so this 71 Hemi cuda is a rebody huh?

[sprecks]

If I had to make a list of what is original and another for what has been replaced on my car, the original list would be a whole lot shorter. Doesn't bother me. Call it a re-body? OK, doesn't matter to me one way or the other. It is what it is. I have fun with it and that's what really matters. I didn't build my car with any intent on making money with it. 

[ChallengerHK]

  

[msbaugh]

Just to play Devil's advocate, what if you've got a car that needs floor pans, trunk pans, both quarters, and the roof replaced. Or, in the more extreme example, you do what my friend said: build a jig for the cowl, and remove and replace every other piece of metal. Is that the same car?

PErhaps. Or, they might start restoring them for the love of the car, instead of keeping a mental balance sheet for the duration of the restoration, and calculating how much money they stand to make.

Good point on that last comment! Except that already happens! Personally I couldnt give a rats ass about million dollar rich man cars. I bought an "original" /6 and now it's got a 440. I drive it every chance I get, and in my eyes, an original 440 challenger is no better than mine. The 14 original hemis belong in millionares garages and museums, real cars are ones that get driven :-p

[Chryco Psycho]

I guess my take on this is that if you have the original body & it is a basket case , virtually every piece of the unibody has to be replaced I still do not see it as a rebody , it is not like the original body will be found & create a 15th car , you are still rebuilding an original documented car , if I bought a car [like I could ] that was professionally restored ground up & was not a built from a /6 body I would nto be disappointed you still have the Real car .

[Tonefiend]

How about if I take my nice, clean, almost rust free California car, then take the sawn out pieces of the body that have numbers and splice them in. Then take the matching motor, trans, axle, and whatever else is identifiable nad bolt them in and build the rest to the fender tag and build sheet.  Is it an original numbers matching car?

Basically if someone wrapped a hemi around a tree could I swap the parts and numbers over and call it an original car?

[TorOrange]

How about if I take my nice, clean, almost rust free California car, then take the sawn out pieces of the body that have numbers and splice them in. Then take the matching motor, trans, axle, and whatever else is identifiable nad bolt them in and build the rest to the fender tag and build sheet.  Is it an original numbers matching car?

Basically if someone wrapped a hemi around a tree could I swap the parts and numbers over and call it an original car?

That's Illegal 

[Tonefiend]

That's Illegal 

Minor detail... 

[TinCuda]

I think that the bottom line will fall mainly on intent.  If you build, rebuild, restore, or whatever a car with the intent to fraud.   You are getting into re-body territory.  Otherwise, no problems.


Oh, and just on a side note, my car looks better...lol


.,

[torredcuda]

I guess my take on this is that if you have the original body & it is a basket case , virtually every piece of the unibody has to be replaced I still do not see it as a rebody , it is not like the original body will be found & create a 15th car , you are still rebuilding an original documented car , if I bought a car [like I could ] that was professionally restored ground up & was not a built from a /6 body I would nto be disappointed you still have the Real car .

  Exactly!

[ChallengerHK]

I guess my take on this is that if you have the original body & it is a basket case , virtually every piece of the unibody has to be replaced I still do not see it as a rebody , it is not like the original body will be found & create a 15th car , you are still rebuilding an original documented car , if I bought a car [like I could ] that was professionally restored ground up & was not a built from a /6 body I would nto be disappointed you still have the Real car .

I'll take this a step farther. The original point of the VIN was to identify a specific car, to make it easier to identify one that was stolen. That number and all its associated numbers have become a holy grail for many, and the primary reason is money, i.e., how much income selling a car can generate. If this were not the case, then instead of rebodying any vehicle, people would go get a state issued VIN and not worry about it. It's not the cars, it's not driving the cars, owning the cars or keeping the cars alive. It's the money.

[painterjohn]

ok FNG here.. but I have a few questions about "rebody" vs "restoration"

IF a factory Slant 6 car (or what ever) gets converted later on to a "whatever" and ALL of the tags are swapped correctly, and all of the parts used are factory stuff (perhaps from several different donor cars), who would know it was ever done? Since VINs werent stamped in to the block until later
Did the factory stamp the sheet metal anywhere with the VIN back then? 

If a car ONLY receives exterior body panel replacement, IE Fenders, hood, quarter panels, trunk lid, valence(s), and even roof skin.. Yet structural components are still OEM, such as firewall, wheel houses A pillars, roof structures etc etc.. would that considered a "restoration" or a "rebody"? Exterior sheet metal is designed to be replaced (well sorta)

IF a car started life as an AAR, or whatever and was sold in the Northeast and the salty roads ate it beyond panel repair, Fire wall rust, trunk floor, floor pans, Package tray, and other structural sheet metal.. and someone actually took the time to replace every piece of sheet metal with Factory approved panels. Wouldnt that make it a completely different car?

 

[TorOrange]

The cowl and Radiator support got stamped with the vin sequence number.

Restoration to your second question.

As for the third one I'll leave that one alone 

[AARuFAST]

A car that is  totaled and someone purchased it from the salvage yard the title would have salvage on it.
It is against  (State) law to change the vin fender tag from a /6 to hemi or install it on to another car.

What is wrong with restoring your rust bucket into the original factory looking car.

I wouldn't be happy with purchasing a car that is pieced together for  example overlap quarter panels with mud.
I would prefer if the restoraton be full quarter panel with the section of rear roof like factory installation. 

Does taking a 70 Barracuda  /6 cloning it into a hemi 'Cuda with a correct year hemi w/full HD hemi suspension installed into the /6
make it a factory hemi 'Cuda?
Its like taking a plum (hemi motor)  and peach (Barracuda /6  and calling it a nectarine.  You made it into something that it is not.

It's more a personal matter. Example, I couldn't own a hemi 'Cuda, so I want to make my Barracuda  /6 one.  Fine but do you think it should bring big
bucks...? 
If you watch the car auctions,  clones get BIG BUCKS.   
Why?  it still puzzles me. 
Would Hagerty or Taylors accept your clone as full value as a hemi 'Cuda.
Or will they accept it as a restored like new factory Barracuda /6 period?

[painterjohn]

yeah I know what you mean.. State laws forbid that kinda stuff. But that doesnt stop some people I guess.
the state doesnt care about build codes and stuff.. just the VIN.. so swapping stuff around and changing **** (if purchased legally) COULD be done, and even the best judge would be hard pressed to tell if it was done right.

Personally I dont care about matching build tags and such.. I like what people did after they bought the car to make it their own. Id much rather see a car that some guy busted his ass on to make it the best he could with what he had to work with, than some douche pull up to the show with a brand new Vette with a dealer tag and show his car, hoping to get a trophy

[painterjohn]

but thats not to say Id ever take anything away from the guy who busted his ass to make it back to OEM spec.. that takes even more work and love..

I just hate it when I see a great looking car, and people start picking at it, saying "well in 70 they did have chrome radio knobs" or "Thats not the correct battery" or even "that engine is from a 68, and its a big block, and its the wrong color, and its missing the aircleaner.. etc etc..
WHO CARES? thats how the guy wanted it..