My Ultimate 1969 Dodge Charger "General Lee" Build

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

Photos to be posted soon. I wanted to put everything I could into the ultimate build, and this one took me about three years of on-and-off work. Seriously.

 

MY G.L. BUILD PHILOSOPHY

My main criticism of most GL builds is that they are 'way too immaculate to be an in-use back-roads racing car driven by good-ol-boys on a farm. They always look...well, sterilized comes to mind. Absolutely gorgeous, like they're going for the trophy at a car show, with a car that's never driven except on and off a trailer. Not this one!!

 

-Interior: Agree with many that the darker brown "saddle" color of the earlier series looks better, but a darker interior will hide most great detail. So, cliche though it is, I went with the light tan. HOWEVER I weathered it plenty, with very stained floor carpeting, and some wear on the seats. Scratchbuilt items are a CB radio and a detailed, padded-looking roll bar with tape around the padding.

-Engine Bay: Despite most builds painting the engine bay interior orange, indicating a total engine-out restoration, the actual "Hero" Generals had their engine bays hastily painted black around the engine. This would also fit with the storyline of the original color being black. 

Additionally, I sanded out all the molded on wiring and scratchbuilt the entire engine wiring and detail. When you see these photos you may be shocked. I know I am....not eager to do this again, although it was worth it!!

-Underside: Dark primer gray with orange overspray indicating a home-done paint job. Lots wear and some general rusting, with a ton of dust and dirt oversprayed. 

So much more involved in this build, but those are some of the basic philosophies I followed on this.

Edited September 3, 2017 by Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

Engine and Engine bay. Replaced Fan belt pullys and belt with aftermarket. Sanded out most detail in engine bay for an insane scratchbuilding job. Again, the bay is black since the "Hero" Generals in the series usually had their bays hastily sprayed black around the engine, plus it would match the storyline of the original color being black and the Dukes painting it after the engine was installed. 

 

 

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

Here, the windshield and other window glass has been tinted with future and food coloring:

 

Scratchbuilt Roll Bar has been made to look like it's padded with tape holding on the padding:

 

 

And, the interior, including Photoetched steering wheel spokes, scratchbult CB radio, heavily stained flocking for carpeting:

 

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

Grill removed from bumper and surround; used right-side grill parts from two kits since the vehicles used in the TV series had the "Charger" emblem removed from the driver's-side grill. Chrome re-done with Alclad after bodywork was improved. Scratch-built push bar (narrow style).

 

 

Edited September 3, 2017 by Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

The car (in the story) had a 5-pitch horn which played a simple colloquial melody; they are still available as kits for cars today. They include 5 horns of the appropriate sizes for the 5 pitches. Had to be completely scratch built based on catalog photos:

 

Edited September 8, 2017 by Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy