jaak

After surveying the damage, and doing some online research, I decided using the ¾ length floor pans should be what I need to repair most of the rust damage. And keeping with the ‘budget’ too, the Sheman versions pictured below were only $353 shipped to my door from A-deals. The very bottom of the rear foot well was also rusted, roughly a 7†x 20†area on both sides. I decided to cut out this rust and instead of forking out 125 bucks each for the rear foot wells, just patching the rusted area with some 18 ga. sheet metal I bought from a local shop. (Floor Pan halves)…. (Pass. Side Half removed, and new pan test fitted in place before welding)…. (Cleaned/prepped area for welding, used a weld thru primer bought from Summit Racing)….

Removing Interior/Repair Floor Pans. Here is the interior as I bought the car…pretty bare bones just the bucket seats, buddy seat, and steering column installed in car. Although I do have the dash (previous owner sandblasted/primed), a nice rear seat core, all the upper door bolsters (need work), and various other parts in the trunk, this is what it looks like in the beginning…. After removing the seats, and what remnants of carpet were left this is how the floors looked. The car sat outside (4-5 years according to what seller said) without a windshield, which is what I assumed messed the floor pans up so bad.

Although it will be a little later before I start working on it, this is the engine/trans I plan on putting in the GL. It’s a low mileage factory 4 bbl. 360 from a ‘79 Chrysler 300. I have actually had this for a while, I had bought this several months before I bought the car. It’s just one of those things I found on Craigslist and couldn’t pass up. It was only located a couple hours away from where I live, so I went up there to get it. It has 70k original miles, complete (minus carb) and came with a small block 727 trans. I scored this for $325. Right after buying the engine I found a Thermoquad core for $20. I plan on rebuilding and using the thermo quad. The plans for the engine are to open it up just to check everything out, if it checks, I’m going to install new gaskets and give it a fresh coat of paint. Another cool thing is, someone started working on the Charger back a few years ago to get it running (that’s why the 318 was in it). The car has a new exhaust system under it with flow master mufflers. First thing I started on was removing the 318 & trans from the Charger.

Pics…. Here is the 68 as I brought it home. Like I said earlier, it is a plain jane car. According to the VIN it came factory with a 383 2/bbl., but the car had a 318 with a 904 trans when I bought it. The seller claimed the motor would run, but, it is missing several parts. I didn’t even try to get it running, because I have other plans in mind.

After finishing a 1969 Charger R/T project that was on again/off again for 11 years, It was amazing to drive my project down the road and cruise in it. All that hard work, patience and money spent had finally paid off. Now don’t get me wrong I love driving/crusin’ in my 69, but I really missed having a project. I missed having something to go out in the shop in and work on in my spare time. I actually missed spending hours online searching Craigslist, eBay, and message board classifieds looking for the best deals on parts and supplies I needed. So after putting a little cash aside, I decided it was time to search for a new project. What I really had in mind was an ‘A’ body Mopar, in particular I really wanted was a ‘67-’69 Barracuda. After looking a couple of cudas/darts/dusters, I was searching CL one night and actually stumble across a guy with some Chargers and parts for sale. I actually went to look at a ‘68 he had that appeared by the pics it could be bought with what I had available to spend (which wasn’t much). When I got there the car was pretty rough; roof, floors, trunk, wheel houses and tail panel had serious rust issues. They guy priced it to me for 3k, which is cheap enough for any second generation Charger these days, but like I said it was rough. Just a few yards over, was another 68... More complete, pretty solid (floors/trunk rusted), and had a shoddy black paint job on it. I asked if I could look at it. The more I inspected it, the more I liked it and realized it would make a very nice project car. I was almost afraid to ask what he wanted for it, but I did…and to my surprise he only wanted 4k for this car, so for a grand more it had a whole lot less rust, more complete, and even come with a few new parts with it (new AMD front valance, new tail panel). I only had 3k cash on me that day, and he wouldn’t budge on his price, so I had to leave that day (this was early September 2012). I won’t really go into it, but something come up, and I had to use my ‘project’ money, and put the Charger out of my mind. Well nearly 4 months later, I had me some more money put back, and I still had the sellers number saved in my phone. I thought what the heck, I’ll call just to see if he still has it….he did, and the 4k offer still stood. So on New Years Eve, I went with truck, trailer and cash in hand and bought my next project. After getting it home, I started inventory on parts piled up in trunk, and deciding on how I wanted to build this one. The car was a plain jane Charger, manual brakes, column shift/buddy seat, no a/c and it was also missing the fender tag. Pretty much a blank canvas to do what I wanted to with it. I had a couple of thoughts in mind, one was painting it yellow, because in the beginning I had plan on painting the R/T yellow, but later decided on green. Another option was white, with green interior and green vinyl top, because I have only seen 2 cars like that (one a 68 the other a 69) and I just really liked them. One thing about this car, I want to build a nice driver, try to stay on a budget, just build a cruiser to enjoy. I have three kids, the youngest is a 5 year old boy, who is crazy about the Dukes of Hazzard. I loved the show when I was a kid, and is probably why I decided to buy a 69 Charger as my first project. I have all the DVD sets and he loves to sit around and watch them, and sometimes me and him just sit around and watch them together. His enthusiasm was the ultimate decision to make my 68 a General Lee clone. So I’m going to share some pics, stories, tech stuff that I have done so far, and try to keep this thread updated as I go along. I have been documenting this build better than I did my 69 (more pics, keeping up a spreadsheet with costs, etc.) and plan on sharing this info too. Like my 69 I plan on doing this car all on my own with out breaking the bank. I plan on selling off extra parts I don’t need to put back in the project. I’ve got a plan in mind, and have made a good start….I’m off to a whole lot faster pace already, so I’m trying to get us in the General Lee as soon as I can.

One more pic I wanted to share in my intro post. Back last June, there was a Hazzard fan fair in Nashville. I woke my son up that morning and took him, but didn't tell him where we was going. We had a BLAST! The only thing I didn't like was how they had it set up to meet cast members, it was in an old shopping center, and it was all connected, but they divided it up where you had to get in seperate lines to meet the different actors. We only had time to wait in line to meet one, so I let my son choose. He wanted to meet Tom Wopat. So we stood in line, my son got to meet him, get his autograph and had our pic made with him. Jason

And now a couple of pics of the future "General". Like I said, I stumbled across this car, it was pretty solid (had to replace floor pans, and trunk floor), and it was a good price. So I drug it home to begin my General Lee project. As of right now it is ready for body work, I have install new floors, replaced the tail panel, removed the 318 and trans, and have been collecting parts needed. It will probably be spring before I start back on it. I don't get in a big hurry I got to do as time and cash allows, but I'm on pace to finish this one a lot quicker than I did the 69. I will start a thread with pics/descriptions of what I've done to it so far. as bought... as it sits right now (sorta looks like the car in 'Happy Birthday General Lee').... Jason

Thanks Guys. Roth Potter, your thread with the rare pics is AWESOME! I spent hours looking at it, and still haven't seen every page yet. As promised, here is my 69 Charger R/T. It is a real R/T, but it is not numbers matching. That is why I painted it the way I wanted to. It is FJ6 Go Green/Sassy Grass (1971-72 color) it has a '68 440 engine, 727 auto trans, and an 8.75 rear with 3.23 gears (sure grip). I built this car myself in my garage, I have owned it for about 15 years, but really started the resto in 2008. Up until then I just disassemble stuff, bought parts (when I had extra $$$), and restored individual components (grille, console, dash, etc.) It was put together using 2 cars, this car was a solid shell, then I had a rusty parts car for all the trim, glass, interior, etc. Here is a pic of the same car taken in 2005... If you want to see more pics of this car during the build, here is a link to my thread on DC.com.... http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,78694.0.html Jason

Hi all, new member here, thought I'd introduce myself in my first post. I've been lurking here the past few days reading some threads on here. My name is Jason, I live in Alabama, and I'm 37 years old. So I was around when the Dukes was still airing new on Friday nights! I have always been a fan of the show, and I love cars too. In fact due my childhood memories of the dukes, I fixed up a 69 charger RT for my first project. I finished it about 2 years ago. Its go green with black interior, top and stripe. I will post pics later when I'm on my computer (I'm on my tablet right now). A year ago I was searching for another project car, was wanting a 68 Barracuda, it couldn't find one, but stumbled across another charger so I bought it. I have 3 kids, the youngest is a 5 year old son who is crazy about the dukes. Me and him watch it all the time on DVD. Well long story short, because of his enthusiasm, I plan on building a General Lee clone out of the other charger. I plan on making a thread and sharing pics of that build. Nice to meet you guys. Jason