71 to 72 trunk lids not compatible?

[72charger440]

Just wanted to post a heads up for anyone in the market for a lid that may be considering 71 lid on 72 body. 1st post here. Nice to find a site for these cars.
I do not believe 71 & 72 trunk lids are interchangeable. I had 71 parts car and wanted to use trunk lid on the 72. It was 1/2 inch too long for catch. 71 lid also had a slightly steeper kick at rear of lid. It was not noticable until I tried to install. Has anyone else encountered this problem? It may be a early year vs later year issue I don't know.

[DynoDave]

Welcome aboard 72charger440. #WaveHi#

I don't honestly know the answer to your comment/question. But if '71 and '72 are that different, I'll be very surprised. The body shell did not change, that I know of, until '73. I don't know of any other way to account for that sort of difference.

[72sunroof]

They are identical, except for the "go-wing" mounting pad. Something else is wrong if it does not fit. Check the hinges.

[Nacho-RT74]

all 71/74s interchange. Some minor differences but still interchange ( trunk cilinder, cuts for wing brackets )

Unless we missed something

[72charger440]

Okay, I took your posts into consideration and re-examined my 72. I knew it had been hit in the left rear as the car is all original paint with the exception of a bondo patch on drivers rear qtr. I went to mopar spring fling yesterday and measured a 71 trunk a 72 trunk and then came home and measured mine. Apparently the left rear hit was worse than I thought. The portion of the trunk with the latch has been pushed forward 1 1/4 inch according to my measurements. which would explain the problem I had with the 71 trunk lid. apparently the 72 lid was on the car when hit so it must have been bent as well. More work for my body man when I get it to him! You guys got it right they should interchange...

[DynoDave]

Thanks for letting us know what you had learned. I'm sorry the answer was not a better one for you.

[sinatra]

All '71s had cutouts for the Go-Wing brackets. Most '72s did not, but some early cars did, such as my '72 SE built 9/29. In '73, they went to the large trunk lock retained by a nut rather than a clip and none had Go-Wing cutouts. The lid did not change for '74.

They all interchange perfectly; body lines will match up and fitment will not be an issue once it's adjusted on the hinges correctly.

While on the subject of trunk lids, if you desire adding a power trunk release to your classic Mopar, the simple solution is to use one from a later car. It's a clean, simple bolt-in, even from a FWD '92 LeBaron which was the donor for the one I installed for giggles on my '67 GTX. It's a one-wire hookup, as the solenoid grounds through the mounting screws. I also had one in my '72 SE (later transferred to my '72 Rallye), lifted from a Fifth Ave. I hid the button in the glove box, just like the factory did, but wired it to constant 12V so I didn't have to have the key on, as was the case with factory releases well into the '90s.

[Jer]

Tom's been selling the electric trunk releases on E-bay
for years as a
3rd Gen B-Body "upgrade"...

They work fine, as Sinatra stated!!

I personally bought 2 from him!!

(I'm trying to figure out how to convert one into a front hood latch release.)
;D

Don't laugh too hard....I used a manual 72 trunk release for a
hood release for my 66 Charger while I waited
to locate the factory 66 cable operated release...

Worked GREAT.....all you needed was an 18 inch (preferably)
screwdriver to slide between the grill fins
and into that little rectangular slot that the trunk key
cylinder bar normally goes into...

The mountup and fitment was PERFECT !!

Sort of Bob-bish of me, wouldn't ya say?