--- CBKidder <cbkidder@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I hear people refer to Mopars as B/RB, E-body, and
> so on. What does that mean, and what body does the
> `60 Saratoga have? Is it different from the `60
> 300-F & New Yorker (aside from the trim)?
Oookaaaay. The body-ID-by-letters didn't start until a
few years after the FWDLK era (I think '65), although
a case could be made for your Saratoga being a C-body.
They did assign these codes to some platforms
retroactively, i.e., there seems to be full agreement
that a '60 Valiant should be considered an A-body even
though the compacts had a completely different
bodyshell by the time the letter codes started.
A-body = compacts, pre-'70 Barracudas
B-body = intermediates
('62-'64 Fury/Polara are also B-bodies)
C-body = fullsize incl. post-'65 Fury/Polara
Y-body = Imperial (some references say D-body, but the
jacking instructions in my '65 Crown said
"Y-body")
E-body = '70-'74 Barracuda & Challenger
There are more (the K-cars would have been called
"K-bodies" under this system) but these are where the
collection action is. In some cases the old
designations have been reused, such as my '87 New
Yorker Turbo (a stretched K-car) which has an "E" body
designation but shares little if anything with a
Barracuda.
The "B/RB" you refer to is an extended engine family.
The B and RB are closely related and many parts are
interchangeable, but the "R" denotes a raised block
(taller), which is why a 383 B-block can exchange
heads with a 440 RB-block but not intake manifolds.
(It bears mentioning again that 383s came as both B
and RB engines, the RB version having a smaller bore
and longer stroke; I believe your '60 Saratoga would
have an RB 383, which I also believe was limited to
'59-'61 US-built Windsors & Saratogas (Bill Watson
knows better than I what was up in Canada) and is much
rarer than a B 383. An "L" suffix means the block is
lower than it was originally, although the poly ("A")
and wedge ("LA") 318s have many more differences than
just this.
G = 170/198 Slant Six
RG = 225 Slant Six
A = 277/301/303/313/318 poly/326 V8
LA = 273/318 wedge/340/360 V8
B = 350/361/383B/400 V8
RB = 383RB/413/426 wedge/440
While the 426 Hemi has the same bore & stroke as the
426 wedge, and is related to the B/RB family in other
ways, it's considered different enough that the B/RB
tag is not used.
=====
Mike Sealey, San Francisco CA
'57 Plymouth Sport Suburban
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