New guy with '74 Barracuda questions

[Supernaut]

Just picked up a '74 Barracuda (see my welcome wagon post), and need a bit of guidance with the doors and other bits please.
I'm going to be replacing the door panels and was wondering if the car originally had moisture barriers between the panels and door frames. One site I'd seen showed masonite type moisture barriers for my generation however the site suggested they aren't for my car.
I need to tackle door hinges as well and was wondering what the consensus was regarding repair or replacement. I prefer to repair the existing and would appreciate some direction on a quality rebuild kit.
I'd like to install a fan shroud as well however I can't determine whether the car was ever fitted with one. It's a factory ac car, I would think it did at some point.
What's everyone's favorite brand of body patch panels?
My car is currently missing the fender tag and I was thinking about having another one made up if I can't locate the original. Naturally I'd keep it as close to what I gather the original was stamped. Is that something the community generally supports or frowns upon?
Sorry, I'm going to have a thousand questions along the way, this is my first Barracuda and I'm a bit unfamiliar with the details right now. Photo is of the Barracuda as found last Friday in a service station lot with my '55 wagon. The two are now stablemates!

 

[Xcudame]

From the factory, the doors had a plastic moisture barrier held in place by a type of sticky putty that never really got hard. Obviously, they make better moisture barrier material now. I'd sure make sure everything inside the door was working great with little to no wear before putting a nice moisture barrier in place. Plus, I have large arms that always look like I lost to a cat in a fight when I do inside door work.

Moparleo does door hinge refurbishment. I wouldn't even consider doing my own as he has a excellent reputation doing Mopar (A, B, E and C? body) hinges for a reasonable price. See link below:

FOR SALE - DOOR HINGE RESTORATIONS

AMD sheet metal is probably the closest to factory stampings. And they sell a lot of pieces for e-bodies. The other sheet metal companies aren't as close and require more work to fit right. Others will chime in with lots of experience.

If you can find the build sheet (in the springs of the rear seat back, under the carpet, taped to the glove box), getting a new fender tag is relatively easy. Without the build sheet or a rusty original tag, it gets complicated and opens up lots of discussions. Especially for R/Ts, Cudas and T/A cars! If you can't get someone (past owner) to come up with the original, I personally wouldn't be to concerned. "Fix 'em up and drive them!" is my idea of enjoying these old cars.

 

[JDMopar]

I agree with everything @Xcudame said! AMD is the best sheet metal, by far. You do need a fan shroud. Your radiator is a 26" radiator, and you will need the 26" shroud to fit it. They attach with 4 screws that go thru tabs molded onto the shroud, and then into screw holes in the side of the radiator flange, 2 on each side. If you can go to the Carlisle Mopar show, you should easily be able to find a fan shroud and buy any sheet metal needed. Stephens Performance is the largest AMD dealer east of the Mississippi river, and they bring 2 tractor trailer loads to the show. That way you save money since it won't need to be shipped. I used to do my own hinges, but @moparleo has a set of mine right now, rebuilding them for me. I've done a few sets myself, and added bushings to the lowers when they never came with them. That's not the right way to do it, so I will let Leo do mine from now on. He gives a great discount to forum members! Congrats on the Cuda.

 

[Cuda Hunter]

Search your vin on duckduckgo and then try google.
Go to the Hamtramck registry and find the lost and found page for your year. search your vin there and you Could get lucky.
Search each mopar site with your vin.
Posting your vin will also create a pathway to your post for anyone else who might search your vin because they have a fender tag that has your vin.
Some people are uncomfortable with posting their vins and tags and stuff.
Very few people want to clone standard cars. If you look hard enough every cuda I've ever owned has been posted with vin and tag. Same with an abundance of mopar enthusiasts on this site and the other Ebody . org site.

Creating a new fender tag. It is frowned upon by some mopar enthusiasts. If you can't find your tag and want to have a tag you can get one made however it is virtually impossible to get certain parts of the remanufactured tag correct. This will make the car a fake to some people. If you remake one with all the correct combinations that would have been on the tag then you can write in a word or two that shows that you are not trying to pass something not quite right along to the next guy and are instead, Documenting the car you have purchased as to what is possibly original parts.
There are date codes on most parts so you can determine specific data through your multiple date coded parts.

Everything else that has been said is spot on in my opinion.

 

[Supernaut]

I agree with everything @Xcudame said! AMD is the best sheet metal, by far. You do need a fan shroud. Your radiator is a 26" radiator, and you will need the 26" shroud to fit it. They attach with 4 screws that go thru tabs molded onto the shroud, and then into screw holes in the side of the radiator flange, 2 on each side. If you can go to the Carlisle Mopar show, you should easily be able to find a fan shroud and buy any sheet metal needed. Stephens Performance is the largest AMD dealer east of the Mississippi river, and they bring 2 tractor trailer loads to the show. That way you save money since it won't need to be shipped. I used to do my own hinges, but @moparleo has a set of mine right now, rebuilding them for me. I've done a few sets myself, and added bushings to the lowers when they never came with them. That's not the right way to do it, so I will let Leo do mine from now on. He gives a great discount to forum members! Congrats on the Cuda.

Why do the 26" shrouds all seem to list for '70-'73 and exclude '74? Is there a difference?

 

[JDMopar]

I honestly don't know what the difference would be, unless the 74 is cosmetically different. I used to have a 74 Challenger, 318 car with AC, that had a 26" radiator. It got to running a little warm, so I swapped in the factory 2998974 radiator from my 70 340 Challenger before we left to go to the beach. The fan shroud from the 74 radiator bolted right back onto the 70 radiator. Like a dummy, I let the 974 radiator go with the 74 Challenger when I sold it a few years later! I recently bought a replacement 2998974 radiator and had it re-cored. I just now went to the garage and measured the attachment points for the fan shroud. Measuring side to side the measurement is 26 1/8". The measurement is the same, on both the bottom and top sets of holes. It also measured the same on an aftermarket 26" radiator that I have. Measure those holes in the radiator in your Cuda, and they should be the same. If you aren't too concerned about what's different on 74 shrouds, you could just get a 70-73 and it would function the same. Hope this helps some.

 

[Supernaut]

I honestly don't know what the difference would be, unless the 74 is cosmetically different. I used to have a 74 Challenger, 318 car with AC, that had a 26" radiator. It got to running a little warm, so I swapped in the factory 2998974 radiator from my 70 340 Challenger before we left to go to the beach. The fan shroud from the 74 radiator bolted right back onto the 70 radiator. Like a dummy, I let the 974 radiator go with the 74 Challenger when I sold it a few years later! I recently bought a replacement 2998974 radiator and had it re-cored. I just now went to the garage and measured the attachment points for the fan shroud. Measuring side to side the measurement is 26 1/8". The measurement is the same, on both the bottom and top sets of holes. It also measured the same on an aftermarket 26" radiator that I have. Measure those holes in the radiator in your Cuda, and they should be the same. If you aren't too concerned about what's different on 74 shrouds, you could just get a 70-73 and it would function the same. Hope this helps some.

Thank you!

 

[Xcudame]

I, too, would be very surprised if a 70-73 26" radiator fan shroud for an E-Body wouldn't fit a 74. Mopar made new part number radiators for every year and combination and I never understood why.

 

[Challenger RTA]

Did you look for the broadcast sheet? You never know. As others have said. I would authenticate the parts that are on the car for dates. Look at the K frame number to start. I would not hold it against someone that wants to make a tag for the car. The Vin number is the more important number. That is a whole different thing. By searching the parts for date matching. One side could be different for some reason. Wore out or accident. Your not claiming it's a high dollar car. But to add something that was not there would be different.
But here again It is hard to say just what came on the car unless it is all original.
Maybe if the members here see and authenticate the parts You would be good to go. Then have a second tag made that read "Authenticate By FEBO Members" . There will be some number that can't be duplicated without knowing. S.O. number.

 

[cuda joe]

i used tar paper held on with a few pieces of duct tape easy to work with .also they sell door hinge bushings and pins don;t unbolt the hinges just knock out the pins save a lot of time trying to adjust the doors

 

[mrmopar340]

i used tar paper held on with a few pieces of duct tape easy to work with .also they sell door hinge bushings and pins don;t unbolt the hinges just knock out the pins save a lot of time trying to adjust the doors

I put tape around the edges when I pull hinges and things off. It's a hack but makes everything lining up after you take it off easier. You can also drill a small hole in each hinge and use the drill bit to get it close when you reinstall everything.

 

[Supernaut]

I'm going to send my hinges to Leo, I reached out to him on Xcudame's recommendation however Leo's a bit backed up at the moment.

 

[Chryco Psycho]

The 74 usually had a carbon canister for emissions & the shroud probably made clearance for that so the 73 will fit but you probably need to remove the carbon canister .

 

[Cuda Hunter]

74 also had an overflow tank that mounts to the shroud bolts, I think.
I know 74 is the only year with overflow tank.