DodgeCharger.com Forum

Discussion Boards => Aero Cars => Topic started by: bull on September 29, 2005, 01:58:47 AM

Title: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: bull on September 29, 2005, 01:58:47 AM
When people clone a rare Charger they always seem to clone Daytonas. The 500s aren't any less rare but no one clones them. How come? Seems like it's be a lot easier to put a Coronet grill in front rather than fooling around with the pointy nose and pop-up headlights. The hard part would be the rear window plug but you'd save $$$ on the wing too. Anyway, just wondering.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: Charger Aficionado on September 29, 2005, 02:06:56 AM
  hmmmmm...  interesting point.  I think the grille isn't very pretty...  Throw in some gills and it looks like a damn Shark.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: Ghoste on September 29, 2005, 04:04:32 AM
Good question Bull.  I always found the 500 much more appealing than the Daytona.  I even think the grille is pretty.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: wetfeetmi on September 29, 2005, 05:08:00 AM
My personal opinion is 500's are hidiously ugly. That is part of the appeal. I was thinking about cloning one when I finish my latest project. 
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: TruckDriver on September 29, 2005, 05:23:45 AM
Quote from: Ghoste on September 29, 2005, 04:04:32 AM
Good question Bull.   I always found the 500 much more appealing than the Daytona.   I even think the grille is pretty.
:iagree:
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: MoparYoungGun on September 29, 2005, 06:14:38 AM
With all the people here doing Daytona clones, I started wondering the same thing myself. I think that both cars looks great, I would love to have either a 500 or Daytona clone, I just guess peoples personal preference is the Daytona :shruggy: .
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: 41husk on September 29, 2005, 08:12:11 AM
I think the wing cars are more of an icon than the 500.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: PocketThunder on September 29, 2005, 08:15:50 AM
Quote from: dads_69 on September 29, 2005, 04:39:19 AM
I have two rear hatches and want to build won of them, either a Daytona clone or 500 to my current project, but I haven't located a 68' Corenet grille lately. I'd perfer a 500 myself, less cash to fork out overall plus I've never had won.
Mark

I saw a nice 68 Coronet Grille pass thru ebay a couple months ago.  I was gonna pick it up for a spare but mine is in great shape already.  If i see another one i'll grab in and swap you for one of those vega hatches..
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: Badbob on September 29, 2005, 08:58:01 AM
The rear sail panels on the 2nd gen Chargers are one of their most distinguishing and attractive features. Hacking it up can only ruin the look. Same goes for the grill.

Bob
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: Old Moparz on September 29, 2005, 09:06:57 AM
Quote from: Badbob on September 29, 2005, 08:58:01 AM
The rear sail panels on the 2nd gen Chargers are one of their most distinguishing and attractive features. Hacking it up can only ruin the look. Same goes for the grill.

Bob


That's how I see it too, except I like the Daytona just as much as a base Charger body. The Coronet grille & the flush rear window don't do anything for me.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: cudaken on September 29, 2005, 09:19:26 AM
 I respect the 500 for what it is, the first step to ruling NASCAR. With the trunk and slug being the hardes part why stop there?


Make mine winged.

                                        Cuda Ken
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: 6pkrunner on September 29, 2005, 09:21:38 AM
What's more recognizable and garners the most attention? Daytona. considering the amount of time and effort and parts to clone a car people usually go for the most attention grabbing. What's the ratio of Hemi cuda clones to 340 cuda clones? 383 cuda clones? People will go for the most attention gathering.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: Orange_Crush on September 29, 2005, 09:23:03 AM
Once you've got the slug in there, you've taken care of the hardest part...might as well just go all the way.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: BigBlockSam on September 29, 2005, 09:39:11 AM
hi guys
i thik it's cause the wing  and nose is what makes a daytona clone so desireable. there a nice 500 grill on ebay right now. all you guys that have a vega plug and are thinking of installing it on a 2nd gen charger. think twice. i'm in the middle of mine now. it doesn't fit without modifyinng the sails. it is not just a drop in. lay the hatch on the back of your charger you'll see what i mean. Rene
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: hotrod98 on September 29, 2005, 02:07:16 PM
So many decisions. Started thinking about the coronet grille...I like it, but I love the wing too. I've seriously considered the coronet grille, the daytona wing and fender scoops and leave the back glass alone. Chevy and Ford guys would never notice a thing. :icon_smile:
Would be the all around easiest of all of the combinations. I wouldn't even have to change to the 70 fenders and hood.
I have a perfect rust free vega plug that I will trade straight across for a nice grille setup. The problem is...how do you mount the headlamps? Anyone know?  Is the correct grille setup '68 or '69?
To top it all off, I need a set of those billet magnum 500's. You guys think I'm joking, don't you?
Trying to picture this setup in my head.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: Arthu® on September 29, 2005, 03:10:23 PM
Personally I like the high speed road races, I would love to build a Charger for that, a Daytona just doesn't do it for me, would rather have a 500. But than again I even thought about taking a 70 Charger and putting a plugging the rear window. It does have a great benefit and it will still look more like a Charger, while I see the Daytona as a whole different car.

Arthur
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: 71charger_fan on September 29, 2005, 05:45:56 PM
Because a regular Charger is much better looking. The features altered to make the 500s faster on the track were the same features that helped make the cars so beautiful. Aesthetically, I'd much rather have a stock roofline, stock grille than the 500's appearance.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: Ghoste on September 29, 2005, 05:53:23 PM
Hotrod98, it's a 68 grille.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: hotrod98 on September 29, 2005, 06:08:48 PM
Thanks,
I really thought that it was a 68 but have seen a couple of guys refer to it as a 69.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: Ghoste on September 29, 2005, 06:13:40 PM
The car, of course, was 69.  Maybe that was the part that was confusing them?
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: hotrod98 on September 29, 2005, 06:36:42 PM
Ghoste,
I've seen the 500 grille hardware kit offered by one of the daytona suppliers. Not sure what the kit includes.
Any info on how the grille and headlamps are mounted would be appreciated.  I may just take my stock grille out and store it away and do the 500 thing. I love the 500 grille. It looks so clean.
My car is a real triple black R/T SE and I don't want to do anything that can't be reversed later. I've talked myself out of doing the back glass conversion...again.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: BigBlockSam on September 29, 2005, 07:15:01 PM
why don't you just restore the rt se there cool cars and it's a real one? pickup a roller and clone it. Rene
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: chargervert on September 29, 2005, 10:30:40 PM
My friend Mike,@Dayclona.com,repros the parts for the grille on the 500.He used my grille from my 500 to replicate them from.He makes the eight mounting brackets,and the two black painted metal pieces that go between the fenders and the grille.He also offers the rear window plug,for those who either need one to replace a rotted or damaged plug on an original car,or for those who would like to build an accurate clone.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: Charger Aficionado on September 29, 2005, 11:10:38 PM
   Whoever needs a Nice 500 Grille contact me. 
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: hotrod98 on September 29, 2005, 11:36:49 PM
I have owned several '69 chargers over the years including two triple black R/T SE's (one matching numbers) but always wanted a daytona. If I sold all of my Mopars, I could probably afford one real nice one. That is if they could still be bought for $250,000 or less. The problem is, I love the variety of owning a lot of different cars.
I restore cars all year long for other people and only have so much time to work on my own. That's why the chal convert isn't put together. It's all painted and the new hemi and tranny are sitting there ready and I just can't find the time or energy to finish it. I got bored with it before it was completed. If I started restoring this R/T SE as an original car I would burn out long before it ever go put back together. I've had real nice stock chargers before. The only car that would keep my interest long enough to finish it is a daytona clone of some kind. And, my wife wants her superbird clone finished at some point in time. She's already tired of her cuda I think. That's the problem with getting old, we're not easily amused anymore. lol
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: Charger Aficionado on September 29, 2005, 11:42:53 PM
Quote from: hotrod98 on September 29, 2005, 11:36:49 PM
It's all painted and the new hemi and tranny are sitting there ready and I just can't find the time or energy to finish it. I got bored with it before it was completed.

  GOT BORED W/ A HEMI???   I WISH I HAD YOUR PROBLEM!!!    :bawling: :ahum: :violin:
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: BigBlockSam on September 29, 2005, 11:53:43 PM
i've found that when that happens to me i put it aside and get into something else. time passes and i get back into it again. variety is the spice of life my friend. enjoy what you got. or you could sell me that boring r/t se and get a roller to daytona out.    :D
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: hotrod98 on September 30, 2005, 12:08:22 AM
To be honest, if I hadn't bought the 69 runner, the 69 bee and the 69 R/T SE from a good friend, I would sell them all and go buy a real superbird (could never afford a daytona). The tranny is slipping on the runner, the left rear brake is grabbing on the bee and the brake pedal is real soft on the charger. I haven't had time to drive either of the cudas since we drove back from Branson in August. I need to hire a full time maintenance man just to keep these cars in running condition.
Actually, I plan to put the hemi and tranny in the convert as soon as I get the lift free. I need to do that and drive it before I put the front sheet metal on. That way the car will be settled and I won't have to re-align the doors and fenders later. A trick that I learned the hard way.
At least I may have the 63's and the 71 scamp sold. Now to start selling off some trans ams.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: Daytona Guy on September 30, 2005, 11:32:12 AM
Quote from: BigBlockSam on September 29, 2005, 09:39:11 AM
hi guys
i thik it's cause the wing   and nose is what makes a daytona clone so desireable. there a nice 500 grill on ebay right now. all you guys that have a vega plug and are thinking of installing it on a 2nd gen charger. think twice. i'm in the middle of mine now. it doesn't fit without modifyinng the sails. it is not just a drop in. lay the hatch on the back of your charger you'll see what i mean. Rene

Hey, call me. You do not have to do anything to the sails if you cut the plug right. If you do it the way I have done it all you have to do is weld in the gap at the top.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: Daytona Guy on September 30, 2005, 11:46:06 AM
If you make it to thirdbase - why not just head for home.  ;D
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: bull on September 30, 2005, 11:51:06 AM
'cause you might get thrown out?
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: PocketThunder on September 30, 2005, 12:38:05 PM
or bitch slapped!!   :slap:
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: Daytona Guy on September 30, 2005, 12:42:59 PM
Only if you are a Mariner. ;)  Bull
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: bull on September 30, 2005, 12:55:01 PM
Now wouldn't it be cool to somehow make a removeable window plug that somehow blended in but could be removed without damage to the sail panels? Plus an easily detachable nose and wing so you could have a Daytona one day, a regular Charger the next and a 500 the day after that? There's a project for you to work on, Dane.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: Ghoste on September 30, 2005, 03:19:01 PM
Quote from: Daytona Guy on September 30, 2005, 11:46:06 AM
If you make it to thirdbase - why not just head for home.   ;D


lol  I still like the 500 better.
Title: Re: How come no one ever clones 500s?
Post by: BigBlockSam on October 03, 2005, 03:03:01 PM
its already in. Rene