Who has a properly done General Lee clone?

[nakita7]

First off: This post is NOT here to start any debates/gripes/comments/whines etc about the show...

We are on the sixth season of Dukes right now and I am always watching the details on the General used in the show (it has had a 68 interior for about the last 3 seasons now, a couple shots with a 69 interior). I watched the show as a kid, built the model kit and now my kids are into the show as much as I was 20+ years ago!

I am a stickler for detail and I like seeing pics of properly done Generals. Watching the show, one will notice:

- The reflectors are usually covered over.
- It's a TAN interior, not black...TAN.
- It has vinyl roof trim, but no vinyl, of course.
- There are NO emblems, and if the grille one is there, it's painted flat black.
- Always buckets/console
- Dual flags between rear window and trunk (first season only)
- Blackwalls, no white letters

The pushbar and the rollbar (or lack of in some shots), has changed many times during the show, but who owns, or has pics of correct General Lee's? Let's see some pics!

[charger01]

Not always bucket seats with a console on the show.  Please see www.cglfc.com for more pics and info.

[JimShine]

Almost every item on that list varied. In the first 4 seasons, only 68 Chargers had smoothed markers. After that all did. The interior color shade changed from factory, to dark almost brown, to off white. Some 2nd and 3rd season cars had no vinyl top trim. Many cars were column shift with buddy seats. The dual flags in the back window only lasted 5 episodes.

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

here is what i have gathered

-EV2 hemi orange or 1975 corvette flame red

-vinyl top mouldings

-all charger emblems taken off

-1969 tan(general lee) interior from Legendary

-Paint dash ,upper door panels,kick panels and A- pillars with SEM Saddle Tan 15033 interior paint

-console automatic

-Either woodgrain or tan painted dash(usually with tick-tock-tach)

-woodgrain sport wheel

-15x7 American racing vectors (available at www.Americanracing.com

-235/60r15 all the way around(black walls)

-tear drop CB antenna mounted on trunk

-Cobra 78x cb radio

-side markers and back-up lights smoothed over

-(correct push bar,roll bar,decals available at http://www.buildagenerallee.com/ )

-DIXIE horn from JC whitney http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2009058/c-10101/Nty-1/p-2009058/Ntx-mode+matchallpartial/N-10101/tf-Browse/s-10101/Ntk-AllTextSearchGroup?Ntt=dixie+horn

[JimShine]

That recipe would make an okay (not exact) WB era replica. Earlier cars were very different.

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

there were 3 diff types of GL's the Georgia lee's, the Valuzet Lee's and the WB Lee's-MATT

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

what i put down would be a pretty accurate replica of a 2-3rd season Valuzet LEE

[JimShine]

Thanks for reading my Wiki. There was also the Fritz era (I melded that into the WB era on the Wiki).

Season 2 and three used dark tan, more like saddle, not the light GL tan Legendary makes (that looks like WB era dye)

Season 2 and 3 also had small pushbars (tony does not make these).

2 and 3 also have rather unique graphics nobody currenty reproduces. Tony makes a Georgia style and a WB era.

[TylerCharger69]

There were so many  different interiors used.  The "hero" car, however had a tan interior, but I don't think that matters much.  I prefer the later season cars as opposed to the first seasons...I like the wider push bar,  and the car was a lot "cleaner" in later seasons.    Mine's pretty accurate otherwise except for I have 13 spoke Vectors as opposed to the 10 spokers..(still looking).   They used different colors too to be honest.   I like the darker versions the best as opposed to the ones that were really  REALLY orange....They seem brighter for some reason.  I've seen an episode where the hero car actually had black interior  (the episode where Daisy met this Earl guy  and he stole the Uncle Jessie's tax check out of the General just before blowing up the Boar's nest)  Had a real good shot of the interior.   My interior is also black but it's going to be a black/hemi orange color in a few months.  As long as the paint scheme is correct and not distorted looking, the push bar is on the front, and the Vector rims are present   I'd say that any one who has a car with these correct traits has a good clone.  For the record.....most of the original cars weren't perfect anyway.   

[Ghoste]

Wow, I never realized there were so many different ones.  Is there a specific one that GL fans will usually try and emulate?

[TylerCharger69]

The most popular is the later season ones with tan interior.   I've seen a few early ones with the more narrow push bar  and the cross-flags on the rear filler panel between the rear window and the deck lid...but  the tan interior is probably the most popular.

[nakita7]

I honestly don't remember a black interior, but I will go through the DVD's again, thanks. Glad to see you have the vinyl top trim on yours.

[JimShine]

Most often you see later WB era replicas because the parts are easier to get to pull the package together. I believe the most popular among fans is the Georgia era. Though few do these since decent looking pushbars are hard to find.

The 'hero' car was more or less a WB era deal.Because it was all inhouse, they could build up quick beaters to drive 2nd unit. The Georgia and Veluzat eras built all the cars to handle both close up and 2nd unit work eliminating the need for hero cars. Though they would keep a couple closeup cars around with detailed engine bays or inside trunks for special shots, they would get beat and 'retired' like the others.

[moparguy01]

if you really want to do it right, you need to let a 3 year old into the interior with a rattle can of tan paint. Thats what they did on most of the cars. since most didnt have tan interiors. green car, green gut? no problem. paint it up. thats what they did. and im sure they missed quite abit of the interior with the tan paint.

[JimShine]

Thats true. They would blast everything then clean off what they didn't want dyed, like the gauges. Often all the turnsignal lever, the horn ring, everything was blasted over with paint. In reality, the majority after the first season looked like crap in real life.

[jaak]

Moparguy 01, has a point..
I always hear people say correct general lee.... and you see a nice rotiserie restoration with fresh legendary interior, and primo engine compartment ..... have anyof these folks seen a real lee? man if the seats were ripped they got duct-taped and dyed (you can see this up close on episode Happy birthday generallee, when the lee was still black and the doors are opened, most still had the original colors in doorjambs and underhood, miss-matched wheels (sizes), and no 2 car is consistent everyone you see on screen is different. different cage, different steering wheel, auto on floor, auto on column, 68 gas cap, 69 gas cap, real 69, converted 68, remote mirror, non remote, wrong mirror, the list is endless... there is no standard to go by everysingle one was different

The guys that restored Lee1 did a great job recreating that car. The gold jambs, the crooked 01, the missing fuel trim, even the engine looks like a 10 year old engine , great job in detail, They did a great job, when I first heard it was gonna be restored I thought, they was gonna over restore it, but it is what it was in 1978 it looks like a 10 year old car with a fresh orange paint job.....Great creative work.

So unless you pick one particular car like lee1, or which everone stands out to you, there is no correct way "I think" to do one.

Jason

[JimShine]

The guys that restored Lee1 did a great job recreating that car. The gold jambs, the crooked 01, the missing fuel trim, even the engine looks like a 10 year old engine , great job in detail, They did a great job, when I first heard it was gonna be restored I thought, they was gonna over restore it, but it is what it was in 1978 it looks like a 10 year old car with a fresh orange paint job.....Great creative work.

Thanks! We all appreciate the praise! You 'got' exactly what we were going for.

Yeah, you would also see duct tape used to hide headrest mounting holes. Things were very cheesy.

[jaak]

JimShine,
I forgot you was part of the Lee1 builders, Kudos to you and your crew for recreating it so accurate,

Jason

[TylerCharger69]

I agree with jaak  as far as there is no "proper" way for re-creation due to all of the differences.   However, like I posted before...as long as the 01 is geometrically correct, and the Vectors and the push bar is there....it's pretty much a decent clone.  But...you can always really pay close attention to detail with your interior as far as perfectness is concerned...I mean...we really don't want to drive our GL's  with duct tape on the seats now do we?...lol   And...I must add....again.   The restoration on LEE 1  is phenomenal!!!   Excellent job on that!!!

[JimShine]

Well, there are proper ways of doing things. But rather than a set style we have a list of acceptable tolerances. Thats the way I set up the Wikipedia page, to list a generic set of basic tolerances to describe each era. You can count on the basic changes, but start getting any deeper and the variances go in all directions.

[Dale The Bold]

I went for the late series style.  Even though many of the fans prefer the Georgia Era cars, I actually prefer the WB Era.  I like the deleted side markers and radio antenna as well as the light tan interior.  Some of the cars on the show did not have the vinyl top trim, and sometimes it's even painted orange.

I wanted as much accuracy as possible, right down to the square base CB antenna used in the last few seasons.  Those are hard to find, and I paid around $200 for it, but I wanted complete accuracy.  I even mounted it the way they did, not on the lip of the trunk lid.  I had to do some customizing to make it mount that way and be functional.

The mufflers are glasspacks, because even though the sound of the General was often dubbed on the show, it was that distinct glasspack sound.

I custom made my own graphics from tracings of a surviving series car.

This photo was a sad day, but it shows a good angle of the car.

[PocketThunder]

I went for the late series style.  Even though many of the fans prefer the Georgia Era cars, I actually prefer the WB Era.  I like the deleted side markers and radio antenna as well as the light tan interior.  Some of the cars on the show did not have the vinyl top trim, and sometimes it's even painted orange.

I wanted as much accuracy as possible, right down to the square base CB antenna used in the last few seasons.  Those are hard to find, and I paid around $200 for it, but I wanted complete accuracy.  I even mounted it the way they did, not on the lip of the trunk lid.  I had to do some customizing to make it mount that way and be functional.

The mufflers are glasspacks, because even though the sound of the General was often dubbed on the show, it was that distinct glasspack sound.

I custom made my own graphics from tracings of a surviving series car.

This photo was a sad day, but it shows a good angle of the car.

Hey Dale, thats a cool license plate!  i havent seen that one before.  Nice General Lee you have there.

Paul
in St. Paul