1/16th Dukes Charger * 3/28/15* Update, **DAISY DUKE AUTOGRAPH**

[Dominik]

cool builtup Jay! There i can learn a lot for my "Duke", if i want to build em. Looking good! The work on the fenders is perfect.

[Mr. Moparman]

Not that i real big into 1/16, this is coming along nice enough to kinda inspire me to get one of them Street Charger's

[Rdkingjay]

While I am awaiting some mail-order detail stuff from Pro-tech, I made/modified some of my own. Pictured are the following, four scratchbuilt window cranks. A steering shaft with U-joints, that started out as a 1/25th drive shaft. Slightly modified wipers from my 1/18th scrap heap. Modified washer fluid and coolant over flow bottles, also from the 1/18th scrap heap and finally , the modified steering wheel with its new spokes. These are by no means done, they still need some final sanding paint etc. prior to installation. Moving right along...Thanks for looking

[Mr. Moparman]

Man this is just getting better and better.

[crowe-t]

Jay,

Outstanding work! I can't wait to see this one done.

Will you be using the kit's decals?

Mike.

[Rdkingjay]

Actually no. Your timing is perfect though, I just sent them off to a friend of mine who makes scaled police decals. He will be using the original decals to make new ones that won't allow the bright orange paint work to bleed through, as I recall them doing when I built the original 30 years ago. He is also doing emblems for the car as well.

[Rdkingjay]

Just some quick shots of some detail items that will be hard to photograph when the engine compartment is buttoned up. The engine bay/wheel wells are not glued in yet, because I am waiting for a spun aluminum coil and MSD ignition box from Pro-tech, that still need to be mounted and wired. The photos depict the passenger and driver side rubber brake lines going to the front wheels. The third and fourth photos are the wiper washer tank and over-flow coolant tank. Only one end of each hose is attached at this point. The last photo shows the steering shaft and if you look closely, you can see the hard brake line, then fitting, then the rubber brake line going to the drivers wheel. Thanks for looking.

[Mr. Moparman]

Man, I bookmarked this, you work is amazing, you made me order that Street Charger! I'm going to use a bunch of techquichs for that car.

[Mr. Moparman]

BTW, what are those little silver things going from hard line to rubber line as in this pic?

Edited December 18, 2011 by Mr. Moparman

[Rdkingjay]

Brandon,

They are reffered to as Crimp Tubes. You can find them in any arts and crafts store, like Michaels, Joann Fabircs, A.C. Moore or the like. They are commonly used in the making of beaded jewelery bracelets, earrings etc. They come in a variety of sizes and are dispayed with all the other supplies for making beaded jewelery. When you find them, take your time and look around, you'll find a lot of other goodies there that can be used for detailing a model car. In fact all the hard lines on this car, also came from the same aisle.

[Mr. Moparman]

Oh ok! Thank you for clarifying that. I'll be paying a visit to Micheal's then...

[Dirkpitt289]

There is an amazing amount of detail going into this build. Fantastic stuff

[Rdkingjay]

With the ride height set, the fender openings done and the engine bay mocked in, it was time to check the body and see if there were any clearance issues. Thankfully there were not. If you look closely, the scratch built roll bar is also in place, as are the wipers and gas door. As of this post, I am finishing the wiring for the MSD box and ignition coil that came from Pro-Tech, plumbing in the coolant over-flow hose to the over-flow bottle and locking down the whole engine bay to the firewall. The body is all that is really left and aside from prep for paint, all I have left to do on that is add a very fine strip of styrene to the rear valence. It will be the chrome strip that seperates the flat black from the orange, near the tail lights.

Edited December 21, 2011 by Rdkingjay

[Mr. Moparman]

You have a PM.

[crowe-t]

Jay,

This is an incredible build! You haven't missed any details and turned this NASCAR based kit into a nice General Lee street car. The fender wheel openings look bone stock as they should look. Absolutely beautiful.

I can't wait to see the body painted.

Mike.

Edited December 24, 2011 by crowe-t

[Rdkingjay]

Its actually sort of a let down. I have been working on this engine and engine bay for several weeks, planning, cutting, test fitting, painting etc. and now its done. I am very happy with it. So just to review, the entire bay/fender wells, radiator support and battery tray are scratchbuilt. You can see the starting point in my first post. The MSD igniton box, spun aluminum ignition coil and plug wire boots are from Charlie at Pro-Tech. The washer bottle and over flow bottle are from a 1/18th UT Caprice and have both been extensively modified. The MSD box, distributor and coil are wired using an actual wiring diagram from MSD that I pulled right from the internet. The coolant over flow, upper and lower radiator hoses and washer bottle hose are all plumbed as well. All the brake lines, hard and rubber, are also present. So its on to the interior, which is just about complete now that the seat belt kit, also from Pro-Tech has arrived. Thanks for looking.

Edited December 23, 2011 by Rdkingjay

[Mr. Moparman]

I'm drooling now.

[stump]

Jay, this has progressed extremely well my friend.

To me, the front fenders look spot-on, and the details you've added throughout the build are super ! Keep at it mate.

[Romell R]

im enjoying the build looks good my only gripe would be the size of the plug wire they look a bit too big (outta scale). you would do your build alot of justice if you found smaller diameter wire. Thats just my opinion which means little

[Rdkingjay]

Actually, some opinions mean alot, and your is one of them.I have a complete spare engine and have been kicking around that idea, as I agree with you on the size of the supplied kit wires. It woud mean replacing the distributer and valve covers, ( no big deal) and I read somewhere that 20lb test fishing line makes great fuel line. I don't like the size the fuel line coming from the "T" spilt either. Can anyone recommend a solution for the fuel lines going to the carb from the "T" spilt?

[Rdkingjay]

Anyone who was a dedicated Dukes fan in the early 80's or during the CMT re-runs, knows that for the most part, the general had a single hoop roll bar with a diagonal cross bar. The exception being infrequent shots of a full cage during big jumps, such as the opening sequence jump at Oxford College. So after fabbing up my own roll bar from solid aluminum rod for the hoop and a plastic cross bar, the issue was how to mount it, with it falling over, since it really has no significant lateral support. So I drilled two holes at the mounting location and inserted two pieces of aluminum tubing. The drivers side was shorter due to the mounting location of the cross bar. I then epoxyed the roll bar legs in each tube and then epoxoyed the tubes in the holes, flush with the bottom of the underside floor. I then fabbed up two "mounting plates" from sheet styrene and epoxyed then in place. Believe it or not, the roll bar is incredibly strong and has no forward/rearward movement at all. Thanks for looking.

[Mr. Moparman]

That's a wonderful way to do a roll bar! I bet the Dukes didn't think of that!

[Pro Tech]

Jay, build is coming out great. I like your "very clean" building style.

As always thanks for your support!

Charlie

Pro Tech

[Rdkingjay]

Thanks gents for the kind and constructive comments, I certainly appreciate them. The interior may seem to have been done quickly, but I have been picking away at it, while I was doing the engine/chassis. Today the CB components came in and that was the final straw for assembly. So, the scratch-built items are, the entire dash, center console, back seat, roll bar, window cranks and package tray. I replaced the solid spokes on the wheel with ones with holes and added a turn signal lever. The gauges are decals and have a thin piece of clear plastic in front of them to simulate lexan. The radio was cut from the dash of a donor 1/20th kit. Although they are hard to see, the levers for the heater and fan are also present, above the radio. I cut the tops from the front seats to give them a more accurate low-back apperance. The seat belts are from Pro-Tech. The Hot Rod magazine on the passenger seat is a shrunk down image, with pages inserted, of the August 2005 issue that did a full feature on the General Lee, following the recently released full length movie. Although it has its flaws, overall, I am happy with it, but next time I will do a few things differently. Any questions, just ask and thanks for looking.

[crowe-t]

This is how the model should have come in the box. This is now a model of the General Lee most seen on screen with the stock interior and single hoop roll bar.

The scratch building is very well done. The dash is outstanding!