Touchy subject

[Chevelle_Nut]

If you use the frame and engine from a legally titled car and cut and weld the vin plate and surrounding metal from the old body onto the new wouldn't that be legal?

[300Deluxe]

I personally don't mind that the bodies are being reproduced. I'm too much of a tight wad to ever puchase one at the price they're asking currently.

I understand the numbers guy's arguments, but we'll just have to be all the more savvy when we're interested in purchasing that next "matching numbers" Chevelle.

I think it's unlikely the the reprodution bodies match the originals EXACTLY. Once the experts are privy to the differences (i.e. steel thickness, bend radii, a depression here, and a spot weld there) we all should be able to tell if the car's been re-bodied.

[Garyb]

It's all about the money plain and simple.. just wish they weren't so expensive.

[Cameano]

Heck, if I had loads of cash to burn, I wouldn't mind building a nice pro-touring type starting with one of those bodies. Takes a lot of the hard work out of the equation. If you're going to drop $50k on a car, that's a great start.

[johnnys1977]

I talked to a friend that says he is ordering three! He has a 71 SS454 Convertible and 2 70 LS6 Chevelles that are rust buckets. He said he will use as much of the original cowl as is possible in his restoration but I know the one I delivered to him almost 20 years ago was rusted around the vin tag so I think he will do what he needs to do to put it ack to new condition.
He plans on selling the 2 70's when they are done.
I have seen guys replace all but the top half of the cowl and roof with donor parts or repro parts in their restorations. How is using this body any different if everything else is numbers matching and they are using the original frame?
I see nothing wrong as long as what they do is within their states laws.

We rebuilt a 6 month old truck that was totalled years ago. We used another cab. The owner didn't want a title that represented both vehicles.
The DOT Inspector we asked said if you use a substantial amount of the original sheet metal around the vin tag then you are just effecting a body repair! As long as you leave just as much sheet metal around the donors vin tag and leave it with it's original frame.
When he was asked what would be concidered a substantial amount of sheet metal he said 2'x2' should do it! Now another may have said something different but who knows?

[flash]

I think the more parts being made the better although that body is pricy. Hopefully the parts will get better.

[stevestrat]

Just doesn't seem rational to spend that kind of money on just the body. By the time you buy everything, I mean EVERYTHING else you will need, from door latches, to glass, dirvetrain, clips, screws, etc, you could be into the car for well over $50,000. With all that money spent, and then you have all the legal loopholes to jump through to get the car titled. Just doesn't seem worth it to me.
They must be selling some though because they started several years ago with only 67 Camaros and Mustangs. Now they make several different makes and models.
I would probably prefer to do a little more work, spend alot less money, and have a REAL Chevelle.

[christiansells]

very nice but overpriced in my opinion.$5000.00 would be a realistic price.just look at what biw factory vehicles sell for.

[68 nova 10.5]

450rdawg"This is a very pricey start tho that will require a lot more than you may think to get it right. The last full resto that we did was a 69 Buick GS Stage1 and yes it was a real Stage1. We replaced one quarter and just worked the rest of the car and that guy ended up with a bill just over $11,000 and that was a deal IMO considering it was a frame off job. All I'm saying is if you dump $15,000 in the shell alone, plan on spending another $10,000+ for the paint work. That's if you have a good hood, fenders, cowl panel cover, lower valence panel and wheel wells, which by the way you had to pay for already so that has to be figured into the price."

I am on the same page as you on this it seems like this would be a very exspensive proposition. With the quality of the aftermarket parts it seems for the home builder it would be very difficult to achieve even factory quality results in a build with out some sort of "professional help".
On the 69 stage 1 you guys did how long did it take?How many man hours were involved? also how bad was the rest of the car when started? Thanks Glenn

[450rdawg]

Originally Posted by 68 nova 10.5

450rdawg"This is a very pricey start tho that will require a lot more than you may think to get it right. The last full resto that we did was a 69 Buick GS Stage1 and yes it was a real Stage1. We replaced one quarter and just worked the rest of the car and that guy ended up with a bill just over $11,000 and that was a deal IMO considering it was a frame off job. All I'm saying is if you dump $15,000 in the shell alone, plan on spending another $10,000+ for the paint work. That's if you have a good hood, fenders, cowl panel cover, lower valence panel and wheel wells, which by the way you had to pay for already so that has to be figured into the price."

I am on the same page as you on this it seems like this would be a very exspensive proposition. With the quality of the aftermarket parts it seems for the home builder it would be very difficult to achieve even factory quality results in a build with out some sort of "professional help".
On the 69 stage 1 you guys did how long did it take?How many man hours were involved? also how bad was the rest of the car when started? Thanks Glenn

We had the car for almost 12 weeks. Most of the car was decent, the usual surface rust and lots of dings from 40 years of use. The only other major work the car required was around the back glass. We had to pretty much re-fab the lower channel and that was a job to say the least. The customer wanted it built as a driver car so we had to make preperations for that as well. We ended up with roughly 260 hours in the job including work spent prepping and painting the frame. He wanted POR15 on the frame; which I thought was a little strange but not a bad idea for a driver, and opted for full gloss on the wheel wells, fire wall, core support and cowl panel. We must have spent at least 20-25 hours just getting the cowl panel right. It was a little beat up. Beatiful car though (Twilight Blue Metallic)......I think that's the right color.