Your Perfect General Lee

[Roth Potter]

Reading about Jaak's General Lee Pushbar and wheels I wondered, what do the people of HazzardNet like the most of have on their General Lee?

Basically what is your Dream General Lee? I'd like to know.

Here's my preferences.

1969 Dodge Charger R/T in Big Bad Orange (I know General Lee wasn't an R/T)

• Ford Racing V8
  
• No trim on wheel well and roof
  
• Early season General Lee lettering
  
• Georgia spacing of the 01 (Further apart than most)
  
• Small Pushbar (I like it more and wide one isn't even allowed in my country)
  
• BFGoodrich Radial T/A tyres with the white text on the outside
  
• Roll bar with the crossbar like in most seasons.
  
• Steering wheel without the horn ring.
  
• Black interior
  
• Avanti AV-327 Racer 27 antenna like in the later seasons.
  

Please post yours here too.

[HossC]

Here goes ...

I'd also have a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T (some of the Generals used on the show were R/Ts)

• 440 Magnum engine (if someone else was paying for my gas )
  
• No chrome on the wheel arches, but I'd keep the chrome vinyl roof trim strip
  
• I'd remove the side markers, but keep the reversing lights under the rear bumper
  
• Not too bothered about which season lettering, but I'd have the crossed flags between the trunk and rear window
  
• The pushbar is a tricky one because I prefer the look of the narrow one, but the wider one seems more sturdy/practical
  
• I also like the white letter tires, but I could live without them
  
• I'd probably have the tan interior, but the other details like the rollbar don't bother me that much
  

[Roth Potter]

I know the show used R/Ts but I meant they tried to make them look like they were non R/T's. you know, General Lee was one Charger which was not an R/T.

I understand why it's more practical as its an actually working version for what it's purpose is. I'm just wondering why they added the bull bar, it didn't have any real use for the Dukes.

You are not allowed to have them here in the Netherlands because it interferes with the crash structure of the car as it is mounted to the frame. As if it has a crash structure.

Here we call them cow catchers, I guess we don't have many bulls.

[HossC]

I know the show used R/Ts but I meant they tried to make them look like they were non R/T's.

Sometimes they didn't try too hard .

I think this screengrab is from 'High Octane'.

[Roth Potter]

Indeed

[Hobie Hartkins]

How about a reddish orange, Lamborghini Countach, with Confederate flames running down the side ?

[HossC]

Would a white Lamborghini Countach that turns red be OK if Catherine Bach was in the passenger seat?

[Hobie Hartkins]

Any color for Cathy! She's a goddess!!

[Spike]

1968, 1969, or 1970 Dodge, If I can't find a 1968-70 I'd go for a 1971-74 Charger in Orange

Either a 360 Magnum Crate Engine V8 or new Gen III 6.1L or 426ci Hemi v8

New Suspension from PST

4 piston caliper Brake kit from Wilwood, SSBS, Baer etc...

Pushbar

Turbine wheels wrapped in BFGoodrich Radial T/A's

Roll bar

Tan interior though the Top of the Dash would be black

5 point safety harnesses

Vintage Air Heater/AC

Lightly Tinted Windows

Custom AutoSound sound system with CB

Confederate Flag, General Lee & 01

[Roth Potter]

5 point safety harness? I like your style! Real race like.

But why turbine wheels? the General didn't have turbine. Turbine has like 2x the amount of spokes the General had.

I rather have a 68-69 charger than a Countach, the first Dukes I ever saw was Reunion Hazzard in Hollywood, after that the first half year I didn't saw any Dukes as it wasn't on TV (I guess they showed to movie to see if there was any animo for the show) but I was hooked on the Charger. Basically my Dukes addiction started after my Charger addiction.

I got 5 real scale models 2 General Lee charger's (First Ertl and an AutoWorld), 1 Hazzard Sheriff Monaco, 1 Mustang Boss 302 and a Black Lamborghini Countach (I think it's an LP500s as it is the wide body variant with spoiler).

[Spike]

5 point safety harness? I like your style! Real race like.

But why turbine wheels? the General didn't have turbine. Turbine has like 2x the amount of spokes the General had.

I rather have a 68-69 charger than a Countach, the first Dukes I ever saw was Reunion Hazzard in Hollywood, after that the first half year I didn't saw any Dukes as it wasn't on TV (I guess they showed to movie to see if there was any animo for the show) but I was hooked on the Charger. Basically my Dukes addiction started after my Charger addiction.

I got 5 real scale models 2 General Lee charger's (First Ertl and an AutoWorld), 1 Hazzard Sheriff Monaco, 1 Mustang Boss 302 and a Black Lamborghini Countach (I think it's an LP500s as it is the wide body variant with spoiler).

I think these would look awesome on a Charger

Rocket Racing Turbine Wheels

[HossC]

I guess it would look like this:

[Roth Potter]

Those wheels look better on the General then I expected, but those decals.

[jaak]

Cool Thread!

I guess to me, I am building mine to replicate the early California years. I haven't decided for sure which orange I am going with, but more than likely it will be Chevy 'Hugger' Orange. I know there is a lot of debate about which orange, but most say GM Code 70 'Corvette Flame Red' was what was used on the series. Hugger is GM code 72, and is a standard pre-packaged color for a lot of paint systems. Prepackaged=cheaper. But I am going to check the price on getting some Corvette Flame mixed before I purchase my paint.

I plan on getting my decals from a guy that goes by 'Crazy-C'. He sells several decals to cover all the variations of the General Lee, he has Georgia Style, Early California, Late California, Reunion Movie, and Remake Movie decals. You can also mix/match if you want to, so I am thinking about getting Georgia Style 01 and Flag, but getting early California General Lee text. My reason for that is on Lee 1, 2, and 3 'GENERAL LEE' was hand painted on the roof, but on Lee 4 and on they started Using decals for the text. Lee 4 is the first 68 converted to 69 used on the show, So I thought about doing my graphics like it was Georgia Style 01/Flag but Early California Text, sort of be a tribute to the first 68 Lee used, seeing as how mine is a 68.

Wheels, I will be using 15 x 7 Vectors. I know most early cars had 14, but I got a great deal on a set of 15 x 7 reissues, and tire selection is better with a 15" wheel. It will not have white lettered tires, I want it to look more like a series car and on top of that, me personally, I don't really like white lettered tires on anything, I don't ever put them on any of my vehicles. I have a pretty decent set of wheel well trim, haven't decided yet if I am going to use it or not.

Engine, I am installing a small block 360 engine. 2 reasons... I actually already had the engine, I bought it months before I bought the Charger, just because I got a great deal on it and couldn't pass it up. And two, the Charger had a 318 when I bought it, it wasn't running and was missing a few of the parts (carb, distributor, and few other things), so swapping a small block for a small block is an easy 'bolt' in installation... less parts/mods than doing a big block swap. I have a 440 in my RT, so it will be cool to have a small block and a big block Charger. I had a 73 Charger at one time, it had a 360 in it... was a peppy little engine and didn't drink as much gas as the 440, lol.

As you can see in my thread I went with the narrow push bar. I like both, and I know the wider one is more beefier/sturdy, but I think the smaller one compliments the grille/bumper better, while the large one I think hides them. I don't want any emblems on the car, no Charger emblems on the roof pillar, no tail panel emblem and no grille emblem. Most cars on the show did not have any emblems showing (or they were painted over) and I want mine to be that way. I don't want any exhaust tips on my General either. A lot of replicas have them, but on the show most cars had turn downs at the rear, the only series car I can think of off the top of my head that had tips was LEE 3, it had the factory tips on the back, but they were painted orange when the car was painted. My car will not have side markers, because I will weld a patch/fill where the 68 markers were, and I am not going to fool with buying all the parts to install 69 markers (and of course on the show that was the way 68 were done). I did however bought, and installed 69 reverse lights for the rear valance, just personal preference, I wanted reverse lights.

Interior, I am just wanting to make a nice, clean tan interior... I am not really copying any specific car. I just picked out some tan paints I liked and going from there. If you look at interiors on the show, there was hardly any consistency. I am still up in the air about putting a roll bar in it. I know it's part of the General's look, but having kids that will be getting in and out of the backseat, It will probably be more feasible not to have one at all. I am though thinking of Ideas to make one and have it easily removable if need be.

In a nut shell, I basically want an early series looking car, but it probably won't be exact. Plus, budget plays a big role in what I do to. Just some of my Ideas and reasons on how I am building mine.

Jason

[Roth Potter]

Jason, you can also go for the Season 7 rollbar, which didn't have a crossbar so your kids can get in and out easily.

Btw, the dukes didn't seem to have a big trouble with people in the backseat, but I guess you don't want your children to go through the rear window all the time.

[MaximRecoil]

I would start with a rust-free 1969 "survivor" car from Arizona or some other state where cars don't rust; whether it's an R/T or not is irrelevant to me. Alternatively, I'd build a body shell using all new AMD panels. I'd have an 8-point roll cage for drastically improved chassis stiffness (the cage would be tied into all 4 subframe rails, which gives far greater chassis stiffness than mere subframe connectors and torque boxes can give).

For the front suspension I'd have Hotchkis upper and lower control arms and at least 0.96" diameter torsion bars, maybe bigger. I'd have about 4 or 5 degrees of positive caster (which isn't possible with the stock upper control arms, but is possible with Hotchkis and similar aftermarket ones) so that the steering wheel self-centers well and the car tracks straight with radial tires like a modern car does. I'd want a modern steering box too, which would require some fabrication to adapt it to a Charger. Modern steering boxes are as good as rack and pinion, and a successful adaption would be far easier (I've heard nothing but horror stories about attempts to adapt rack and pinion steering to Chargers). For rear suspension I'd just go with leaf springs matched to the torsion bars in front.

For the engine I'd go with a naturally-aspirated all-aluminum 572 c.i. Hemi along the lines of this. It only weighs 535 pounds, which is about what a normal iron small-block engine weighs. A small-block Charger handles better than a big-block Charger, all else being equal. With an aluminum Hemi, I'd get the best of both worlds: the weight of a small-block and the low-end torque of a big block.

For the transmission I'd use a 6-speed manual transmission, such as one from a modern Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat (Tremec TR-6060).

The rearend would be a Dana 60.

The wheels would be 15×7 American Racing Vectors and the tires would be Firestone Wide Oval "bias-look radials" from Coker Tire (size G70-15), mounted as blackwalls (I hate white-letter tires). Bias-ply tires had a specific look to them that I love, and for many years I've wondered why no one made radial tires that replicate the look of bias-ply tires. Then a few years ago, Coker Tire finally did it. In the case of their Firestone Wide Oval tires, the replicated the exact look of the original bias-ply versions that were commonly found as original equipment on muscle cars, including the tread pattern, but internally they are modern steel-belted radial tires. Firestone Wide Ovals and Goodyear Polyglas were the best looking tires in history in my opinion (all bias-ply passenger car tires looked good, but those two looked especially good). Unfortunately, Coker Tire doesn't have the rights to make Goodyear Polyglas; Kelsey Tire does, and they only make them the way they were originally made, and have no plans to make a "bias-look radial" version.

For the interior, I'd replicate the general look of the Charger R/T SE interior, except all the fake woodgrain plastic would be made from real, solid wood (walnut, including on the steering wheel), all of the vinyl would be leather (kangaroo leather specifically, due to it being the strongest and lightest leather known to man), and all of the chrome-plated plastic (such as the rocker switches) would be solid stainless steel. The headliner would be leather too.

The paint color would be 1975 Corvette Flame Red, and the graphics would all be painted on (no vinyl decals) from stencils made from my own vector drawings of the flag, "01", and "GENERAL LEE" text that I made years ago (they are all based on screenshots from the first three seasons [Veluzat era], and geometrically corrected):

The push bumper would be the early narrow style, but made out of aluminum, so it would weigh about 1/3rd what a steel one would weigh. I'd also fabricate some tabs on the undercarriage for the two bottom "legs" to bolt to, giving it 4 attachment points instead of 2, which would at least make it feel sturdy if you grabbed it and tried to wiggle it. It would also prevent this from happening in the event of a minor front-end collision:

[RogerDuke]

Impressive MaximRecoil. Your last name wouldn't be Davenport would it? 

[MaximRecoil]

18 hours ago, RogerDuke said:

Your last name wouldn't be Davenport would it? 

I have a mechanic friend who people used to call "Cooter" back in the early 1980s because he reminded people of Ben Jones' character (some people who have known him for a long time still call him that). I've had a '69 Charger for 25 years, but I only started working on it 8 years ago, and he has helped me a lot with it, for example, by giving me advice and letting me use his lift and tools. I took a picture of him back in 2011 when we first started working on it, then I added the text, printed it out on photographic paper and put it in a frame, and he's had it hanging on the wall of the office in his garage ever since:

What holds me back from building the "perfect General Lee" is money; I'd have to be rich to build one the way I described above.

[RogerDuke]

49 minutes ago, MaximRecoil said:

 

What holds me back from building the "perfect General Lee" is money; 

What a coincidence! That's the same thing that keeps me from buying one!

[Roth Potter]

I think one of the problems you have here beside probably having to import on from the USA, simply is space. There is like no houses with a garage, let alone one large enough.