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Eplings Garage backhalved Hellcat video

Marc W

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#41
This is my opinion for what it's worth.

Sent from my BBF100-2 using Tapatalk[/QUOTE] that would be $.02. Exactly the same as mine! 😂
 


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#42
This is my opinion for what it's worth.

Sent from my BBF100-2 using Tapatalk
that would be $.02. Exactly the same as mine! [/QUOTE]. Yours Is definitely worth more then mine

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Mean Cat

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#43
It's a Hellcat by name & looks with a lot of custom work that is no longer Dodge or Hellcat.

That's about the best I can explain how I think of it , & that's just my .02 :LOL:
 


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#44
Technically a hellcat is just a modded SXT challenger.

so what your currently driving is just a hellcat by name only. So even a stock car is just a challenger and the hellcat is a made up name
 


Marc W

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#45
Technically a hellcat is just a modded SXT challenger.

so what your currently driving is just a hellcat by name only. So even a stock car is just a challenger and the hellcat is a made up name
Ditto with the Demon. 😝
 


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#46
Technically a hellcat is just a modded SXT challenger.

so what your currently driving is just a hellcat by name only. So even a stock car is just a challenger and the hellcat is a made up name
But still modded by Dodge ;)
 


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zhc

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#47
I typically race without a passenger seat and back seat but still have factory dash, door panels, consoles, carpet, etc. By some definition, I have a race car that’s no longer a Hellcat. If that’s the case, what happens when I show up with all my seats still installed? Does that turn my car back into a Hellcat or does that make it no longer a race car?

btw, this is my sad attempt at humor.
 


Hpindy

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#48
At the end of the day they have one bad ass race that represents mopar . I'm am quite happy with that

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Linda's Hell Cat

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#49
Oh No Guys this was all cleared up years ago.......It is said as long as it has it's Hellcat Vin then it's a Hellcat.[thankyou]

Linda :)
 


WhipCat

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#50
Oh No Guys this was all cleared up years ago.......It is said as long as it has it's Hellcat Vin then it's a Hellcat.[thankyou]

Linda :)
there ya go!
 


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#51
I typically race without a passenger seat and back seat but still have factory dash, door panels, consoles, carpet, etc. By some definition, I have a race car that’s no longer a Hellcat. If that’s the case, what happens when I show up with all my seats still installed? Does that turn my car back into a Hellcat or does that make it no longer a race car?
btw, this is my sad attempt at humor.
Once you started running your own tune, it wasn't a Dodge anymore... because they definitely weren't going to stand behind it! :)
 


coolblue

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#52
A lot of you guys are way off base.

I imagine not many of you have been following 007 since the beginning... but it didn't take long for Epling to be the fastest Hellcat... in a form that was unarguably Hellcat. Then the competition got faster, as did he.

At a car show, that car is a Hellcat... and it may be parked next to a Camaro SS promod... with a VIN tag and a steel roof - guess what? It's a Camaro SS.

What's being implied here is that a clone is more of a Hellcat than an actual Hellcat. You can swap every piece except for factory "stamped" identifying tags from a HC to an SXT and all of a sudden it's a Hellcat.

It can't race in a stock Hellcat class... but nobody is implying that it is anything other than what it is.

At what point would you boys pull his badge off?
Blower swap? Block swap? Gear swap? Tranny swap? Well there are plenty of guys on here who've done just that who would very much disagree.
What about weight reduction? Removing the back seat? Trunk liner? Interior panels? Putting in a racing seat? Nope... you're still not going to tell someone it isn't a Hellcat any longer because the guy is sitting in a Kirkey.

Give me a break... Epling has had the most BADASS HELLCAT on the planet from the get go... it isn't the Hellcat that everyone wants - I have no desire to own that car - but it's been a Hellcat since Dodge took his money and he took the keys. You can't take it away.
Jack, and @Marc W and @WhipCat you're taking this totally the wrong way. Like it's a personal attack on the Epling's, what they accomplished, and their integrity. Or the Hellcat name itself for that matter. It's not.
Let me say this another way: If two separate people built two IDENTICAL Challenger race cars right down to the color, on full tube chassis' with pro mod engines, complete revamps with the same aftermarket parts etc., etc.,..add infinitum (exact twins). The only original OEM parts left was the metal skins they both left the factory with. But one guy started with an SXT and the other guy started with a Hellcat. Is one still an SXT and the other still a Hellcat? Imo, I say no. Is one more valuable than the other? Imo, I say no. They are both full dedicated Challenger race cars. One started as a Hellcat, one started as an SXT. But they are both no longer those things. Imo. No offense meant in anyway, Tony.
Really, this is a slippery slope and polarizing, like talking politics.o_O :p .
 


Jack_Toepfer

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#53
So you're saying that they started life as an SXT and a Hellcat, right? They weren't born of tubes, but subframes and formed sheetmetal... right?
If so, one is certainly a Hellcat and the other is an SXT - if you're referring to them by their Make/Model.
If you want to call them both racecars and say that one cost 3x as much to buy as the other one, then nobody cares whether or not it is a HC or not.
At the end of the day, the car came with the badge and the vin, and it will retain them.

I bet when you call the insurance company with a brand new Hellcat, you insure it as such. Doesn't matter which mods were done... they still go by the VIN. Good luck getting $60k out of a totalled SXT because you put a blower on it. :)

But I see where you're coming from and you're allowed your opinion, and that is why I ask - at what point was it no longer a Hellcat to you? That's what I'm looking for. I think I've voiced my opinion that it still is, I'd like to know when your opinion changed.

And Eplings could give a shit what either of us think, so they're not the least concerned with our conversation :)
I met the 007 Boys in Ohio, what a great group.
 


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#54
Jack, and @Marc W and @WhipCat you're taking this totally the wrong way. Like it's a personal attack on the Epling's, what they accomplished, and their integrity. Or the Hellcat name itself for that matter. It's not.
Let me say this another way: If two separate people built two IDENTICAL Challenger race cars right down to the color, on full tube chassis' with pro mod engines, complete revamps with the same aftermarket parts etc., etc.,..add infinitum (exact twins). The only original OEM parts left was the metal skins they both left the factory with. But one guy started with an SXT and the other guy started with a Hellcat. Is one still an SXT and the other still a Hellcat? Imo, I say no. Is one more valuable than the other? Imo, I say no. They are both full dedicated Challenger race cars. One started as a Hellcat, one started as an SXT. But they are both no longer those things. Imo. No offense meant in anyway, Tony.
Really, this is a slippery slope and polarizing, like talking politics.o_O:p .
Except one of them would be a hellcat though
 


Marc W

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#55
Jack, and @Marc W and @WhipCat you're taking this totally the wrong way. Like it's a personal attack on the Epling's, what they accomplished, and their integrity. Or the Hellcat name itself for that matter. It's not.
Let me say this another way: If two separate people built two IDENTICAL Challenger race cars right down to the color, on full tube chassis' with pro mod engines, complete revamps with the same aftermarket parts etc., etc.,..add infinitum (exact twins). The only original OEM parts left was the metal skins they both left the factory with. But one guy started with an SXT and the other guy started with a Hellcat. Is one still an SXT and the other still a Hellcat? Imo, I say no. Is one more valuable than the other? Imo, I say no. They are both full dedicated Challenger race cars. One started as a Hellcat, one started as an SXT. But they are both no longer those things. Imo. No offense meant in anyway, Tony.
Really, this is a slippery slope and polarizing, like talking politics.o_O:p .
I will agree that full tube chassis is nothing but a race car. Those setups don’t even start with a car. They start with a pile of tubing so a Hellcat or whatever really never gets involved. I agree that pulling the fenders with the Hellcat head on them and hanging them on a tube chassis Pro Mod would not make it a Hellcat. I’m not defending the Eplings. They don’t need that but 007 started as a Hellcat and has progressed over the years as a Hellcat and there’s a lot of that original car left. So in my opinion it’s still a Hellcat. My car doesn’t have anything but a 6.2 based block left of the engine. The trans is aftermarket as is the driveshaft, complete rear end including axles, brakes and wheels. In other words..... nothing left of the original engine/drivetrain. But ..... The full body and interior is pretty much the way I drove it off the showroom three years ago except for the seats and added roll cage. Rest assured I do not take any of a agreement to disagree personally. I’m sure that there are those that would say my car is no longer a Hellcat. That would most likely be an excuse right after I blew their doors off 😂. BTW.... I just got back from a very pleasant 30 mile drive into town getting all of 3.3 mpg. Anyway...... here’s a picture of a “Challenger” that I would agree is NOT a Hellcat. That’s me sitting in it while it cools down from a 260mph quarter mile pass. 0E7FA215-37A0-4F96-A84F-84C924A9987D.jpeg
 


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coolblue

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#56
So you're saying that they started life as an SXT and a Hellcat, right? They weren't born of tubes, but subframes and formed sheetmetal... right?
If so, one is certainly a Hellcat and the other is an SXT - if you're referring to them by their Make/Model.
If you want to call them both racecars and say that one cost 3x as much to buy as the other one, then nobody cares whether or not it is a HC or not.
At the end of the day, the car came with the badge and the vin, and it will retain them.

I bet when you call the insurance company with a brand new Hellcat, you insure it as such. Doesn't matter which mods were done... they still go by the VIN. Good luck getting $60k out of a totalled SXT because you put a blower on it. :)

But I see where you're coming from and you're allowed your opinion, and that is why I ask - at what point was it no longer a Hellcat to you? That's what I'm looking for. I think I've voiced my opinion that it still is, I'd like to know when your opinion changed.

And Eplings could give a shit what either of us think, so they're not the least concerned with our conversation :)
I met the 007 Boys in Ohio, what a great group.
So then that's it. Your definition or line is the actual tag (as I guess, that's what a lot guys definition/ line is). That's fine. Mine is the hard parts that form the body of the car. Once you're down to those essentials. Fenders are fenders, doors are doors, glass and many others, all interchange and are made with the same tooling and dies etc. and all are the same. The only thing that makes the difference is the options added and the guy who ordered it at the dealer, which are all long gone at race car level. Which again also leads back to the circle of 'tag' job or rebody.
 


coolblue

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#57
Except one of them would be a hellcat though
Dude....your unwavering and hardcore. You got a Hellcat tat, don't you. Be honest. :p
 


WhipCat

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#58
Dude....your unwavering and hardcore. You got a Hellcat tat, don't you. Be honest. :p
lol. No hellcat tat. Just a guy that likes race cars.

what a car started life as should always be taken into account. That’s all. It might be a Frankenstein monster after all the mods, but it was that car when it started.
 


Marc W

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#59
lol. No hellcat tat. Just a guy that likes race cars.

what a car started life as should always be taken into account. That’s all. It might be a Frankenstein monster after all the mods, but it was that car when it started.
Speaking of Frankenstein monsters. Wtf you doing with yours?
 


Linda's Hell Cat

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#60
@coolblue
This was my answer.

"The guys who have built their Challengers or Chargers are going to not care yours is a "Hell Cat".
They will say I've got the fastest Challenger or Charger"

My Husband Top Cat beleived a Hellcat was the car that had the supercharger and Hemi running.

Eplings Car has a KB supercharger and a Hemi + the Hellcat Vin

The thing that everyone should be paying attention to is at the level 007 continues to be built for the Eplings are doing right for speed and safety.
These kinds of builds bring new parts to market.

Linda :)
 




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