Just out of curiousity, you say you can't place an original vin on a new body but you can replace just about every piece of sheetmetal with aftermarket pieces onto an old body to make it new again. I'm not for everyone buying new bodies just too place original vin tags too, but the depths some builders go to to replace sheetmetal is amazing. How can you go from this;
http://www.mikescustomcars.com/proje...album=2&pic=87
to a car covered in aftermarket sheetmetal and call it an original? Couldn't someone just buy a Dynacorn body and replace the firewall (with vin/trim tag) with one from an original 69 and say its exactly that, an original. How can you tell an original full of aftermarket sheetmetal from an aftermarket body with an original vin tag?

You can do what you want in your garage but no shop can do this for you, it is illegal to touch the vin tag and move it or remove it and put it back on a new body. Ask Unique Performance about this and see what you find out they got caught for just this same thing. You can cut every panel from the car as long as you leave the vin panel in place and untouched. Its much faster to buy a body and transfer yes but not legal to do so that is why we builders take factory cars and make them look new the legal way.

Under police and DMV scrutiny we can change dash tops, Firewalls, Cowls, all the places numbers are stamped, and even use pre welded body shells. The body shells are liscence replacment parts. But we damn sure better have a title to a real car and the orignal body on the property for verification. We can even use a different original body, but funny enough wouod be issued a rebuilt title doing that, but with new parts, no rebuilt title.

One thing that my customers have to know up front. Whatever we do to the car, there are no secrets. In other words, 3 years later they try to sell the car, someone ask what we did to that car, we tell all, no matter how little or how much we did.

And whats emissions! We live in a state with a constant seabreeze, no inspections or emissions testing.

I understand that its illegal, but if your allowed to remove every panel and replace them with aftermarket panels, whats to stop someone from buying an aftermarket body and just replace what would be the vin panel on an original with an actual original vin panel. I fully understand that it is illegal to remove and replace vin tags thats not what I'm getting at. If my Nova convertible was rusted to the point that the only good panels were the firewall with the vin/trim tag, and the A pillar with another vin/trim tag & I bought a Dynacorn 63 Nova Convertible body (strictly hypothetical), cut my firewall with the vin tag and the drivers side A pillar with another trim/vin tag intact from the original and just welded those to the Dynacorn body, whos to say its not an original. Instead of having to cut and replace all of the rusted sheetmetal I transfered what was good from the old to the new body instead of the other way around. I'm just trying to understand the grey area in between. Some of these cars are literally brought back from the dead with almost nothing of the original body to save. It seems like alot of time and money could be saved by replacing with a new body.

I think there should be a way to have both the original and the "new" body inspected so that if your replacing more than 75% of an original body with replacement parts, you can then be allowed to use a "new" body and title it as an original as long as the 25% of the original is transferred over to the "new" body. Yes I know that is somewhat defeating the purpose of a new body but something should be worked out so everyone is happy considering your using licensed parts anyway. Just my opinion, I'll shut up now.

So are you guys saying just go with original and do the body work? I dont even know how this would be my first time doing body work and needless to say I'm doing a tuxedo black!

Plus does anyone ever get that feeling like they want to sit behind the wheel on their comfy chair and be like wow I know every metal is new and I know that this is a clean 1969 camaro thats mine and its a legit one meaning that it has a clear title and vin number?!

If I were building a car right now I would spend up for the nicest grandma car I could find. I would even try to find one with really noce paint and really spend up to avoid paint prison.

This coming from a shop owner, LOL!

Exactly what I just told him on the phone! I also told hime to make out a list of parts he wants and put together a budget. Then take it times 2!

Just call Mike at MCC he will build you a perfect titled shell however you want!! His work speaks for its self:hail: