kikgas01

Have had a ton of Mopars here. Just sold a nice 69 Charger and bought a different 69 Charger that I wanted lol... I have other rides as well.. I live in N.E. Iowa

rickyr

welcome to the forum

kikgas01

Thanks!

78D200

Welcome!

pro-tech

Welcome to the forum.

kikgas01

Ok, I have to ask, is the a "hate, bash the General Lee" forum? Just don`t want to ask/post the wrong thing.

kikgas01

I have one...

bremereric

Welcome aboard.

kikgas01

Thanks, love your rides. Especially the Dart!

jacilynn_s

General Lee's are common to find actually. Some are done all the way, very few are, others are just a paint job with stickers. I like the car myself.

Nobody on this forum should give you a hard time about it since there is multiple posts of modifying cars far worse.

Lee 3 was recently restored from its wreck and there is a video about it.

General lee is a 69 charger SE vinyl top removed but the chrome left, wheel trim is optional. Tan interior with white seats. The rims are now special order so dont wreck them if you have them.

Color was originally a corvette red but when the cameras changed they switched to an orange instead.

The first three cars had 383, 318, and 440 with air conditioning. However just about every engine is stated as being THE engine for it. There is even a slant 6 70 charger conversion somewhere.

The cow bar in the front is a subject of debate however. Some say its a solid steel bar that was used on some of the police cars. Others say its a tin replica while again others say its aluminum. It makes sense if you think about balancing the cars through the air as a steel one would cause the front to dip to much.

Although people argue that the show wrecked so many of these cars and made them harder to find what they don't argue is that the show made the charger a very popular car.

I prefer the grill and tailights of the 68 model myself and would probably get one if I had the to do so.

Moparod

Well, no offense but it wouldn't have hurt my feelings if Warner Brothers had used a Chevelle or a Torino instead of a Charger. I liked the show, I guess I just got tired of everyone asking me when I was going to paint my Chargers orange and put a Confederate flag on it. Asking a Charger owner that question should qualify as justifiable homicide... They used all three years of the 2nd gen Chargers for the show, I was at a car museum in Auburn, Indiana last year and they had one of the original Chargers from the show, with a letter from WB, and it was a '68. You could see where they attached a '69 grille divider and a taillight panel right over the '68 panel with self tapping screws and bondo'd over the side markers, definitely not a close-up car! And they spray bombed everything but the glass with that tan on the inside. Looked like they painted right over bugs, dirt, whatever was on the car when it was painted. Jaci I prefer the '68 also, both of mine were '68 383 Magnum Chargers. I stuck a '69 440+6 in one, the other had a 1970 warranty replacement short block but the heads, intake and exhaust manifolds etc was the original '68 parts.

kikgas01

Just think of all of the Chargers saved from the show. 215 destroyed 14 to 21 still around. I have been into it for years and years. They used 68-69 Chargers in the show. No 70`s. The car is 75 Corvette flame so it would "pop" on screen. Yes the 2nd unit cars were rough and just needed to look good on tv. This is General number 4 that I`ve had as well as 2 police cars.... I also have a 49 Dodge truck on a 94 Dakota chassis. 5.2 fi, 391`s overdrive u name it BUT it looks like it was drug from a desert with all of the original patina, not "made to look like" Truck looks stock but lowered in the front and baby moons... Have a Pro Street Zephyr, a 85 Supra I had for 19 years, a 89 Cavalier Z24 with a 02 Grand-Am gt 3400 engine, with headers and 5 speed. Working air, 1000 watt system. Car looks stock. Have a 04 P-71 Crown Vic for my first responder/every day car. Wife has a 05 Caravan and I have my beater Z-71 lol.

jacilynn_s

Moparod is correct there was 70's used in the show and it was more than 500 cars used the the 7 years of the show. The 70's were used more in the final years. There is still wrecks of these cars with trees growing through them in some salvage yards.

Lee1 Lee2 Lee3 were produced with stamped plates riveted near the vin numbers on the cars. Only done for the first pilot episode.

kikgas01

Not true. they are stickers that mark them next to the vin. NO 70 Chargers were used on the show. The Movie, yes. I`ve researched this my whole life, Wayne Wooten who purchased what was left from W/B in 93 will verify that as wall as any cast crew or stuntman. Rich Sephton the lead Mechanic who sadly passed away said the same thing as well as Guy Waldron the creator. I did not come here to argue and won`t and am not trying to make anyone mad. I have done this fer years. Just to prove one point, it was LEE 1 that was restored that Bubba Watson bought at Barrett Jackson. Here is Lee 1`s vin and STICKER marking. I have pics of Police 1 and 2 as well as many behind the scenes photos.
Here is police 2 for example... NO rivets..

Lee 1..... again no rivets....Just trying to provide the truth and not let things that are not true continue to be said.

Police 1, again, sticker, no rivets.....

Please understand I`m not trying to argue. I take this serious and all of the false truth drives me crazy. Not to sound like a jerk or conceded but I know a lot about the show, cars, cast, crew and stuntmen.
Here is a link to Lee 1 now after the owner sold most of the original parts and restored it... The roof is in Canada in a collectors basement, the rollcage is in Travis Bell`s garage...Then Mr. Murphy(who had it rebodied....errr....restored) sold it at Barrett to Golfer Bubba Watson...
http://blogs.golf.com/presstent/2012...or-110000.html

kikgas01

Oh the "cow bar" LOL, push bar is steel. AJ Thrasher made them for the show. The Smith Brothers are selling them now. They are made from AJ Thrasher`s jig that made them for the show... There are lots on the net that is simply false. The cglfc is a great resource of info.

MReeves

Welcome to the forum... Be sure to check out the Mopar of the Month contest...

kikgas01

I missed that. Thanks.

jacilynn_s

O.o interesting.

It's cow catcher named after the same thing on the front of trains even listed as such in multiple publications and parts sources. I typed cow bar by mistake, sorry. Push bar however is a new one as I heard them called moose bars as well.

Interesting on the sticker part as the articles I read on the subject all stated they were rivited.

While I do not have pictures I have seen the 1970 chargers made to look like 69's wrecked to hell in salvage yards. This was before the movies so I'm sorry but I cannot believe you when you say no 1970 chargers were used. I doubt very much that kids would purposely make them at the time with the roll cage, tan interior, and rims with the full paint job (a few had huge chunks of putty falling off too).

Personally I never like the 1970 model myself but that's aside from the point.

The video I watched was for Lee 3. I knew Lee 1 had been found didn't know it was rebuilt though.

kikgas01

Please show me the video of Lee 3. It don`t matter if you don`t believe me. I`ve proved the riveted thing, showed the Lee 1 thing and am not gonna argue. We will agree to disagree.... I know nothing. Again please show me video of Lee 3 lolol. I have nothing to prove here I guess. Nobody will listen because of the "experts" lol. Hey on a good note, my 4th General arrives tomm!

kikgas01

http://www.smithbrosrestorations.com/why.php
Here are a couple of "cow catchers" LOL.
https://smithbros.myshopify.com/

duster7071

jacilynn/mopar rod ,,PLEASE post any pics/vids supporting you absurd/WRONG informatin !,, kikgas is correct,, and my sources have come fro directly talking with all the cast AND stunt guys AND the mechanics that worked on the show !

WHERE do you get you info ?
the PUSH BAR' IS SO NAMED BECAUSE ON POLICE CARS THEY ARE USED TO 'PUSH' THE 'BAD GUYS' AROUND !

NOOOOO '70 CHARGERS WERE EVER USED ! ,

please , let us see YOUR GENERAL LEE ,, (i have 2 I use them for charity events also ) ,, awaiting in earnest !

kikgas01

rcknrolfender79

Welcome aboard. You probably won't get bashed here. But I agree with Moparod, I do hold a grudge against the show for destroying so many chargers. They could have used something a lot more common like a vette, chevelle or camaro. or even some furds. Personally I would never paint a charger like a general lee. To me one of the biggest reasons I am a mopar fan is because they are unique and you dont see them. I don't want to go with the same paint job as probably more than half of charger owners in the world want to do.

kikgas01

Like I said in another post. I wanted a General Lee. I bought this to do just that. It had a 6 way seat, air, auto pilot, rear defog, light package which everything worked as well as all of the gauges and several other options.... Well, I sold it to buy a done General that way I didn`t "destroy" a nice rare car..... I tried... They may have used 300 cars, but I bet 300 was saved due to the Dukes so imo it off sets the fact they wrecked so many. That and the fact they produced 96,100 68 Chargers and in 1969 the total production was around 89,199. IMO 300 cars wasn`t crap.... Oh here is what I sold to get a car (General Lee) that was already "destroyed."

Skwerly

Hi, and welcome from crappy SoCal!

I bought my Fury when I was in Iowa, summer of ’94. the weird thing is, I had my choice of two cars: the ’68 Fury I ended up with or a replica General Lee! This was in northwest Iowa, in the spencer/Milford/Arnold’s Park area, pretty near the MN border.

Anyhow, I like the Lees. I’d be willing to bet that a LOT of folks around my age loved that orange Charger as kids.

rcknrolfender79

[QUOTE=kikgas01;100016]Like I said in another post. I wanted a General Lee. I bought this to do just that. It had a 6 way seat, air, auto pilot, rear defog, light package which everything worked as well as all of the gauges and several other options.... Well, I sold it to buy a done General that way I didn`t "destroy" a nice rare car..... I tried... They may have used 300 cars, but I bet 300 was saved due to the Dukes so imo it off sets the fact they wrecked so many. That and the fact they produced 96,100 68 Chargers and in 1969 the total production was around 89,199. IMO 300 cars wasn`t crap.... Oh here is what I sold to get a car (General Lee) that was already "destroyed."

Hey I didn't mean any offense dude. It's a nice lee you've got. And I didn't say they destroyed them by painting them orange and what not... that all can be changed. I'm talking about the cars they ramped 20 feet in the air and
destroyed the frames on or the cars they used to ram through road blocks and just generally bashed the crap out of. Everyone has their own opinion. And if thats what your into then thats what your into. No big deal. I just personally have always liked doing my own thing. I've always liked having stuff that you have a next to nothing chance of seeing another one while your out driving. For instance aside from my 68 R/T coronet, 73 Challenger, and 70 Roadrunner. I have a 76 Toyota Celica liftback. Thats a car I have never ever seen another one of since I've bought it (aside from on the net). There are 2 general lees in town where I live and more than that in the city. They have a route 66 blowout car show every year and there are always a couple general lees. I've always been more accustom to the black with red tail stripes on the and red interior on the chargers. Thats just sexy as hell. But yeah nothing wrong with painting the car how you want it. My R/T coronet was originally red with black bumble bee stripes and black vinyl top with black interior. The car isn't going to be red when its done. Probably going to go with the color scheme I mentioned above. black red stripes and red interior. Maybe something else. But probably wont be red. I've just never been a fan of red.

Moparod

Rcknrol, so funny you mentioned jumping and 76 Celica in the same post. My cousin jumped a '76 Celica GT, lucky he wasn't killed, he missed the last exit off a dead end highway and sailed off the end. About a 40 foot drop to another highway, he broke his foot.

Kikgas, I grew up with a near twin of the green Charger. My folks bought one new, same color inside and out except theirs had a matching color vinyl top. Also had the deep dish wheelcovers like on the Bullitt Charger, theirs was a 383 car.

I haven't made a hobby of the Dukes. I was a fan of the show when I was 15, had the Daisy poster, built the models and that's as far as I ever went. As far as the 70 thing, I saw an interview on a website, and I've been trying to find it again since this got stirred up- that one of the car wranglers on the show said that there were a few 1970's used. In the same paragraph another mechanic from the show contradicted him. Point being, if the people who were there can't agree, how can anyone else say positively yes or no? If I can ever find the site again I'll post the link.

rcknrolfender79

Aww poor Celica lol. Mine is also a GT. 20r 5 speed 3.73 (with a terribly annoying locker!). Very cool and fun little cars to drive. Handles like a pissed off go cart lol. That would be crazy though, to accidently drive off a dead end highway.. yikes! Lucky the broken foot is all he got from it. Glad he's ok though.

Shame their aren't more of those Celica's around. Most of them get stripped out and put on the dirt track If you think some of these mopar parts are hard to get your hands on. You should try restoring an old import like this one lol. I've had the car for going on 3 years now and still haven't found some of the parts I've been lookin for since before I ever actually bought the car. Like smiley bumpers, liftback 73-74 banana tail lights, center console, and a few other parts and pieces.

Moparod

God help my as I'm a Buy American Union man but I always liked that Celica. I liked it a lot better than the Z-cars. If it helps he crashed it back in the late 70's. I feel you pain on the parts thing, I always say that to my Mopar club buddies. You don't drive your Duster because parts are too hard to find??? Try finding ANY part for a nearly 80 year old Dodge. I can build a 32 Frog from the ground up with nothing but a credit card and a catalog but can't find anything for my '36 Dodge anywhere but ebay.

kikgas01

I have a 85 Supra that I`ve had since 1993!!!! Wanna see a sad pic, I will post it. Love the old Toyotas!!! Pretty awesome to see others as well. Cheers guys!!!!!