rebodied with out salvage a title

[Charley Lillard]

tubbed is when you want to put a really large tire under a car you cut out the wheel houses and parts of the floor to accomidate the large wheels. Camaros are unibody so usually you are also cutting out the part of the floor that incorporates the frame. Then some new Iron is usually to tied subframe connectors that now hold the rear suspension. Basically you are cutting out most of the floor in the back half of the car.

[Mr. T]

Thanks Charley. I knew it had something to do with racing.

[jimbo]

It is my understanding in Michigan that a firewall with a VIN is a car. You can replace anything forward or back as long as the VIN tag does not come off.A rebody ,in my eyes, would be removing the VIN tag and putting it on another body. If a VIN tag is removed, replace a dash panel on a Camaro or a windshield pillar on a Vette the state issues a new VIN and title. I believe it will be an assembled title.Street rods usually have VINs like this.

[Charley Lillard]

And to really screw things up... Many first Gen Camaros have had their Dashes replaced because of rust at the base of the windshield. To do that you have to remove the vin plate from the old dash and attach it to the new one..Would that constitute a rebody ?

[njsteve]

[ QUOTE ]
And to really screw things up... Many first Gen Camaros have had their Dashes replaced because of rust at the base of the windshield. To do that you have to remove the vin plate from the old dash and attach it to the new one..Would that constitute a rebody ?

[/ QUOTE ]

In a word...No. In this situation you are repairing a car, removing the VIN and then putting it back on the same car. At least on most GM vehicles the VIN plate is rivited to something metal. The scariest thing are the e-body Mopars (cudas and challengers) the VIN plate is rivited to the dashpad which is completely unboltable from the car. I have heard of horror stories of many a bone-head pulling out their dash to be reuphostered by Year One or other companies and leaving the VIN plate still attached, then getting the dash back minus the VIN plate. Year One used to warn people that under Georgia law, if they received the pad with the VIN plate attached, they had to turn the VIN tag over to the DMV. -OUCH!

[Norm reynolds]

Charley I do not feel that would be considered a re body you are putting it back on the same car A re-body to me is when you take the vin and trim tag and put them on a different car or when some one takes the fire wall and weld it up to a different car

[sixtiesmuscle]

As a wise man said recently, opinions will vary on what a "rebody" is. We just have to agree to disagree, and, move on. The problem, as I see it, is compounded when a person who "heard about" what was done to a cetain car, takes that limited information, and, applies THEIR definition to the work done. My feeling is, unless YOU saw the work being done, or, accurate pictures to back up your opinion, it's better to keep your opinion to your self.

[SULLY]

Hi Guys. Thought I would jump in here.
I am a long time reader and first time poster.
I don't think we will ever be able to agree on what
constitutes a "rebody". The problem that we have on the
post about a certain car that was deleted is if this forum should allow people to post negative information about
someones car. Whether the info is true or untrue is NOT
the point the "damage has been done". People will remember
years later and question the car. That being said I should say (before someone else does) that I do own a 69 Yenko Camaro that was crashed in Nov of 71. The car was damaged down the right side along with severe cowl damage. It was repaired back then with some new sheet metal and a used door. The cowl and front floor were hammered out the best they could. When I bought the car almost 4 years ago I was well aware of the damage. After having several body and frame people look at it it was decided by me to replace the cowl along with most of the front floor. I also replaced the right 1/4 and outer wheelhouse as it had been brazed on. I found a donor car and had it done. It is documented by pictures. This is a 13,000 mile original engine car.
Do I have a Yenko? a Rebody? Several people on this board know this car and what has been done. I think it would be hard for me to sell this car without giving someone this information. It is only right. The car is now in it's final
assembly stage and I will post a picture soon.

Thanks..........Sully

[bbg]

I have been associated with paint and body work in NC for many years. Cars here are classified as "totaled" not so much by the amount of damage, but by the dollar cost to repair the vehicle. Several factors are considered such as the value of the vehicle per NADA, and the salvage value of the vehicle. If it is decided not to repair the vehicle, often the owner has the chance to buy the vehicle back and the title is unchanged. If it is sold as salvage the titles are turned in to the state. If it is then bought to be rebuilt it is inspected upon completion by the DMV and a salvage title is issued so the potential buyer is aware it was salvaged out. There are a lot of fairly new high end vehicles repaired with substantial damage though that is done so at the direction of the insurance company. It is about economics. What is the most cost effective solution. Insurance companies here can specify used parts which drastically reduces the actual repair costs. The better salvage yards here even inventory vehicles by color and often you can request a door, pickup truck bed, etc. in the color you need and surf the hotlines for yards until you find it. These are well run, quality yards that sell only quality parts with no or minimal damage. You don't wander around in these yards either. They no longer view their parts as junk, and do not want someone carelessly opening a door into another door and damaging it. Yes, you may have to paint the exterior of the door and blend it to the rest of the car, but you wont have to break it down to trim it out. Of course this is a substantial labor savings for the insurance company and actually gives you a better repair as it is an undisturbed original part with factory paint, noise deadeners, rust preventatives, etc. I personally would much rather have a good clean used door or fender as a new one. An example that comes to mind was a new Lincoln 2 door. It was hit hard in the rear end and nearly flat to the back glass. A rear clip was located in the same color and the car cut in half at the floor pan and the windshield post. The rear clip was perfect as received and when welded on the only paint needed was about a foot on the windshield posts and 2 feet on the rocker. The paint matched perfect. This car was repaired in 4 days and looked great. Granted it would be really great if it had not been hit, but I think this repair was much better than ordering the rear structure in pieces and building it back. Another was a pickup truck that was reframed. Try it. That is a job. I could go on and on but clipping is an accepted industry standard and heavy damage will be repaired if it is monetarily feasible, and industry standards regard the repair as safe if done by a reputable certified shop. As to how this relates to Camaros, the COPO, Yenko, ZL1, etc. were quite expensive when new and I think the majority of owners were of higher income and treated them with more respect than the 18 year old kid who bought a Z or a SS. There were no exotics here in our town. 302, 350, 396, yes. I don't remember any of the 69 camaros here that didn't have some damage to them at one time or another. As to now this is the rust belt and they have a lot of rust in the lower body. As I said earlier, granted I would like to have all my cars virgin, rustfree, never damaged time machines that I found in my grandmother's barn, but the reality of it is there are more that need repairs, and some of them extensive than there are survivors. I would rather have a clipped car myself with a super clip than one that had to have rockers, floors, trunk, wheel housings, quarters, tail panel, etc. but I hear no compaints about those. You talk about a quality construction issue - now you have one. If you put all this on a car would this not come close to the replacing half the car scenario mentioned earlier? Just some thoughts. You know you can repair them several times. Over and over if need be. You can redo them again later too as technology changes if you feel so led. But you can only throw them away once.

[Belair62]

Point well taken....sounds like hard work...what are your thoughts on tagging a car ?