When does a rebuild change to a re-bodied Car?

[tyoneal]

Originally Posted by mstennes

Just for the record why cant you pro-tour a X33 or X77 Z? I took a Numbers matching RS/SS convertable and pro toured it. I know this is off subject but hell buy a Z, mini tub it, go tubular on the control arms, coil overs, 4 wheel brakes. Z and go LSx, point is buy what you want and do what you want, I did and I know others who have. As far as a rebody thats a tougher call. I have seen cars where every piece of metal has been worked or replaced, change a dash out from rust are they still original?? I dont think so but they are what they started as say X11,22,33,44,66,77 so as long as your not making something its not than if its to save a classic go for it. What makes a Z is the engine, suspension/drivetrain without those who cares what the badges are or trim tags. You can restore the car all you want but with out the original drive train its just another Camaro that once was. Anything you do replace those Z only parts well thats going to require restamping or telling its not original which is the truth. The only times that comes into play when you sell or buy or show. I hope this helps as thats my opinion and only that not that its worth much if you ask my wife , anyway get what YOU want and do what YOU want who cares. I hear purests giving me crap all the time so I tell them its my car not theres and unless they have x amount of dollars to buy it dont worry about it at least its being driven and cared for the way it was built to be not hidden in a garage as someones bragging right that has no clue about it.

In the end, as always, I will do what I want. Before reading it on this forum, I had no idea it was possible or that people did, "re-body" cars. Since my car will not be original inside or out, I don't think I will have a problem with someone thinking it's factory stock.

I certainly don't mind being truthfull about anything car I am involved with I just didn't want to build a, "pig-in-a poke", by not doing my research and later down the road finding out I can't even title or inspect the darn thing.

The build will easily exceed 70k, (No engine yet) and as a small business owner, I like to do diligence before I lay out a bunch of cash on a project.

This forum has been incredibly interesting and informative as well as entertaining, hense many frequent questions.

I would have a very hard time taking a correct car and changing it for my taste. In the case of the 69 Z/28's, truely nice examples are few and far between anyway, and as a collector of other things, I am one to preserve things that have managed to stay in good condition over the years.

Since the '69 was always my favorite year, and finding out that darn near all of them had some serious rust issues or had been terribly abused, it was a big relief that enough people liked them that a complete cottage industry had developed.

Cars now and for the forseable future will probably all look basically alike because of the aerodynamics necessary to increase/maximise gas mileage. So as far as I can tell, with the price of new cars, these classic cars will continue to find eager buyers interested in driving something with true style.

Sorry about the rant.

I encourage further opinions if one feels it necessary. I have gained a lot of good perspective by reading your inputs.

Thanks,

tyoneal