Re- body

[Kingcoffee]

Is it wrong to re-body matching chassis and tags ?

[playwme]

Yep.

[ambientgoat]

http://www.mysandman.com.au/forums/s...till-a-Samdman

Read here, draw your own conclusions

[jaft]

i think so...

[wbute]

Oh not this debate again. How do you know it already hasn't?

[Kingcoffee]

http://www.mysandman.com.au/forums/s...till-a-Samdman

Read here, draw your own conclusions

Very interesting reading

[Vombil]

ok so you have a car that is worth some money due to rarity or demand but has a knackered body... would you rather see it wrecked out and never grace the roads again OR given a new body from a vanilla variety vehicle? I know id rather see that car remain on the road with a new lease on life providing it was declared at the time of sale. it might not be the right thing to do if you are on your moral high horse but economically and realistically it is the best option. consider this... would you rather buy a sandman that comprises countless rust repair sections and a firewall and roof etc from another car (ie just a repaired rust bucket) or a sandman (both in id tags and appearance) but with a great body from a n/a commercial that has been in a old mans garage or out on a dry farm its entire life? if you are playing for keeps then I would take the rebody option as i wouldnt be worried about chasing rust every time it got wet

[SLR_dave]

This may never end.

This will perhaps always be a difficult question for collector car clubs, many enthusiasts will have seriously restored cars with many changes in original parts representing heaps of money (and love or pride or more) to those members. Some changes will be major, some will be less so, very few cars will survive as totally original (whos still got an original radiator... or never changed the cracked dash pad, or..... has 1976 brake pads for instance).

However, changing the plates is a bigger step I think.

In my (humble) opinion, It would be wrong to rebadge/rebirth without acknowledging that it has been done for a buyer of the vehicle, or if the vehicles history is kept in such a way that deliberately disguises major body/chassis changes.

If there is no real alternative, and a the history of the changes made is recorded as best and honestly as possible, or some attempt at doing so is made, and the relevant RTA is notified of and approves or records the changes, and this is not hidden from a prospective buyer, or hidden in the vehicles history then so be it, it is done, the car is what it is, and can be judged by that in the future.
Perhaps this is a better alternative than both the original and the doner vehicle eventually/inevitably going to the crusher (ouch!). In that case it would be not be 'wrong', but a practical or rational decision. Further, if the changes/restore work is recorded well, than that record forms part of the history of the vehicle, and may one day be worth something in itself which adds to the value of the vehicle.
If the changes are hidden however, then thats different.
This is my opinion only I add.

Theres a heap of angles in this though. Lets suppose the vehicle is not a Sandman, not a Monaro, Torana, or other 70's icon, (30-40ish years old) lets suppose its an FJ or FC..... (60 ish years old) = its still worth a pretty penny in good nick regardless, and buying an FC to restore these days, or paying dollar for a a restored one, is a different thing to buying a 70's vehicle, you are buying the body shape mostly? no grumbles if the chassis is four years out? So give the HQ-WB another 20 years and see what happens?

But where now did I recently see somebody saying (for instance) that there are currently more Phase 3 GTOs registered in some form in Australia than the factory ever built.....

That said, it is of course most certainly illegal to 'rebirth' a body in such a way that the RTA or prospective buyers cant see it and deliberately hide it from them (I supose illegal counts as 'wrong'?)

[wbute]

As I said, how do you know your ridge didge Sandman isn't already re-bodied? Unless you owned it from new you don't.
It's probably not right though.

[Kingcoffee]

As I said, how do you know your ridge didge Sandman isn't already re-bodied? Unless you owned it from new you don't.
It's probably not right though.

The gentlemen has a set of xx7 plates tags and matching chassis for sale and also a hx van