converted to a 340/360?

[bb71challenger]

I know on a 70 'Cuda things like front and rear anti-sway bars and rallye cluster were a pretty good indicator that you had a 'Cuda instead of a Barracuda but not always the case. 

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Other than the VIN and fender tag, as you stated, I really don't think there is any way to tell a 340/360 car from a 318. There were a few things on a 70-71, but 72-74 we are talking all small blocks.

[Chryco Psycho]

A real Ralley wil have a rear sway bar

[Moparal]

Also when you hit the gas pedal and it didnt pull real super hard, you knew it was a tiny engine

But also if the pipes came out on the side of the car in 1970 you knew you had a little screamer that wasnt a 318

On a serious note, 72-74 rallye challengers had those stripes down the side.  And it seems that about any hp car had a performance package of some type.

[quapman]

Look for rallye gauges, disc brakes(not always power), sway bar(s), fender scoops, A57 on the fender tag.

Just to make it even more fun, there were PLENTY of 318 Rallye cars produced along with the 340's & 360's.

[hooD]

72-74 Cuda's with a 340 or a 360 (1974) had dual exhaust cut-outs in the rear valance and they came with the bulge hood scoops. 
318's had flat hoods and the rear valance was solid due to the single exhaust.
I'm sure I stand to be corrected by someone, but this is what I know from back in the day and owning an original '73 340 Cuda.

My friend had a '74 powder blue (B1) 318 Barracuda.  Flat hood and solid rear valance.  He had the white side stripes and white vinyl top.

[bad440]

The factory dual exhaust would be a give-away, as the factory hangers, especially at the rear were unique, also the rear mufflers had heat shields on each side, very difficult to duplicate, of course the serial number(360 had an H as 5th digit), and if you can find the original broadcast sheet, would also help identify as original. Also some suspension components were different, I believe the torsion bars on 340 and 360 were thicker.

[Topcat]

72-74 Cuda's with a 340 or a 360 (1974) had dual exhaust cut-outs in the rear valance and they came with the bulge hood scoops. 
318's had flat hoods and the rear valance was solid due to the single exhaust.
I'm sure I stand to be corrected by someone, but this is what I know from back in the day and owning an original '73 340 Cuda.

My friend had a '74 powder blue (B1) 318 Barracuda.  Flat hood and solid rear valance.  He had the white side stripes and white vinyl top.

Exception to the rule:
A28 Calif. noise reduc. pkg. = No dual exhaust rear Valence.

[burdar]

There is no way of knowing for sure what engine came in the car without the fender tag/vin sticker/vin tag or build sheet.

The scooped hood was available on the Cuda and Barracuda....it was also available on the standard Challenger as well as the Rallye.

The standard engine for both the Cuda and the Rallye Challenger was the 318.  You could also get a 340(I assume 74 was the same with the 360) in a base Challenger and in a Barracuda.

Rear sway bars came on 318 and 340 cars even though the data books say "340 only".

Torsion bars were the larger size on 318 Rallyes and Cudas.

The only thing that would be unique to the larger engines is the exhaust.  All 340 and 360 cars would have had dual exhaust.  If there are holes drilled in the trunk for the muffler brackets and if there is an extra bolt-on resonator bracket mounted to the drivers side floorpan chances are good the car came with the big engine.  The exhaust could have been changed at some point but most exhaust shops wouldn't have gone to the trouble of using the factory style hangers.  They would have used a generic hanger.

The only other thing I can think of is that 340 cars didn't get EGR valves so they wouldn't have had the OSAC valve on the firewall.  340 cars just had a blockoff plate over the hole.  Sometime in 73 that valve was moved to a different location and there was no hole in the firewall at all.  So that may only be a clue on the earlier cars. 

[Cooter]

I had a 1972 Challenger Rallye with "R/T" Hood, Side Fender Scoops, Dual Exhaust but no dual cutout rear valance and a 318.

Factory B5 Blue/black interior. Rallye gauges, "Slap stick" auto with console, and rear sway bar. Had power Front Disc brakes.

[burdar]

No 318's ever came with dual exhaust.  The exhaust was added or the 318 was swapped into the car.

[Super Blue 72]

   Interesting thread...

[Final Challenge]

On the 1974 model year the rear crossmember where the shock mounts are a tell tale if the car was a 318 or 360 car. The 360 cross member has tabs of metal on both sides that sport j-clips (2 per side). Those j-clips are where the rear exhaust hangers go.

My 360 car has the tabs and clips on both sides.

My friends original 318 car only has the tab and clips on the pasenger side rear.

I found a survivor 360 car at the New Hamburg Moparfest show and crawled underneath to study the rear exhaust hangers so that I can make up a set for my car. I can't seem to find any available for sale. Even if I found them, I would have to modify them for larger diameter exhaust pipe.

[burdar]

Here is a picture of the 73 PS exhaust hanger.  Are you saying that 74's use this hanger on both sides?  I thought they would have used the same hanger as all the other years.  Accurate Exhaust sells the new one I have pictured.  You can see that it isn't exactly like the original but it's close.


You can see the hanger installed in this pic.