Bout to muddy the water a lil..... in 1972 the "go wing" was still a check box on my order sheet......so we checked the box with the agreement that if the car showed with NO wing my neighborhood plymouth dealer would subtract the cost...... DAMN if it didnt show up WITH a GO WING.....to muddy them waters a weee bit more 12 guys I worked with at MOPAR in centerline Michigan all bought 72 340 Dusters and every one of them showed with the GO Wing!!! FROM THE FACTORY......to spice things up even more 3 of them including mine had 1969 340 engine markings and one guy had the 340 TA marking!!
NOW I know this is going to start a small upheaval for the purists in our midst, and I am not here to argue , I am simply stating fact.....if there were overruns or early received engines or transmissions at the assy plants back in those days....the un written un published RULES were, "BUILD EM AND SHIP EM!" SOrry to POP any bubbles, but CHrysler in the 70's was ALL ABOUT getting product OUT THE DOOR and in the publics hands ( MEANING SALES) AND having worked for Chrysler during those years as an inspector.....I am here to tell you VERY VERY few early or LATE builds were "PURE" to the brochures or the published availability.....IF we had the parts we built and shipped cars plain & simple. Parts that could be used to build a car for sale DID NOT go UN-USED simply because it was for a performance car...HD springs went on /6 cars so did 8.75 rear ends including sure grips and HD torsion bars.....NOTHING was taken OUT of build QUEUE OR LEFT BEHIND.... when that build run was "OVER" there was nothing left behind or laying around.....if they could scab together a car using parts from cars damaged in transit..... they did it!!! they were in SURVIVAL MODE and it was all about sales and making money and NOT about perfectly matching build sheets....most people didn't even KNOW any difference ...... so sorry to muddy the water even further but that is what went on..... AND you can find evidence of that all over the place today....
SO as far as what was "published" to show up on a certain vehicle, that may not be 100% accurate compared to what actually showed up FROM THE ASSY PLANT on an early or late model build of pretty much ANY model. DO you really think they would stop the line or leave a heap of parts just sitting there WHen they could be assembled and sold? simply because the build sheet called for parts they didn't have? think again!
SO if you want to adhere to the publications of what did & didn't come on these cars, that is your call. But Ma Mopar was trying to survive and sinking fast and doing whatever it could to stay afloat...in 79 the **** hit the fan, muscle was gone, Iacocca asked for and GOT govt loans .....enter the K car followed by the minivan and the rest is history.
