Re-body 1970 v code charger

[DAY CLONA]

Put three identical cars up for sale at the same time, a rebody, a perfectly restored to oem day one lookalike original and a low mileage survivor.  I wonder what one brings the most interest?

I'd take the one that meets my criteria for desirability and price, rebodied or not....

[DAY CLONA]

Show the same exact things to the Feds & see who learns what. ;-)

First it was go ask your local DMV/RMV, then ask the State Police, so after individuals here have shown you the process for a rebody they have done, or are in process of,( I've been doing these since the late 70's at the bodyshop when we back-halved or rebodied a vehicle for customers/Insurance companies when you were still shitting in your diapers) now you want the Feds to be notified, who's next on your list?, God?... because all you have left is the "ethics" card to play

VIN laws were written many decades ago to curtail stolen vehicle identity being altered, not the reconstruction/restoration of legally own vehicles

In case you don't stay on top of things, Dynacorn and it's licensed replacement body distributors/builders "lobbied" the FED for the upper cowl 22" width transplant (prior to that the entire cowl/firewall was required) into replacement bodies which applies to ANYONE performing this task...

[AKcharger]

Hi Everyone!

[birdsandbees]

I got excited when I saw that loose 70 Superbee tag and had to check the numbers on a car I had that somebody had taken the tag off (prior to me owning)
I owned a Lime light 70 Superbee with the body numbers : GO144998. It was missing the vin tag when I bought it and am still looking for the car that's wearing it

Read the tag again, it's off my numbers matching '69. Tell me how you restore a dash panel to perfection if you're leaving the rust under the VIN tag to spread right back out again?? I'd like to know your secret...

[cbrestorations]

If I can pick off a Chinese rebody easy...ill take the American made rebody every time

[Homerr]

I have a few Midgets and it's interesting how practical the British are about rust.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rufKg6qT7M

Seems like it'd save a lot of Chargers (and other cars) and a lot of money if repop body shells could legally have the VIN moved over by a certified independent professional licensed by the state and have the VIN history amended to declare this work was done for anyone that did a public search.

To be clear: I'm talking about using a new replacement shell without a VIN as a donor.  Not using a 318 car as a donor.

Owners/sellers get a rust-free restoration; buyers would have easily accessed history and be able to make offers accordingly.  Original, unmolested cars would still likely be more valuable.  

I'm not a fan of our dumb laws which create this legal infighting, like here in this thread.

[cbrestorations]

It would be over 20k for a new stamped body which comes with a made in China sticker and fitment issues all over. Ide rather take one of my solid AMERICAN made bodies out of my stash that I paid around $500-5k for and use that to rebuild an r/t. They all came down the assembly line the same shell.
What would hurt value more...saying it's a complete new Chinese body or a rebodied original charger?

[Ghoste]

And although my personal opinion is that I don't care for or want a rebody, you raise a good point about the shell.  Another guy I know sums it up as the body is just that, a body.  It isn't squat until they attach a tag with numbers on it so therefore it is the tag that matters and that is all.
Both opinions are right.

[Kern Dog]

I would question the quality of work if I were to hear about a car that was patched together from 5 different donor cars. It is easy to hide poor prep, bad welds with poor penetration and untreated metal. Nothing beats unrusted, unwrecked original cars.

[Mike DC]

 

Insert Quote
I would question the quality of work if I were to hear about a car that was patched together from 5 different donor cars. It is easy to hide poor prep, bad welds with poor penetration and untreated metal. Nothing beats unrusted, unwrecked original cars.

Skip to 0:45.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST6FQV2GBIk

A few minutes earlier this guy would have probably said his quarter panel welds were fine.


IMO this is a serious lurking problem in this hobby.  Even a lot of respected shops turn out welds that look good and seal out rust, but don't have the strength.  It's a lot easier for a restorer to hit the metal with inadequate heat and get less warping to deal with at the finishing stage.

[Lennard]

  Get your facts straight.  The whole body is fiberglass except the roof according to the owner in one of his replies. No welds were holding that quarter panel on.
You guys are trying too hard to make things look bad.

[cbrestorations]

Get your facts straight.  The whole body is fiberglass except the roof according to the owner in one of his replies. No welds were holding that quarter panel on.
You guys are trying too hard to make things look bad.

I think he was just using that video as an exaggerated point of what bad welds could do Lennard

[Lennard]

No. They are both talking about "bad welds with poor penetration" and "welds that look good but don't have strength."

And then he comes up with a video of a quarter panel being ripped off and says: "A few minutes earlier this guy would have probably said his quarter panel welds were fine."

That last remark wouldn't make sense if he knew that car had fiberglass quarter panels.

[alfaitalia]

Agreed..even the "axle break" title looks dubious to me.slowing it down it just looks like he lost a wheel and it was just the wheel that tore all the GRP up.

That said I know of a guy that was killed when his 1980 (ish) Ford RS2000 broke in two after a relatively slow speed accident. Car was built from two halves . Even though all the original panel joints had been used the welding was not up to standard. It must be said that it was built by an amateur rather that a pro shop. Although I did not know the driver, unfortunately I did know the builder.

[J.Bond]

A properly trained licenced bodyman can half a car together with no issues what so ever. It has been going on since cars were invented and damaged. However, unless you were trained, you  would not know the proper procedure, and there is a very complex procedure. Now, keep in mind, most hacks can google, google is not a proper education. Had a chance to manage a large collision shop years ago, and was keen on paying attention to frame machine technics and major collision repair, had to be able to quote out repairs without losing my shirt.

The biggest problem believe it or not was employee's, if you did not pay attention to their skills , they could write off a job with a couple stupid cuts. So, it's not always the complexity of the job, but in most cases, the quality of skill the journeyman has acquired.

[6pkrtse]

True, I have seen it done. My Buddies Dad took a 68' Chevelle when we were younger that was rear ended & totaled. He found another 68' Chevelle that was in a front end collision & parted out for it's drivetrain. He replaced the doors on the project car & cut the two cars in half & spliced them together. Once done you could never even tell. In fact the car wound up in the next local Autorama. It was that nice when he was done. He still does work out of his garage/now pole barn to this day. He makes a killing too. Always makes way more per year on side money than he does at his collision job at the dealership but still works for the insurance & benny's.

[Challenger340]

I think it's the whole cost thing associated with doing a restoration properly on a rusty/too far gone rare/desireable VIN type candidate ?  that elevates the discussion to viability and ethics around a simple "rebody" VIN swap approach onto a far better and cheaper example to restore and bring back.

I would expect to see more and more "rebody" desireable/rare VIN examples showing up as time moves forward, and once restored, some may be extremely difficult to tell for the average layman Buyer ?

I also believe those rare/desireable VIN type examples are the ones people should be most suspicious of rebody, due to the "more to gain" by doing it motivation. 

I mean what's the profit motivation in swapping a VIN from a rusty/too far gone 318 car, onto another albeit more solid 383-2 BBL Shell Car ? 
however,
if you can swap an R/T 440 VIN/Tag/and a few body stampings re-welded in on that solid 318/383 Car..... BIGGER bucks to be had !

Just say'in....
If I was a Buyer in the market acquiring a "restored" rare/desireable R/T or Hemi example etc., re-body potential should always be a far higher focus in the criterion during inspection, versus those with some survivor/semi-survivor history.

I know of just such a "restoration" on a 1969 RoadRunner completed in the 1990's, and today stands as an older "restoration", untraceable, albeit, was once a Sport satellite !

[Mike DC]

  

Roll Eyes Get your facts straight.  The whole body is fiberglass except the roof according to the owner in one of his replies. No welds were holding that quarter panel on.
You guys are trying too hard to make things look bad.

I didn't know whether it was glass or steel in the video and I didn't really care.  I was just making a point.  

There are cars all over this hobby with welds not as strong as they need to be.  The problem lurks because very few restored cars get crash-tested or driven very hard.  

 

[Bdlakey]

I own and operate a restoration shop and I get cars here all the time that have been "restored" and actually look pretty dang good. They come in for minor repairs and once we get into them, they are horribly done. There are getting fewer and fewer metal guys out there and more parts changers and mud guys. I have been into cars that have been done buy guys that's been in business for 30 years and are just as crappy done as a newbie. 

As to the car, I'm going to salvage the firewall and as much of the floor structer as possible.

[Moparpoolman]

Any pictures of the car and how burnt it got?

[BIGBLCK11]

I am in no way a numbers guy, but it's a plus for value surely.  But this is the reason why it matters:

If it was a 318 car that burnt I wouldn't think twice about it but being the car it is, if there is anyway of keeping it a true 6 pac car

The V code is dead, the 318 car will not be a "TRUE" 6 pack.  Make it a clone/replica with 318 numbers.  Why move the numbers at all if it does not matter. 

[Lennard]

 

[BIGBLCK11]

Dead horses still have value.   


A boy named Chuck moved to Montana and bought a horse from a farmer for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the horse the next day. The next day he drove up and said, 'Sorry, son, but I have some bad news. The horse died.' Chuck replied, 'Well, then just give me my money back.' The farmer said, 'Can't do that. I went and spent it already.' Chuck said, 'OK, then just bring me the dead horse.'

The farmer asked, 'What are you going to do with him?' Chuck said, 'I'm going to raffle him off.' The farmer said, 'You can't raffle off a dead horse!' Chuck said, 'Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead.' A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, 'What happened with that dead horse?' Chuck said, 'I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece and made a net profit of $898.'The farmer said, 'Didn't anyone complain?' Chuck said, 'Just the guy who won. So I gave him his money back.'

[chargervert]

There is no need to rebody the car. Other than some inner roof structure pieces,every other part of the car can be bought from Auto Metal Direct. Cutoff everything that is damaged,and reconstruct it with some donor roof structure pieces and new metal. Just Check out the thread on Ted Stevens Daytona in the Aero car section on here.

[Bdlakey]

The car was under another car on a lift. When the collection burnt the upper car fell on the 70. I'm not reboding, I'm using the firewall and floor so the numbers arnt getting moved. No difference in buying a completely rusted out car and putting China metal on it 😂😂😂