To Clone or Not to Clone?

[Smellslike1974]

Speakig of clones.

Anyone hear Boyd Cottington died this morning?

[billzilla]

But to stick all the options in there would be hugely expensive, especially if it involved motor/drivetrain, yes? I mean sure - if you're starting from a shell I guess slapping an ebay tag on there makes sense to a scammer, as you automatically bump the price by quite a bit - but what about VIN? Do they remove those tags and say 'oh well the fender tag is the only remaining indication this is an RM23'?

[Smellslike1974]

peopel do that!,lol

hard to belive,to me not really because people will spend a fortune to make a fortune illegally.

And if your gonna clone right you should spend a fortune.
As for the scammers and all,yeah they need a real hooby that doesnt destroy someones elses.

[1971SSP]

Jumping in late, but I'm not for cloning it! Believe me, its nice having something a little different.

[Serious Satellite]

Interesting reading this thread and everyone's ideas. I've struggled with the same question: to clone or not to clone. . .that is the question.

I've owned a 73 Roadrunner and a 73 Satellite Coupe, and now a 74 Satellite Sebring. The only real difference in the cars has been the interior setup. The Roadrunner was my Mopar in 75 through 78 until it got totalled and then I bought the Satellite in 79 at Fort Carson.

I've also struggled with the paint. . do I keep it original or go with something else?

No matter what I do, it won't be original. And to be honest, none of my cars back in the day were original from factory. I always added different rims, wider tires, shackles, an updated sound system for the day, a cb radio. . .and on the Sat Coupe a power bulge hood.

Well, I'm not cloning the Sebring into a runner and I have the power bulge hood from a 74 GTX (slightly different hood than the typical 74 Roadrunner hood) and I've kept the original hood should I "attend' a Mopar meet. Not real sure that's gonna happen.

But I have changed the interior. I was always a big fan of the white leather in my roadrunner, so I've bought the white leather door panels with SSP badges and will be having the bench seats redone in white/green leather as well. And I'm adding the Satellite red white and blue badge on the sail panels as well as the seats. So, the green interior is gone.

What's funny, I actually like the standard dash setup better than the Rally dash setup.

I've also gotten rid of the full vinyl top and need to patch a bit of a hole in the pillars.

Someone on this site a long time ago stated that the more you work with the original paint, the more you grow accustomed to it and love it. That's what happened to me. I never really cared for the Sherwood Green Metallic, but now having sanded the car down to the original paint, I'm going green.

So, a long winded addition to this debate. . .I don't think anybody really will ever have a factory correct car. . .we all add little things to make it our own. And after all, it's a Mopar and it's the lines of the Satellite/Sundance/Roadrunner that I love. .. it's not the bling.

[RS23-71]

Well maybe if you have a cutting torch and a welder you can clone it into a Yugo... /me ducks for cover and runs for the hills to save his life...

Speakig of clones.

Anyone hear Boyd Cottington died this morning?

Actually I missed this earlier.. Why did you say "Speaking of clones" I thought Boyd built customs or did you mean he was clone?




I guess I will say again when I think of the word cloning I think "Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of something" and to me when it comes to our cars it just doesnt make any sense. I mean why clone a satellite into say a road runner and not a ssp. Actually unless I'm wrong a standard ssp cost more then a standard road runner back in the day. After all they are all based on the satellite to begin with other then that its just what came standard on the cars and the options you could get. If it wasn't for the satellite there would be no road runner or gtx. IMHO optioning up or modifying up the car is fine I just don't like cloning, I guess its just me.

[Smellslike1974]

Well maybe if you have a cutting torch and a welder you can clone it into a Yugo... /me ducks for cover and runs for the hills to save his life...

Speakig of clones.

Anyone hear Boyd Cottington died this morning?

Actually I missed this earlier.. Why did you say "Speaking of clones" I thought Boyd built customs or did you mean he was clone?




I guess I will say again when I think of the word cloning I think "Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of something" and to me when it comes to our cars it just doesnt make any sense. I mean why clone a satellite into say a road runner and not a ssp. Actually unless I'm wrong a standard ssp cost more then a standard road runner back in the day. After all they are all based on the satellite to begin with other then that its just what came standard on the cars and the options you could get. If it wasn't for the satellite there would be no road runner or gtx. IMHO optioning up or modifying up the car is fine I just don't like cloning, I guess its just me.

He was building clone cars,fake paper works and selling them as the real deal.

[billzilla]

I think if you go original Satellite, you really should use original paint... And especially if you're not doing a rotisserie or frame-off paint job (if the engine bay and other inner areas aren't getting painted). When I see door sills or fender wells a different color from the car, I cringe.

If you're going RR clone, I figure you can paint it whatever color you want (again, as long as they're doing sills, jambs, trunk and engine bay).

There are a few reasons for doing it, I suppose -- First, from what little I've seen, good clones command a higher resale than a restored Satellite, even SS or SSP (unless maybe a really rare optioned or historic SSP). Second, people know and recognize Roadrunners - when you tell someone it's a Runner, they know what you're talking about. It has a cool factor about it, while the Satellites were generally lesser optioned and not meant as sporty or muscular - although certainly sportier than the 4-door.

All that said, I wonder how many clones are really THAT hardcore... Trim, paint, decals, hood pins, engines, valances, hoods, mirrors, exhaust tips, dash, rubber mats, wheels, etc. -- And how many are just nice clean Satellites with the basic visual Runner cues put on. Because after all is said and done, a clone is just your own interpretation of the car you want.

I know I couldn't have found a survivor 340 or 383 '71 RR for the money I paid for my decent-shape, minimal-rust Satellite Sebring, and the car I got is, other than the 318, basically the same thing for all intents and purposes. They just didn't make enough RR's and GTX's to find unrestored drivers cruising around with sub-$10K pricetags. So for those of us who are in love with the fuselage Mopar B-Bodies of the early 70's, it's either be happy with it being a Satellite and resign yourself to saying 'It's like a Roadrunner' to your average Joe Schmoe a million times, or just go ahead and clone.

I hope that vapid mess made some sense.

[dartomotive]

You guys are right on the money with the Clone subject. I't really a matter of what floats your boat. Make it yours that you never had, or keep factory cool it will be winner. I think the only loser in the Clone thing is the crook who try's to make extra money by changing fender tags and VIN and being a liar when selling. Then of course, the poor schmoe who gets ripped off is loser of some of his bucks.

My 2 sense.
Dartomotive (Mike)

[dartomotive]

Serious Satellite,

Check out my Sherwood Green Clone that I posted on Feb. 20 to this "To Clone or..." thread. Looks cool on a sunny day, and at night too. The guy who cloned it, sold it to me, and even advertised it as a clone. He was real honest about it. I don't think I could have bought a real factory survior or a good resto for double or triple what I paid for it. I feel him and I could both be proud of it.

My ten year old son and I enjoy every cruise in it, runs good and even has AC. I don't think we ever had it out that we didn't get a Thumbs up from some stranger on the road.

Also, I posted a page of his coloring book on the Tech archive, user submissions called "Blank Coloring Book" You can digitally paint it any color you want for a paint test drive.
Dartomotive (Mike)

[Smellslike1974]

Serious Satellite,

Check out my Sherwood Green Clone that I posted on Feb. 20 to this "To Clone or..." thread. Looks cool on a sunny day, and at night too. The guy who cloned it, sold it to me, and even advertised it as a clone. He was real honest about it. I don't think I could have bought a real factory survior or a good resto for double or triple what I paid for it. I feel him and I could both be proud of it.

My ten year old son and I enjoy every cruise in it, runs good and even has AC. I don't think we ever had it out that we didn't get a Thumbs up from some stranger on the road.

Also, I posted a page of his coloring book on the Tech archive, user submissions called "Blank Coloring Book" You can digitally paint it any color you want for a paint test drive.
Dartomotive (Mike)

About that,ive been working on a true black and white,bmp,that way people can just copy and fill in with paint

[Serious Satellite]

Serious Satellite,

Check out my Sherwood Green Clone that I posted on Feb. 20 to this "To Clone or..." thread. Looks cool on a sunny day, and at night too. The guy who cloned it, sold it to me, and even advertised it as a clone. He was real honest about it. I don't think I could have bought a real factory survior or a good resto for double or triple what I paid for it. I feel him and I could both be proud of it.

My ten year old son and I enjoy every cruise in it, runs good and even has AC. I don't think we ever had it out that we didn't get a Thumbs up from some stranger on the road.

Also, I posted a page of his coloring book on the Tech archive, user submissions called "Blank Coloring Book" You can digitally paint it any color you want for a paint test drive.
Dartomotive (Mike)

It's funny. . when I bought the car it was brush painted black complete with brush strokes, bristles embedded in the paint, orange peel, more runs than the Cubs give up in nine innings, and duct tape. I winced at buying a Sherwood green, but damn eight hundred bucks for a car that you can drive home to southwestern Ohio from Virginia is a deal.

I struggled with the color. My first rr was Tahitian Bronze and the second Satellite was an Ivory with a off white interior and no carpet.

But Someone said here on this forum when I first joined that the more you work with your cars original color, the more you become accustomed to it and then you eventually can't envision your car any other color. Well, that's what's happened with me. And since the tranny, engine, and differential are all numbers matching, I think I got a hell of a deal for 800 bucks, even if it's green. So, I'll swap out hoods when or if I ever go to a mopar meet, and I'll definitely take advantage of the Sonic discount for classic cars!

I like your Sherwood Green Clone and I do think Black is the perfect color stripe package for the car. I toyed with the Gold--even toyed with Sassy grass Green stripes on the Sherwood, custom made--but I'm sold on the black. I've noticed some variations in the Sherwood green, some seem to be a tad more green while others seem to be a tad darker. I think I'm gonna go to the darkside. LOL

P.s. I apologize if the keyboarding isn't perfect, I can't see for crap today. I'm in my blind as hell exacerbation period, so I'm writing and reading like Mr. McGoo.

[dartomotive]

Serious Satellite,

As you know, Paint Color is big decision. And always a hot topic. I checked out the production figures in 71. There were 2 Sherwood greens. GF7 Amber Sherwood Metallic 13.2% of RR/GTX's in 71. & GF3 Sherwood Green Metallic 9.9% It's the darker like mine. Turns out that that is 22.1% of RR/GTX production. The largest % by far. The next in line is Glacial blue @ 7.7 and Tru Blue at 9.5 for a combined 17.2%.

That's the number's story. For the gut, Love the black. Consider white strobe stripes, a wing and chin spoilers. Saw one like that once, it was jaw droppingly cool. What ever you end up with it will be great, as the B-body 71 - 74 really rock.
Dartomotive (mike)

[Serious Satellite]

Serious Satellite,

As you know, Paint Color is big decision. And always a hot topic. I checked out the production figures in 71. There were 2 Sherwood greens. GF7 Amber Sherwood Metallic 13.2% of RR/GTX's in 71. & GF3 Sherwood Green Metallic 9.9% It's the darker like mine. Turns out that that is 22.1% of RR/GTX production. The largest % by far. The next in line is Glacial blue @ 7.7 and Tru Blue at 9.5 for a combined 17.2%.

That's the number's story. For the gut, Love the black. Consider white strobe stripes, a wing and chin spoilers. Saw one like that once, it was jaw droppingly cool. What ever you end up with it will be great, as the B-body 71 - 74 really rock.
Dartomotive (mike)

Well, I'll consider that and work up a render with the white strobe stripes. Since I'm replacing the stock green charger interior with a Satellite Sebring Plus white leather interior, it makes sense to do the white.

I don't want to put the 73 strobe or the 74 Solid roof over stripe on the car since it would look too much like a clone--not that there's anything wrong with that--I'm going with the 72 strobe to kind of seperate it from the pack. I do love that 72 strobe stripe on the 73/74 Satellite. It adds that Mopar bling to the Sebring!

[Serious Satellite]

quick render . . .it may be a bit rough, but it's a quickie. .