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69 Dodge Charger
Project: Original General Lee Restoration
At Scotlea Hot Rods we are proud to be one of the very few to actually restore a real Warner Brothers used General Lee. This General Lee was actually used in the filming
of the original "Dukes of Hazzard" TV show. Over the years less than five screen-used General Lees have been restored, and we were very proud to have had a hand in this restoration. Not one of the original 17 released in 1991, this car was found in recent years in California and the story was featured in Car Craft magazine. The current owner has brought
it to us for a complete restoration; including new paint and graphics, updating
the engine compartment with some new shiny parts, and replacing some of the worn
interior. This was all done in 2007. In 2009, we updated it again - this time converting to a one-of-a-kind fuel injection system that looks like dual carburetors.
The starting point - a really nice car to begin
with, just a lot of miles on the odometer:
Disassembly:
New paint and decals
Engine back in, dash reassembled, air conditioning installed,
rear suspension rebuilt:
Power windows and locks installed, trunk soundproofed and
carpeted, battery and NOS installed, rear window installed, engine wired and
chrome pieces added, decklid and fenders bolted on.
More interior and engine work, hood mounted:
Front end assembled, engine complete:
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What was done:
- Straightened body work & body lines smoothed, new AMC P3 Big Bad Orange paint with 9 coats of clear over the decals.
- All stainless trim polished, aluminum grill trim polished and smoothed.
- Rear suspension replaced (new springs, shackles, shocks)
- Front suspension upgraded (new shocks, sway bar, bump stops)
- Engine rebuilt with forged pistons, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake (HPC coated), TTI 3" headers, aluminum water pump,
March Performance serpentine pulley system, braided stainless fuel lines, HP fuel filter, new valve covers and air cleaner, NOS Nitrous Oxide with purge system
- Vintage Air AC/Heat/Defrost with polished compressor and braided stainless lines under the hood
- New seat covers, new custom carpet, custom floormats, dash panels repainted and highlighted, console repainted and carpeted, interior lights wired, rollbar painted
- Power windows (front window cranks move by themselves when the windows are activated)
- Remote power locks
- Electrical system upgrades w/ 10 additional microfuses, circuit breakers, and high-power relays for major systems
- Trunk carpeted, battery enclosed, spare tire mounted, neon orange trunk light added
Fast forward to 2009...
Time to make a few upgrades, starting with the suspension...
The front receives stouter torsion bars, tubular upper control arms, and QA1 aluminum adjustable shocks:
The rear received a stabilizer bar, QA1 aluminum adjustable shocks, and Moser custom-alloy axles:
Now for the engine: the Edelbrock Dual-quad setup was removed, and replace with a custom one-off dual throttle body electronic fuel injection system. Retrotek custom fabbed a pair of their throttle bodies out of billet aluminum, made to sit inline with each other rather than the normal 90 degree orientation of dual quads. Sensors were added all over, including coolant temp, throttle position, oxygen sensor, MAP, Idle air control, and fuel pressure - all wired to a custom self-learning computer mounted under the dash. Offenhauser built a custom intake to mount the EFI, and a customized Billet Specialties air cleaner tops it off.
Here's the old dual-quad carburetor setup:
Here's the new EFI system:
