What is this strap/bar on Aussie K-member?

[ProjectBazza]

Damn! I just received this text message (edited for contact and content):

• Just heard from my buddy in Oz and he said he's never seen anything like it before either and thinks it's most likely just added on for what ever reason too... He said you never know 100% but he's never seen it before on a ton of different VGs he's had or been around.​

I'm giving-up and moving on. This...."thing"...is just going to have to remain a mystery, for now.

 

[68Jim]

I'll take a picture of my K frame tonight and see if it is the same arrangement as yours.

 

[68Jim]

This time I set up a light to get some better pictures and now see that it was not a tab but rather just a hole on the side of the mount. No idea if factory hole or hobbyist upgrade.

 

[ProjectBazza]

This time I set up a light to get some better pictures and now see that it was not a tab but rather just a hole on the side of the mount.

Thank you. It looks like your battery ground is attached at the same point where the strap/bar is on this VG, so maybe....

Either way, that's a really nice looking car, and I would bet you get a lot of questions and/or attention with it!

 

[Dave999]

Oh is that a real E49 in which case its worth some considerable $$
(small tank? i presume gas cap on tail)

that mirror on your passenger door is worth about $600

based on the paint inside it used to be HOT mustard/bahama-yellow /butterscotch
like mine

 

[68Jim]

Thanks for the compliment! First off - it is a clone. And I'm good with that. I did the whole nut and bolt restoration on a 68 Road Runner and told myself that was the last time for that. When time came for another project I wanted something that I could modify as I liked and not have to worry about originality. The Charger is a 73 VJ that came with the small 215cid six and a 3 speed, original color was the Super Blue (close to our B5). Somewhere along the way it got a ford rear end from a Ute that gave it disc brakes in the back and repainted white. The motor was swapped to a 318 and 4 speed and a VH grille and other VH items, then painted orange. It was shipped to the States and then sold to a guy in Seattle area. I believe he installed the 340 and 6 pack. I added a few more items like new carpet, hood pins and left hand pistol grip and some 383 torsion bars. Having a lot of fun with the car.

 

[Dave999]

Nice one, great looking car and the motor they should have had i have the same torsion bars to go in mine.... currently has the aircon/rt bars 850 i'll go to the 890s.

that ford axle is basically the same as what it had with slightly longer shafts and the disk brakes.

Camaro and firbird IROCZ and TA 82-92 in many cases used the same in the US, they call it a GM 9Bolt. Theirs has 28 spline axles. its a Borg warner/BTR M78 axle used in Oz by Chrysler, Ford, GM holden and Nissan (australian assembled) stll made until about 5 years ago by Spicer Axle Australia

you will find similar in TVRs and Morgans from the UK. TVRs had the 3.7:1 ratio hard to find

M78, robust well beyond what their diminutive size would suggest.
Superlative matrials and engineering in comparison to many other makes.

made in Australia and South africa you basically have a 7 3/4

 

[ProjectBazza]

My final update or comment on this:

Turns out that Bazza kept a photo album in the glove box of the car with 30-40 pictures going back to Day One, and in there I found two photos of the engine compartment showing this bar/strap, sorta (more on this in a second). I can't date the photos with any accuracy, as the lettering/codes on the back make no sense to me, but it's obvious that the car was still in NZ at the time they were taken (which makes them no later than late-80's), and in both photos this bar is not being used.

I've tried scanning the photos, both at home as well as at work, but they have faded such that the scanners can't seem to pick-up this detail very well. I suppose I could try taking a picture with my phone, but not sure if anyone would care to see it.

Regardless, I was talking with Bazza last night (through his wife), and because one of his option codes has too many letters (A70A, below), and because this is a Special Order Assembly car, we've come to the conclusion, rightly or wrongly, that this strap was intended to be used for P/S hoses, but someone on the assembly line simply misread the car's data tag, as this car doesn't have it.

My sincere thanks to everyone who has responded!

Jim