The 1970 Hamtramck Registry Home Page

The Official Website of The 1970 Hamtramck Registry
Last Updated: June 30, 2009

Welcome to the Official Website of the 1970 Hamtramck Registry. This registry is for all "0B" models — from 4-door Valiants to the Duster, Challenger and Barracuda models — all are accepted regardless of condition or engine size. VIN and code information from parts cars and parted cars is appreciated as well! This registry is a division of The Challenger T/A Registry P. O. Box 9632 Ketchikan, AK. 99901 or online at www.challengertaregistry.com and is run by Barry Washington.

Current 1970 Registry counts => Hamtramck: 8705 Los Angeles: 1437

Found Item of the Month — July 2009
Previous Found Items of the Month

Hello again all,

Sadly, we did not have any items claimed in June.

I get asked about VIN sequence as it relates to actual build sequence quite often, so I am going to use our July IOTM to illustrate something for you. Most folks assume that these cars were built in order based on the VIN number. This is a common myth. All of the plants built cars out of sequence for whatever reason, it is something I am researching in-depth for 1970 right now.

Think about this.....

Hamtramck had two assembly lines. So, IF (big if) the cars were built sequentially by VIN, odd numbered cars would have to come from one line, while even numbered cars came from the other. They would also have to time each build EXACTLY so one line did not get ahead of the other to have the cars leave "in order" sequentially.

Did they do it that way? Nope. It would have slowed the lines down to a crawl trying to micro-manage it to that degree.

The actual broadcast sheet sequence numbers have a whole lot more to do with the actual build sequence than the VIN does. As an example, broadcast sheet # 1000001 was printed for BH23G0B100052.

So, right there, for 1970 Hamtramck started 51 VINs behind.

The broadcast sheet number was also referred to as the "Job number".

Back to our July IOTM now, we have a broadcast sheet that was found in a bucket seat of a Challenger T/A (See the March 2007 IOTM for more info) This sheet is for JS23V0B278082;

Note the text I inserted in this photo of the T/A sheet & the R/T sheet that was found in it;

Pretty dang interesting is it not? The Scheduled Production Dates (SPDs) are right out the window, obviously they did not wait three days to produce these two cars back to back. Folks often assume that the SPD is the actual build date & for some cars it MAY be, but truthfully there is just no way to know. This is just one example of this, I have seen it many times now.

Research, as always, continues. If you have an original 1970 Hamtramck broadcast sheet, please contact me with a scan or photo copy. I am trying to figure out what triggered the cars to be built so far out of sequence. The sheets I have seen so far are mostly for the E-Bodies, I would LOVE to see more broadcast sheets for the Valiants & Dusters, it would really help me with my research. Seeing broadcast sheets found in other cars really helps too as you have seen. If you find one for a different car, please let me know what car it came out of.

This sheet is free to the owner of the car with proof of legal ownership & proof the car still exists.

Thanks once again to everyone who has helped out along the way & please have a safe 4th of July!

Barry Washington

The goal of the 1970 Hamtramck Registry is to provide an organization for the owners and admirers of these cars. Through the registry we will collect information to try and build an accurate historical record of these cars and use it to help the members when possible. This includes matching up found broadcast sheets, other paperwork or serial numbered components such as fender tags, engine blocks and transmissions. Since Chrysler Corporation chose not to keep records on these cars, creating a database to try and accurately record the information on these cars for historical purposes is one of the major functions of the Registry.

Please click the "REGISTER" link on the left, download the Registration Form in either PDF, HTML or MS Word format, fill out the form as completely as possible and mail it to me at the address above.

If you have not done so already, I urge you to search your car for broadcast sheets. Sometimes there can be as many as 5 in one car, so if you do find one, please keep looking, there could be more. They do not always match the car they are found in due to how the assembly lines at the plant were run. If you find any sheets, please let me know if they match or not. It is very common to find a sheet for a different model of the same car. I have also heard of Challenger sheets in Cuda's and vice versa.

Here are some places to look:

Taped to the back side / top of the glove box insert.
Under the front bucket seats in the springs
Inside the bucket seat backs
Under the rear seat bottom
In the rear seat back.
Under the package tray(speaker shelf)
Under the carpet

Please check all these locations and let me know what you find.

Thank you all,
Barry Washington at The 1970 Hamtramck Registry and The Challenger T/A Registry

Special thanks to Johan Ronkainen for hosting this site. We could not have done it without him.