General Lee Restorers (reputable) - urgent

[STIG]

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I just posted this in another thread but looks as though it's 5 years out of date & I need a fairly urgent response!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

[chargerboy69]

I have heard nothing but good things about Scott Lea General Lees. I do not believe he is cheep, but the work I have seen was well done.


http://www.scotlea.com/

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

Seems to be quite a few GL replicas cars for sale every month. Maybe buy one already done? And for certainly under $40k 

[Back N Black]

Seems to be quite a few GL replicas cars for sale every month. Maybe buy one already done? And for certainly under $40k 

I agree, buy one already completed,with lots of pics and documentation of the build. I would never have a car restored being overseas and not be able to drop in unannounced to check out the progress or problems that should arise.

[BrianShaughnessy]

Overseas...   is that Austrailia or elsewhere?

[Cooter]

As I stated in the other thread as well...
Remember one thing while looking for someone to build to your taste/expectations......Most full on at some plce like John Ballow from MCR, cost around $80K....


They will NEVER "Hit the mark" either price is too high(Over budget), or you will have to compromise on expectations. Just FYI....

[6pkrtse]

There are so many out there already. I am sure you can find a nice one for the money somewhere already built.

[Ghoste]

That's a very good suggestion!

[Dino]

Why make it so hard?  With that budget you can buy a very good 69 and have your local body shop paint it orange.  If you look you may even find one with a tan interior.  The rest is decals, a cage and a push bar, not major surgery to turn a Charger into a GL. 

Finding a shop overseas to do a project like that is asking for trouble.

[skip68]

NEVER EVER NEVER TRY TO FIND A BUILDER OVERSEAS!   Hell, I live here and still built my own.   As said before just buy one already done from a PRIVATE PARTY NOT A SHOP.   IT'S JUST PAINT, WHEELS, DECALS HORN AND A PUSH BAR.  Hell, for $40k I'll build you one.    
I'd go find a nice clean car 20-25k and take it to my buddies place in Arizona for paint and completion and still make a nice profit. 

[skip68]

Also keep in mind that you don't want to spend thousands and thousands of dollar's of money on a General Lee paint job.   It will get touched, leaned on and even sat on for pictures.   So, with that advice said you make a nice driver.   

[STIG]

Oh wow, a lot of help in this thread, thanks everyone yeah, with not being able to personally see the car it is a huge risk to hand over that sort of money :/ I'll keep an eye on 69's with tan interior or if not, just wait for a decent one that's already built and just keep having them inspected until we're satisfied with one!

In saying that I'm still interested no one has heard of this 'Classic Car Guy'? But yeah, if there are that many dodgy builders out there we better give that a miss.

Thanks

[69maritime]

Are you the real STIG?

[hatersaurusrex]

I'd have to agree, there's so much more stuff to go through in the car before you ever get to the paint, pushbar/rollcage and tires that you're better off buying a good solid 69 and having it built from the inside out.

If you want one that's '100% correct', there pretty much is no such thing unless you're mimicing a specific car from a specific point in the series or one of the hero cars.   There are many different options on the TV show cars (different paint colors used on the graphics, different decal locations) but if you want to build it to the hero car you might find consensus.

Either way, before droppign that kind of money, do some research.   The guys over at the GL Fan club can help and you can learn a lot.   I spent some time looking around there and I'm not even doing a GL, just a blue '68 driver quality car.

http://www.cglfc.com/

[STIG]

Are you the real STIG?

I don't know, ask my numberplate 

[STIG]

I'd have to agree, there's so much more stuff to go through in the car before you ever get to the paint, pushbar/rollcage and tires that you're better off buying a good solid 69 and having it built from the inside out.

If you want one that's '100% correct', there pretty much is no such thing unless you're mimicing a specific car from a specific point in the series or one of the hero cars.   There are many different options on the TV show cars (different paint colors used on the graphics, different decal locations) but if you want to build it to the hero car you might find consensus.

Either way, before droppign that kind of money, do some research.   The guys over at the GL Fan club can help and you can learn a lot.   I spent some time looking around there and I'm not even doing a GL, just a blue '68 driver quality car.

http://www.cglfc.com/

Thanks very much, I'll sign up now! I get what you're saying, as long as the interior is good and the overall condition of the car is tidy, the GL conversion isn't that difficult thinking about it. Say you get a black-dash/interior Charger... do they completely replace the items, or is there a way to dye them? :/

[STIG]

Sorry, third post in a row!

No one here lives near Pleasanton, California and can pop in and have a look at this could they? http://www.autotraderclassics.com/classic-car/1969-Dodge-Charger-800446.xhtml;jsessionid=099E598F737C7DDB32DCA19F1475353F?conversationId=4050

They seem to sell some very expensive cars and talk it up quite well in the ad - although it's obviously a slightly older restoration it would be interesting to know exactly what condition it is. It's painful forking out $400 each time we need an inspection done!  

[Dino]

Sorry, third post in a row!

No one here lives near Pleasanton, California and can pop in and have a look at this could they? http://www.autotraderclassics.com/classic-car/1969-Dodge-Charger-800446.xhtml;jsessionid=099E598F737C7DDB32DCA19F1475353F?conversationId=4050

They seem to sell some very expensive cars and talk it up quite well in the ad - although it's obviously a slightly older restoration it would be interesting to know exactly what condition it is. It's painful forking out $400 each time we need an inspection done!  

Stay away from dealers, buy private.

[STIG]

What do you guys reckon is a decent price to buy a tidy 69' Charger for these days? Once we turn it into a General Lee, it will be in the family always so we don't want something half-assed y'know  Also it might pay to know of a West Coast restoration place that are reputable to have all the little things touched up before it's sent across the world to Lord Of The Rings land - as we just don't have that many of them/accessible parts floating around as there might be in the States!

[Darkman]

Ahh....New Zealander!

Maybe talk to Kelvin (aka Bob T). He maybe able to help you. He has a sweet black 68 Charger.

[STIG]

Ahh....New Zealander!

Maybe talk to Kelvin (aka Bob T). He maybe able to help you. He has a sweet black 68 Charger.

Thanks for that, I'll give him a shout closer to finding one that we may be interested in purchasing I know if we buy a standard 69 Charger we'll need; the Vector-10 wheels, front push bar, paint job, decals, rear antenna, CB radio, exhaust tubing roll cage, Dixie horns, etc. But then would need to factor in the cost for entire new door skins, dash, headliner, carpets, undercarriage blasting/coating, steering wheel, metal trim, etc.

Those are just a few of the factors and I know over here that would cost tens of thousands to have done (and need to have everything brought in from the States anyway), but to be honest the most daunting task would be to find parts for and have the interior up to par... the rest is relatively straight forward. I know someone said not to buy from a dealer, but would it be worth having this inspected (in Sarasota, Florida) if I can get it for around $30k? It already has the correct interior and seems like a good base http://www.autotraderclassics.com/classic-car/1969-Dodge-Charger-606357.xhtml?conversationId=5405

[STIG]

There are so many out there already. I am sure you can find a nice one for the money somewhere already built.

I've had about 3 inspected so far and dealt with 2 scammers. That's $1200 and potentially a $30-40k loss if I wasn't about my wit. So feel free to please let me know if you know of any genuine sellers with a tidy General for sale as we have yet to find one!

[BrianShaughnessy]

  I was asking if it was Austrailia because I just met Brian Dowell from Melbourne last week while he was on a trip up here visiting.     He seems to be a fairly talented restorer in his own right.   He's sending some ragtop Chally back down under for his latest project in fact.

[Darkman]

Does your $40k budget factor in shipping?

[STIG]

Oh sweet Yeah, we've got quite a huge American muscle car following down this end of the world. Some of our Kiwi shops seem to win a bit over there at SEMA too, not too many dodgy ones at all really!   I don't know about in Australia, but we have the largest muscle car events in the Southern Hemisphere and that's what we're trying to get ready for for come March next year! Here's one of our main muscle car events each year which around 100,000 people stop by over the weekend to see over a thousand old school cars get together for a week's worth of good fun - the clip is just an example of some cars (it was terrible weather this year!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcqPgwDuowI&feature=related