Build a Replica General Lee
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Body Style | Paint Color | Push Bar | Tires | Decals/Markings | Interior | Accessories/Misc. | Mechanical
Last Updated: 11/21/05
Before you begin building your replica General Lee, one should understand that there is no such thing as an exact replica. Different configurations were used for the various needs of the TV show. While watching the series you will find cars with different style push bumpers, lettering sizes, interior colors, etc. This page is intended to document the variations to help in choosing what details you want to feature on your replica. Please email me if you have any comments, suggestions or opinions to help make this page better. A big thanks goes to the members of the Confederate General Lee Fan Club forums who have answered many a question.
Questions about building a General Lee? Visit our forums!
Body Style
The body of the General Lee is a 1969 Dodge Charger. However, 68 Chargers were also used and converted into the body style of the 69 Charger. In order to accomplish this the front bumper of a 68 has to be replaced with a 69 bumper as well as the taillights changed. Body filler was also put in the side marker lights. After 1982 all emblems from the vehicle were removed. From 1978-1982 only the sail panel and taillight panel emblems were removed.
69 Charger Front Bumper
(correct)
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68 Charger Front Bumper
(incorrect)
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69 Charger Taillights
(correct)
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68 Charger Taillights
(incorrect)
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Paint Color
The "orange" paint used on the GL is one of the pieces of the equation that doesn't have an easy answer. Current talk indicates that Corvette Flame Red, Hemi Orange and Big Bad Orange are all correct colors. BBO (Big Bad Orange) is reported to be the color used on the 2005 movie cars. From the best I can gather, there is no specific paint color that was used and the designers just picked an orange color off a paint chip and duplicated that. Also, different auto shops worked on the cars during the course of the series and had different access to paints. A third color you will find on replicas is "Vitamin C Orange". This color appears VERY light orange and looks the least like an authentic GL.
To add to the problem of picking the right color, car colors look VERY different based on the lighting and the cameras used to photograph the car. A Corvette Flame Red car can look very red in one picture and very orange in another. This makes for lots of confusion when people discuss what the correct color is.
Corvette Flame Red Example
These pictures of the same car were taken on the same day with different cameras
 
Hemi Orange Example
These pictures of the same car were taken in different light settings
 
Group Replica Photo
A collection of GL replicas from the 25th Anniversary jump showing off the various colors. The lightest color is the Vitamin C Orange, the darkest GLs will be Flame Red and the in between is Hemi Orange.
click for larger image
One last thing on paint, make sure you paint the tail light area black instead of leaving it orange. Here is an example of how the black should be painted on the rear:
Push Bar
A narrow style push bar was used on the series until 1982 when they adopted a wider style. The narrow style bar was welded to the bumper and whenever it was bumped it would easily cause damage to the grill. Most replicas use the wider style since it easily attaches to the frame but both styles are being produced.
Wide Push Bar
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Narrow Push Bar
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Tires
The General Lee features American Racing "Vector" rims that had 10 spokes and were all aluminum. The vectors are no longer in production by American Racing but it isn't too hard to find the originals or clones on Ebay. One thing to note is that Buick has a rim from 1985 that looks like the vectors but the bolt pattern is different than what your Charger is going to need. You may still be able to use the Buick rims if you re-drill the holes or use an adapter. When looking on Ebay for rims, be careful as many will be advertised as "General Lee rims!" but will have 20 spokes.
The standard for a first unit General Lee was 14inch vectors (14x7) and occassionaly 15x7 on the back and 14x7 on the front. It is typical to find 15x8.5 vectors used on replicas which give the wheels a wider look.
Decals/Markings
The markings found on the General Lee include the "01" on the side doors, the Confederate Flag on the roof top and the "General Lee" lettering above the doors. Various builds of the car had narrower numbering on the side doors than others and there is no specific standard that all the cars went by. The majority of GLs had their flag and numbering painted on however there are several great vinyl decal kits that you can purchase online. Check out our links page for some of those vendors.
Keith Winfree owns one of the 19 remaining General Lees from the television series and provides the following measurements for where the markings were located on his authentic General Lee. Also, CGLFC has a great page with images showing the distances. Check it out here.
All measurements are overall and include the white outline unless otherwise noted.
"01" Door Numbers
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The white outlines around the numbers are 1/2" wide.
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The height of the numbers is 19".
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The width of the "0" is 13-1/2".
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The center of the "0" is 11" high by 5-1/2" wide.
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The width of the "1" at the base is 11-1/2".
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The bottom edge of the numbers is 2" above the bottom edge of the door.
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(driver's door) The front edge of the "0" is 13-15/16" from the front edge of the door.
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(driver's door) The rear edge of the "1" (center of the number, not the base) is 12-5/8" from the rear edge of the door
Confederate Flag
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Length of the flag is 53-1/2".
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Width of the flag is 39-3/16".
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The flag is centered on the roof from left to right.
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From the center of the front edge of the flag to the windshield chrome is 4-1/2".
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From the center of the rear edge of the flag to the rear window chrome is 4-1/4".
There is one more set of markings that was found on the General Lee in the pilot episode "One Armed Bandits" and the 4th episode, "High Octane". Behind the rear window in front of the decklid they had a small Confederate Flag crossed with a checkered flag. Not many replicas feature these markings but it might be a nice touch to add to your replica. Several of the decal vendors have these flags for sale.
Interior
While the interior on the first few episodes of the show is black, the "official" interior color is the Dodge factory color Saddle Tan. Later in the show the interior was switched to a much lighter tan for unknown reasons. Also, many of the cars built for the show did not have a complete interior makeover to get the appropriate color. Many interiors were simply spray painted tan depending on how close up the shot was going to be.
Saddle Tan
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Lighter Color (1982+)
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The other recognizable detail of the interior is the roll bar behind the front seats. Most wide shots of the General driving around did not show this item but the closeups clearly had them featured. The roll bar was stricktly for cosmetics to help give the General the "stock car" image and provided no security. The roll bar was simply made out of exhaust tubing with foam padding.
Accessories/Misc
Dixe Horn
The Dixie horn is a 5-trumpet electrical music horn that plays the first 12 notes of the song 'Dixie'. There can be a little confusion due to there being two versions of the horn. One horn plays 11 notes and the other plays 12. 12 is the correct number of notes as featured on the TV show. JC Whitney is the popular retailer that features the Dixie Horn which is manufactured by Wolo Manufacturing Corp. The correct model from Wolo is the #430
Correct Horn (sku: ZX818840T) #430 (Click to listen)
Incorrect Horn (sku: ZX888577U) #003 (Click to listen)
Also, if you lost your instructions for the horn, you can find them here.
CB Radio
TV Series
The CB radio most recognized in the General Lee is the Cobra 78x. It's going to take a lot of leg work to track one of these down! Sometimes they will pop up on Ebay but it is rare.
2005 Movie
The movie features a Cobra 29 WX NW ST radio which is going to be a little easier to find. The Cobra website has more info on the radio specifics. It features the weather channels and Sound Tracker feature.
Antenna
TV Series
The first antenna featured on the GL (up until 1982) was the popular teardrop style antenna base from Radio Shack, the 21-908a trunk mount antenna. That antenna is no longer in production and is near impossible to find. A short while back a fan club made reproductions of the teardrop base and used them to convert the Radio Shack 21-940a antenna into the teardrop style. Unfortunately these kits don't seem to be around anymore. If you happen to get a hold of one, here is a tutorial on how to make the conversion.
The second style antenna is the Avanti Racer 27. This antenna was featured later in the series and on the Reunion GLs. Both style antennas have been showing up on Ebay lately but are going for a VERY high price.
2005 Movie
The movie uses the Cobra HG-A1500 CB antenna that is 37" long and mounts magnetically to the trunk lid. You can find more details on Cobra's website.
Welded Doors?
Yes, the doors for the General Lee in the "story" of the Dukes of Hazzard were welded shut however this is not something that was actually done in real life to the cars. As a matter of fact, you can hear bloopers during the series of GL doors being slammed shut which you aren't supposed to hear if Bo & Luke are having to slide in through the window all the time. Your replica is completely accurate if you don't weld the doors shut. In fact, I'd highly recommend against doing it!
License Plate
The GL featured Georgia license plate CNH-320. It's highly unlikely that someone hasn't registed that in your state already but it may be worth looking into.
Misc. Movie Extras
The GL used in the 2005 movie features a few extras that weren't found on the TV series. Here are a few of the differences.
Steering Wheel
While the original series featured the factory steering wheel the movie General Lee's are sporting a Grant F/X wheel.
Part # 737; Note: The correct installation kit from Grant for a 69 Charger is Install Kit 4313
CD Player
Instead of having the factory radio player the GL has been updated with a Verge VMP508 CD Player with MP3 support. This CD player doesn't be for sale in many retail outlets however.
Shifter + Shift Light/Tachometer
Another obvious change is the introduction of a B&M StarShifter and a Autometer 3904 shift light/tachometer.
 
Mechanical
Engine
Questions about building a General Lee? Visit our forums!
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