clone or not to clone

Postby a12superbee » 14 May 2008 1:44

I have a the remains of a 71 v code car. the car was hit hard in the left front back in the early 80's.the sheet metal was cut away to remove the engine and trans,by the way I have. The remains were stripped over the years, so I do not have a fender tag or a vin tag ,I do have a title for it
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Postby dave-r » 14 May 2008 7:57

I would be tempted to straighten or replace the front chassis (if needed) and replace the damaged sheet metal.

Are the radiator support and cowl numbers still intact?

You will probably not be able to prove it was a 440+6 car (rather than a 440-4) and it's value will be lower as a result, but if it is otherwise a pretty solid car I think It is worth doing.

Got to be worth slightly more than a straightforward clone.
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Postby a12superbee » 14 May 2008 13:03

Rad support is gone cowl is there, Iknow the dealer the car was bought from ,and the person that bought it.Is there any person that may have records of factory to dealer sales .The dealer closed in the 80's
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Postby dave-r » 14 May 2008 13:15

The factory shipping records for this period were lost in a fire.

The dealer would have records but what are the chances they didn't destroy them every ten years or when the dealership closed?

Having something from the original owner and any other history backed up with photographs of the car when in one piece would be a big bonus though.
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Postby fbernard » 14 May 2008 13:28

dave-r wrote:You will probably not be able to prove it was a 440+6 car


I suppose the full VIN is on the title??(correct me if I'm wrong, never seen a US title). V-code=440 6-pack.
Sure there is some loss in value, but that's only the fendertag and some sheetmetal missing.

Finding the broadcast sheet under the glove box, carpet, one seat, or the rear bench, would almost make up for it... and would enable you to have a new fender tag made, and maybe even a VIN tag (if that's legit in your state - otherwise, have that done somewhere else).

Barry may have some info about the car.

With all the offerings from AutoMetal Direct, Goodmark, ART, etc.. you can find everything you need to bring it back to 'as new' condition.

Some good restorers would even be able to reproduce the VIN stampings on the new sheetmetal (radiator support).

If all the above can be done for a rebody, it can be done for the real car.
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Postby dave-r » 14 May 2008 14:03

The only thing about titles (Pink Slips?) is that they can carry errors.

For example. The US title for my car has JS23V0B instead of JS23U0B.

A typing error that would have a huge effect on the cars value of course.
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Postby a12superbee » 14 May 2008 14:55

the new york title has the full v code vin,the vin tag just rotted a way over the year, the seats were strip out of the car years ago.this car was gave up for dead years ago when it was a old wrecked gas hog!The vin on the engine and trans is there and you can fully see the machine marks under them.The top pad the same build date and hp2 engine and trans were pulled out of the car after it was wrecked by a friend.
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