Has anyone EVER converted a Jeneral Lee back to a normal CHARGER?.

[69bronzeT5]

I get tons of comments like that. People ask me "so you're gonna do the 01 and flag?" and I'm like "no, it's going silver" and they're like "Oh" and act like I don't deserve to own a Charger.

I personally think there are too many General Lees out there but it's the owner's choice. To be honest though, if I get another '69...it will be a General Lee.

[Ghoste]

It doesn't even have to be a 69, even after I explain to some of those clowns that my 67 doesn't look like the Dukes car they are often still quite adamant that it needs to be orange with 01 on the door.
That turns me off on the GL more than GL's really ever could.

[r_biccum]

We do what we to do our cars to make them OUR CARS. If we all had the same taste life would be pretty damn boring....

While I agree with what you have said, technically, by creating another GL clone, you arent making YOUR car, you are making the duke boys car.. 

[skip68]

I love OUR CAR (G.L.) and enjoy it with the whole family!!!  my    is, let the owner paint it whatever color they want! It's theirs! Now with that being said, if you chop or redesign the body,........."You're FREAKING NUTS!"    Just my 

Mrs.Skip68

[Mike DC]

   

Here's another side of this whole coin, guys:  


 
I was into GLs years before it was cool again.  
I had a street-driven GL replica before the shows first started being re-run on TNN in the late 1990s.  (Back then, the car had slipped so far out of the public consciousness that a lot of people didn't even remember what were the correct numbers on the doors.)


And NOW, people hear that I have a GL and they make comments to me like "Aw c'mon, that's too trendy!  Do something original!"    

[Ghoste]

That's true about Mopars in general though Mike.

[Mike DC]

 
Maybe there's an element of that. 

But I'll bet the overall issue for Mopars is nowhere as bad as the GLs get it, though.  (Just think of how prevalent that "GL is too trendy" sentiment is within the Mopar community alone.) 

[TheGhost]

   

Here's another side of this whole coin, guys:  


 
I was into GLs years before it was cool again.  
I had a street-driven GL replica before the shows first started being re-run on TNN in the late 1990s.  (Back then, the car had slipped so far out of the public consciousness that a lot of people didn't even remember what were the correct numbers on the doors.)


And NOW, people hear that I have a GL and they make comments to me like "Aw c'mon, that's too trendy!  Do something original!"    

You have a General Lee?

Come to think of it, I don't ever remember seeing pics of your car.

[Belgium R/T -68]

I fully agree that everyone should be allowed to do whatever they want with their car without having to hear sarcastic comments about it,
Hell, I painted my matching -68 R/T in a colour that didn't excist in -68 but I love that colour. It's just paint.

The only negative aspect of the GL story is according to me that it has kind of destroyed the orange as a colour for a "normal" Charger,
I thought about orange before choosing sublime but was afraid about the questions -"when will you put the decals on the car?".

Per

[Back N Black]

Wow! I think this subject comes up at least once a month. I think thats why Dave started the thread, to get a rise out of the GL guys. Anyhow, i don't have a problem with GL's or any Charger.  

[MoparManJim]

While I agree with what you have said, technically, by creating another GL clone, you arent making YOUR car, you are making the duke boys car.. 

Now you just hold on there for a minute bud, what if the General Lee is the car we want or our dream car to have by making one? , Yet your saying it's not our car. 

What if folks from the Dukes fan base like the 2nd charger before the General came about, and then they like the General Lee inform as well.. but it so happens to be also on a charger model that they like as well. But yet "you arent making YOUR car" I would say they are making there car because they also put in other little things (mods) that wasn't on the show. By doing that they are making there cars. 

[BB1]

Can't we all get along. 

Here we go... Back in the day when I was watching new episodes of DOH back in 1983,
I said to my mother that would be a neat car to have, seem like a strong car.
Being 16 at the time and a junior in high school, I needed a car to drive to school.
My birthday was at the end of the school year, and I had my learner permit already in hand.

I kept watching to see if I could find out what kind of car the General Lee was. I remember I went to the library and look in mechanics books to match up the front end.
Back in those days the books had pictures of front grills and that's how I found out it was a Charger. I never recalled seeing a car like that before driving around.
Anyhoo, I found one in the local paper, called the guy, and he came right over to my house.

Holy Cow it was big, I'm only 5'6 so when I sat in it I couldn't see over the dash. Well the seats here very bad, so I put extra padding to get to where I could drive it. Not until I got a 6 way seat did it fit well.
I was to young to register it so my mom owned it. She was only 5'2 and we drove it back and forth to school until I was old enough.

I never though to paint it orange and stuff, even though DOH was my favorite show.
I liked the green on green with a black top look, but it was a triple green car originally.

I did get pulled over by a cop once for exhibition of speed. 

My old green clunker car, so proud. He was my buddy.

I've owned other MoPars but nothing made me happier than my 69.

Be happy with what you have, and the hell with peoples opinion.

I HAVE SPOKEN!

P.S I will recreate both photo some day for myself, as the house is still here. Just need to get a 69 again,... for the 3rd time. 

& 5 years later

[Mike DC]

You have a General Lee?

Come to think of it, I don't ever remember seeing pics of your car.

There probably aren't pics of that car on the net.  I never really got into keeping personal pictures & albums much, cars or otherwise.

The car is nothing special, just another rusty old '69 with a 318 VIN.  A previous owner had swapped a 68 roadrunner's 383/727 drivetrain into it long ago.  In the 1990s and early 2000s I drove the hell out of it.  I'd literally use it as my daily driver for months at a time, including rain & snow. 

It's been torn down for several years now.  (The usual reasons, time & money & workspace & parts.)  It's not much to look at these days but it'll go back together sooner or later. 

       

[MoparMotel]

I have.


Car went from this



To This



To finally this

[jaak]

I have.


Car went from this



To This



To finally this

Sweet!!! 

Jason

[tan top]

GLs back to normal ... this might be on intrest !!!!
trying to think now , not sure if it was on the old site or this one ! but a guy was either starting a restoration or just sticking a new vinyl top on & under his old vinyl was  orange paint   a Rebel flag  &  the  words general lee i think     looks as if it had been years before !! it was a white 69 with a black top   

[squeakfinder]

 Mopamotel that looks really nice!  

I don't think the complaints about doh are about the show. Back then, the cars were dime a dozen.
It's about ASHOOLES that do this.......


         




   

[Brock Samson]

  O.K.
So,.. only two posts  on this thread actually related to my original question,.. If you think I'm whatever for asking that's fine, it's none of my business what you think of me,.. 
I have noticed an upsurge in GL/DOH threads as of late on this site,.. several of the top posts/and posters in Gen. Disc. are by and about Gen. Lees,.. which is fine I guess..
none of my Business what you do with your cars... I was simply wondering and wanting to see any Jennys that had been returned to their former glory.
 

[Ghoste]

I disagree somewhat Brock.  There were a number of answers to your question but maybe not so much as in "yes, I did" or "my cousin returned his to stock and here are the before and after pics".  As for the direction the thread went, it's like any other conversation my friend, it evolves and changes as it flows.  I think it remained topical. 

[lacucarachaloco]

Mopamotel that looks really nice! 

I don't think the complaints about doh are about the show. Back then, the cars were dime a dozen.
It's about ASHOOLES that do this.......


           




   

EXACTLY... 1 less charger on the road... depending on what wrecking yard it goes to it may not even get stripped down for parts for other Chargers it could end up straight in the crusher... 1 less guy who gets to have his dream car... there's a lot being said about "I've got mine" and "it's not happening to your car"... what about the other guys that want them but can't find one or afford the ones they find... what if something happens to YOURS and you can't find a replacement. yes they were driven hard and many chargers were lost to every day life but doh was the express lane to the bone yard.. that rebel flag and orange paint was a death sentence, and people are STILL destroying Chargers for shits and giggles.

69 Chargers on the road in SoCal are a RARE thing, you might as well go hunting unicorns. It's like living in a freaking auto museum out here, I see restored classics of almost every make and model almost every day... but hardly EVER see Chargers. Why do you think that is?

Can ANYONE on this board say that less Chargers on the road id a good thing?

[c00nhunterjoe]

i dont see the issue with having your charger a general lee. what is the difference between a car with decals and a car that is tubbed out with a full cage and tube frame?  or a car that was a base model 6 cylinder automatic that you converted to a big block 4 speed? 

In my opinion the ONLY person that has a right to bitch about a general lee is the guy  that has a 100% all origonal restored 69 charger. this means down to the last nut and bolt, distributor, gears in teh rear.... all of it. no alterations or upgrades at all.  the minute you even change the radio you are in the same group as the guys that paint a rebel flag on the roof

[HollyWoodCharger]

For the Record, mine was saved from that Fate....

Previous owner planned to do a GL conversion on it, before Kevin (no318) got it away from him......

I am actually quite lucky to of found this Charger, it is perfect for the build I'm doing now...

[Mike DC]

Can ANYONE on this board say that less Chargers on the road is a good thing?

The GL has saved more cars than it has destroyed.  It has probably spurred the restoration of more Chargers specifically, let alone the total amount of Mopars and musclecars as a whole.  We don't have to be thrilled about seeing them wrecked each time, but ultimately the GL's iconic status can't be separated from the Charger destruction involved.



Besides, do you feel the same loss when you see vintage NASCAR footage with Chargers (and C500s & DAYTONAS!) being demolished for entertainment?  Why isn't this carnage too?  The wrecked GLs were/are virtually all 318 and 383 cars and the footage has always gotten much more widely viewed.

[moparstuart]

  THOSE nascar's were not street cars ,  They were just charger sheet metal stretched over nascar chassis's

  no street cars were harmed         plus most of those where saved rebuilt and races again .

[Mike DC]

  
Maybe the Grand National cars were re-skins (at least the majority of the time) but tons of the amateur ones weren't.

Besides, where did an old NASCAR's rear window plug or a wing or nosecone come from?  Even a shop as uber-factory-connected as Petty Enterprises was still yanking them off street Superbirds at the time.  Racers used to do stuff like that and then sometimes literally scrapped the rest of the car it came on.  

And that's only counting the professional oval-track racing leagues for Chargers.   Lots of them have died while going in straight lines too.  




All those Hemi motors back then came from somewhere too.  A few came out the factory's back door but a lot of them didn't.