[rustedgoat]

Seems like reconstructing cars from the firewall back are ok with the Chevy, Ford and Mopar guys, so why should it different with us. If the law says moving a vin PLATE is illegal, it is. A repair to a vehicle is a repair, the originality is gone but it is still the vehicle. Grey areas exist where someone interprets it as I can cut 2" around the sheet metal and swap another shell under it. They technically did not remove the vin PLATE.

My opinion which is worth nothing legally, is the main structure where the the vin plate is attached to is not being altered so the vin would be legit. Your car is not original, its repaired. It is still a judge (which is tied to the vin) with a non-original drive train.

I remember a few times seeing building getting knocked down but they left the front wall and entrance. Put up a new building around it, then changed out the entrance area. I'm sure that was for some type of loophole.

[Murf]

I’m not a player in the collector market but don’t the buyers of these cars look for the “hidden” numbers on a possible purchase?


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[tooski]

Originally Posted by rustedgoat

I remember a few times seeing building getting knocked down but they left the front wall and entrance. Put up a new building around it, then changed out the entrance area. I'm sure that was for some type of loophole.

Not meaning to hijack, but that has something to do with municipal building codes. If you knock down a complete building, the new building will be 'new construction', which may not be allowed because of code changes. If you knock down 3/4 (or 9/10) of a building its is a renovation allowing the building to be retained regardless of code changes (grandfathering).

So, if 10% of the body needs replacing, it can be called a restoration. But if 90% of the body needs replacing, can it be still called a restoration, or a rebadging? At what % would be the demarcation?

[BertMac]

If you want to do the work and replace floor pans and quarters then you have earned the right to put a Judge sticker on it in my opinion, another car saved

[Gtozy]

Thanks guys, I reckon the prevailing theme here is that it is ok to do, just as long as it is disclosed if and when sold, just as you would if you replaced any other Sheetmetal part. For now, I’m still going to give this one a miss, though if I had the space for two cars to sit for a while, I would buy them to keep for ‘later’, I would really enjoy the challenge of a job like this.