Body in White vs. Full Restoration, Food for Thought Options

[GTPatrick]

Since there is another thread on new bodies in white for other cars by Tom T. , Mustang , Camaro , etc. ,. I thought that I'd put out some food for thought questions concerning the same subject .

Knowing what was said that if a body in white were used to rebuild/restore a car , say a real rust bucket 914 , it would have to be registered as a new car under another name . Right/wrong ?

If that were so , then when one restores a rust bucket 914 or 914-6 / Then at what point does the amount of new parts or rebuiling of old parts turn it into a building of a new car vs. a restoration ? 20% new parts , 50 % new parts , 75% new parts , 90% new parts or even 99% new parts ? Is there a real difference ?

But if someone were to use a new body in white and use the rest of an old rust bucket 914 parts aren't you coming at it from a slightly different angle but still keeping at a restoration level since say you are using 50% or whatever level old 914 amount of parts as you would have used in the previous paragraph ?

It seems to be just about semantics and how one interprets the reasoning ? What laws and other legalities determine what's a restoration is versus a whole new build ? What laws and other legalities determine what % amount of parts determines it a restoration versus a new build ? Does the law even make any legal determination as to what legally defines the meaning of new parts ,restoration or new build mean ?

It's kind of luck looking at a fence from one side or another of that fence with 2 or more people trying to determine or define what it is . Either way it is still a fence no matter what side you are standing on .

Does anyone have any thoughts on this ? Any real facts or information out there that is actually fact and not fiction ?


GTP (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)

[Tom_T]

When first discussing body-in-white builds last year, I was told by a guy who is currently a PCNA Regional Service Mgr. - who was with several SoCal dealerships back in the 70's-80's, who said that it was rarely done, but he knew of a few.

He said that so long as a dealer or body shop did it & properly replaced the original car's VIN info to the new assembly - say after a brutal accident - that Calif. DMV accepted it at the original car as repaired. That was then & before the salvage vehicle laws came into effect - and declaring a car salvage is primarily done by the insurance companies' declaring it a total loss. He wasn't sure about how a body-in-white would be handled by DMV now, and pointed out that it varied from state to state DMV as to how they handle it.

Perhaps the current state of affairs could best be answered by someone in a particular person's state who has actually done one of the Mustang, Camaro, etc. body swaps & registered it.

I like the idea above that building around a car & transferring VIN & other id. numbers to the new sheetmetal - whether parts or and entire body shell, but whether a particular state's DMV/BMV/etc. will accept that or something else (e.g.: a new salvage or kit car title) would be best answered at the DMV/BMV.

[scott_in_nh]

I like the idea above that building around a car & transferring VIN & other id. numbers to the new sheetmetal - whether parts or and entire body shell, but whether a particular state's DMV/BMV/etc. will accept that or something else (e.g.: a new salvage or kit car title) would be best answered at the DMV/BMV.

In my scenario you have a 69 Camaro with a clean title. Maybe its been in your garage for 20 years and it is rusted out.
You rebuild the car using a new unibody (put your existing VIN tags on it), part out and destroy the old unibody.
Register the car and take it to the garage for a safety inspection.
They check the VIN, the car passes the safety inspection and you are legal.

In theory if someone supplied me with a new tub I do not see what would stop me from doing this with my exisiting 74 2.0

If I kept it registered and the rebuilt car passed the annual inspection that would be the end of it.