General Lee Restorers (reputable) - urgent

[STIG]

Does your $40k budget factor in shipping?

Nope, purely the Charger and restoration costs. We're aware of the 13-15% tax of the vehicle purchase price, $3000 shipping costs, $1500 custom clearance/fumigating and $700 to register it for the road though.

[STIG]

What sites should I looking looking at other than Ebay and AutoTrader Classics? I don't know who's legitimate and who isn't apart from those sites lol

[Darkman]

Sweet. That should get you a whole lot of Charger

Try Craigslist

[STIG]

Oh ok, don't know what that is but I think I've heard it mentioned in movies once or twice so I'll give it a shot. Cheers

[STIG]

Man that Craigslist is difficult to navigate haha, and it seems the last 69' Charger listed on there was around a year ago :/ am I on the right site

[cdr]

try this
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&ved=0CEMQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.searchtempest.com%2F&ei=0c4-UMCWAu6GyQH80oDwAw&usg=AFQjCNHagbaWwDvZMDLEf_LFJYNRfWl-_w

[Mike DC]

                            
There is one well-known scammer who has been ripping people off with terrible GLs for years.  His name is Hans Ludke.  He changes the name of his business periodically, but the common thread is that it's always a classic/performance car dealership in the area of Lake Villa, Illinois.  


Do not buy ANY Charger from that area without thoroughly checking it out in person first.  I don't care what the story on the car or the seller is supposed to be, or how good the pics look, SEE THE CAR IN PERSON before signing away your money.  
   

[STIG]

Cheers guys, I'm trolling that website now to see what's available

Thanks very much, Mike, I'll keep that information handy... I'd love to be able to pop over there 8200 miles away, but alas, that's why I rely heavily on the vehicle inspection company to check these things over for us 

[GL#10]

Hey

You will do better buying a stock 69  , then get the GL uniform taken care of in N.Z  , that way you will know what has gone into the build , you can buy pushbar's decal's , wheels etc with no trouble of ebay .

  Paying a shop in another country other than  your own to do a resto ,with  out you being able to see the process in person , is just asking for trouble .

[STIG]

Hey

You will do better buying a stock 69  , then get the GL uniform taken care of in N.Z  , that way you will know what has gone into the build , you can buy pushbar's decal's , wheels etc with no trouble of ebay .

  Paying a shop in another country other than  your own to do a resto ,with  out you being able to see the process in person , is just asking for trouble .

Hey there,

Yeah, I'm starting to think the exact same thing with what others are saying - I'll be having one inspected (69' Charger) that I could potentially do up as a General, hopefully within the next couple of days. It seems to have all the foundations, so at the right price, like you said, sourcing the aesthetics shouldn't be too difficult. I got in touch with Patrick at Scotlea via email (recommended by a user on page 1), he seems very thorough, in our price range and exactly the person we'd want to build the car... but unfortunately, he can't start building until Feb 2013 and 6 months after that until completion! Very busy man and that's understandable, but yeah, in this circumstance we'll be better off sourcing a stock 69' and doing it ourselves as we need it sooner than that.

All good, we'll be keeping an eye out in the meantime!

[Dino]

You can't do a whole lot better than getting that green SE that was just posted here.

[STIG]

Where abouts?

[Dino]

Where abouts?

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,94624.0.html

http://cosprings.craigslist.org/cto/3228601805.html

[STIG]

Not too bad, but if the interior's green, that might mean there's quite a bit of work to be done! The one I'm getting checked out has saddle-tan interior already, so I'll see how that one goes first and then check that one out. Thanks for the link though

[Dino]

Not too bad, but if the interior's green, that might mean there's quite a bit of work to be done! The one I'm getting checked out has saddle-tan interior already, so I'll see how that one goes first and then check that one out. Thanks for the link though

Be aware that near all cars you find will need the interior replaced, these things are old and stuffy.  You can buy the entire tan interior for not all that much money, the hard plastics and upper door pads you can paint with vinyl paint such as SEM.  If you can find a car with a good tan interior then great, but don't let it be a deal breaker.  For less than 2 grand you can redo the whole interior.  I would focus more on overall condition of body and drivetrain. 

You can actually dye seats and door panels as well but it would be way too difficult to get that marbling effect that the tan interiors have.  Green to black would be easy enough.

[STIG]

$2000 for interior?? That's amazing value! I saw on Smith Bros. website the front seat leather alone was around $600   do you reckon your average reupholsterer would be able to do the factory saddle-tan interior easily, or are they an old material? very daunting task to think how and where to go to get the entirety of interior done (including dash, door cards, seats, headliner, etc). I'll give a couple of local shops a call tomorrow and see what they can quote   yeah, we're definitely being particular about making sure the body is straight and rust-free too

[Dino]

$2000 for interior?? That's amazing value! I saw on Smith Bros. website the front seat leather alone was around $600  do you reckon your average reupholsterer would be able to do the factory saddle-tan interior easily, or are they an old material? very daunting task to think how and where to go to get the entirety of interior done (including dash, door cards, seats, headliner, etc). I'll give a couple of local shops a call tomorrow and see what they can quote 

Ah yes the leather insert covers are a bit more pricey.  In fact if you want tan leather you're looking at $1000 just for the fronts.  Vinyl is $375-ish.  Rear bench $220 regardless of grain/color.

You can do the interior yourself, just order the covers, seat foam if needed, door panels and what not and install, nothing to it.

Look for big sales at Legendary interiors or Dante's interiors.  Same products.  When they have a 25 or 30% sale going it's time to buy.

[STIG]

Thanks for that, very helpful information indeed! What happens with the dash, headliner, door cards and carpet? Is there a certain place that does those too? Or is it better to fork out from Smith Bros. for those sort of things?

[STIG]

Ah, sorry, just checked the links and see they deal with all that

[Dino]

If you can find a car with decent dash and upper door pads you have won half the battle as the repros are real pricey and not 100 % accurate.

Those pads are easily dyed but I would buy new seat covers, door panels, quarter panels, package tray, carpet and headliner.  Oh and don't forget the console carpet pieces.  If you decide to go with black then you can just get the seat covers, headliner and carpet and dye everything else.

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

This one sold quickly... Price was much less than the others on eBay, etc. So they are out there...

[6pkrtse]

hey, They forgot to weld the doors closed. I would buy one or build one if I had the extra money, just to have it. Along with a Bullit 68 Charger.

[Lost Sheep n Bo Peep]

Hey guys,

I just posted this in another thread but looks as though it's 5 years out of date & I need a fairly urgent response!

I'm brand new here. Me & my Dad are looking at getting a General Lee built for us in the States, but have absolutely no idea where to look... There are the Smith Bros. but they are quite far off our budget, and told that the dynamicautoresoration guy is a bit of a scammer... We've also had a couple checked out from EBay and they were not at all as stated and we've almost hit a brick wall with who to turn to to have one built for us to our specifications. We are overseas, so we will rely heavily on the restoration shop's word and from what we've seen so far, we have to be wary.

We're thinking to go with this 'Classic Car Guy' place in San Luis, Obispo, CA. I couldn't find any bad reviews about him, he's BBA accredited and he only takes a $4000 deposit until the job is complete and once inspected both parties are satisfied before paying in full. One thing though is his workshop doesn't look too flash and again, I'm a bit wary. Does anyone have any experience with this company?

Any recommendations or help at all is greatly appreciated, we really need to get the ball rolling on the build!

Oh, our budget is around the $40k USD mark if that helps.

Cheers

I don't know if you are still thinking about the Classic Car Guy if I was you I would ask alot of questions.  He seems like a nice gentleman but I believe that he might get his cars from Hans Luedkte or aka Truemusclecars.  When I asked where I could see these cars at he said I could fly into Chicago (Luedtke home base) and he would have his partner pick me up.  Also if you notice the Black R/t he has for sale is the same black one on truemusclecars site.  I am not 100% sure but I thought I would give you a heads up.

[Gary42]

Here is someone in Arkansas that has restored a few Mopars in his time. Currently he took on a 1969 Dodge Daytona (real numbers matching car) from Washington state yesterday, but this guy is one of the best in the business. His prices are great and from my experience, not too many can do the work he has done. His name is HotRod (Larry Roper) and here is his web site: http://www.maniacmusclecars.com/index.html. I can assure you that you will get an above quality car for your price range. Just say'n

[STIG]

Cheers for the heads up, Lost Sheep. I'll send him an email now, thanks Gary - looks good.