Another Trim Tag for the Books, X33

[Rick H]

Now what happens if say during a 5-10 year restoration on a legit L-78, Z/28 or whatever you lose the trim tag that was removed because you wanted the firewall to be perfect on your high dollar car? Or you had to remove it to replace a piece of rotted firewall. Whatever.

Maybe it got misplaced or maybe the wife or whoever thought the tag was just another piece of metal with no reason and threw it away. Hey, it happens.

What are you suppose to do? Nothing? Leave the firewall bare? Try to explain to every Tom, Dick or Harry that wants to pick your car apart at the local car show that your brand spanky new restored Camaro is a true Z/28 but you can't prove that because the tag is missing.

Or do you have a new tag made for the car and let some other so called experts disclaim your car because you had a tag made to replace the original that was lost?

As stated Norwood cars without paperwork would be torn apart with a new tag installed. Legit cars with replacement tags could be hurt just by the fact that certain individuals have a beef with replacement tags.

I myself do not have a problem with that as long as the car is truely what is represented by the replacement tag. Nothing more.

Rick H.

[Leonard1]

I see what you are saying, Rick, that would be a tough situation to be in. The car is always going to be called into question, imo, regardless of what he does.

Is having a repop tag made any different than stamping a new POP, if it were missing? I guess my question is: where is the line drawn? We are getting pretty deep into a gray area here.

[Lynn]

Rick:

While I understand your point, I must respectfully disagree. By that logic, what if I had a legitimate L78 car and during restoration the block fell of the engine stand and was damaged beyond repair? What do I do? Well, I get some guy to fake stamp another one, right? No. You put a legit L78 "correct but NOM" engine in and just live with the history of the car.

No doubt there are a few hard luck stories out there. Frankly I can't imagine "misplacing" a trim tag on a highly desirable car. That scenario can't represent more than a fraction of 1% of the cars out there. Hardly justifies the industry of "repro" tags that result in so many fake cars being misrepresented.

Just my 2 cents.

Lynn

[Seattle Sam]

[ QUOTE ]
Now what happens if say during a 5-10 year restoration on a legit L-78, Z/28 or whatever you lose the trim tag that was removed because you wanted the firewall to be perfect on your high dollar car? Or you had to remove it to replace a piece of rotted firewall. Whatever.

Maybe it got misplaced or maybe the wife or whoever thought the tag was just another piece of metal with no reason and threw it away. Hey, it happens.



[/ QUOTE ]

Well, what happens if you go to the bank and draw out $50,000 in cash, and put it in a bag, then you leave the bag on top of your car when you drive off? If you don't find it when you re-trace your steps, I think you're just out of luck!

[Rick H]

Lynn,
Some good points about the motor situation but in my opinion different then replacing a a lost tag. If you cracked the block do you throw away all of the other correct components?? Don't think so. You replace the block not the entire motor.

10 years ago when said individual started his restoration by scrapping pennies just how desirable was his car then? Or did he even have an idea his car was that rare or desirable. Probably not.

I talk to people all the time who said that 10-20 years ago they never had an idea what they had or imagined that their cars would be worth so much today so do you really think they cared about a little piece of metal with numbers stamped into it? I don't think so and I stand by that. That's my opinion.

Good argument though.

Rick H.

[Rick H]

[ QUOTE ]

Well, what happens if you go to the bank and draw out $50,000 in cash, and put it in a bag, then you leave the bag on top of your car when you drive off?

[/ QUOTE ]

Sam,

Hmmm, If you forget in the ten minutes it took you to get the money that it was on the roof and you drove off, you deserve what you get.

But forgeting where the tag was placed 10 years ago is a different ball game.

I don't buy it.

Rick H.

[Lynn]

Jeff:

We will obviously have to agree to disagree here. I first found out that Norwood Z/28's had either an X77 or X33 code in the late 70's. Read about it in an article in Popular Hotrodding on spotting fake Z/28's. Even then most folks knew the muscle cars were special. Information was surfacing on Z11's Z10's and even COPO and ZL1 cars. No, we didn't have any idea how valuable they would become, but we sure missed the muscle car days, and that made these cars special.

I also find it hard to believe someone would simply misplace his trim tag because he started his restoration 10 years ago. The car is obviously something special to him, or he isn't restoring it. But, for the sake of discussion, let's say your hypothetical guy really did "misplace" his trim tag. How many such guys can there be out there? Anyone on this board have an actual experience where they just "lost" a trim tag, or had a friend lose one? I still say, if the tag is "lost". just leave it off and live with that history of the car. A fake tag doesn't offer up any "documentation" of the cars originality, any more than a fake POP would.

I bought my first Z/28 in 1971 as a theft recovery. Found the original POP in the glove box. Even remember the guy's name. What did I do with it? Pitched it in the trash, because I surely would not have been able to have any warranty work done on it.

There are hardly enough "lost" tag stories out there to justify the fake tag makers. Let's face it, the only reason there is a tag industry is to deceive, not to restore.

Lynn

[BARN FIND]

Although I have not had this happen on my cars, I do know of quite a few 2ND Gen Camaros that have lift off fiberglas hoods that HAD TO drill right through the body plate to mount the drivers side rear hood pin. It sure would be nice to be able replace the plate when a restoration is done on the car don't you think? And yes there are quite a few of these cars out there with a hole in the plate for a pin.

[Rick H]

I believe as well that there are people having tags made to deceive which is wrong BUT I find nothing wrong with having a replacement tag made as long as it conforms to the original.

Have a safe 4th.

Rick H.

[SamLBInj]

The only way to legitimize the replacement trim tag is to let the federal or state governments step in and control it. If you retag the car it should then be listed on the cars title as such and then any buyer would have this information before the purchase. Otherwise it is 99.9% being used to defraud.