VIN and Fender Tag dont match up, Do you SUE or what?
- Thread starter SimoHoss
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So do you think the back half of the car has been replaced? The rad. support and the VIN match. If the paint under the dash doesn't match the fender tag, does the paint on the rear match the tag? Just trying to figure out what combination of parts were used here.
Nobody knew about the stampings back then, or cared about them. Sections of cars were cut off other cars and pieced back together all the time. It was the only way to fix rusted or damaged cars back the before decent reproduction parts were available. I had a friend who had over 10 Challengers back in the day. The registry of motor vehicles jerked him around trying to register one of them, he never went back to the registry again. He just swapped out the dash pad with the VIN tag from one Challenger to the next one for years.
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It sounds like a "no harm, no foul" situation. OP is going to cut it up anyway and make it a clone. Nothing about that is affected.
Show us some pictures of all this stuff and the car, please.
Show us some pictures of all this stuff and the car, please.
Runcharger
Well-Known Member
It could argued that it is collision repair. You're going to make it into something it never was anyway so not sure what the issue is. These cars were so much more fun when we picked up the newspaper classifieds, picked the best choice and handed over the $1000 or so cash before burning rubber on the way to the gas station.
I agree,at the end of the day, it really only matters on 100 percent all original matching numbers cars. Those are the only ones real collectors are paying the long dollar for.
69Coronetrt
Well-Known Member
Agree. If you are going to cut it up for another 'tribute', who cares if it's a Satellite or RR to start with or what it was supposed to be?
There's a certain irony in that the builder is going to make something out of nothing and is concerned that he bought something out of nothing.
Plus, this is one of those deals where people want help but refuse to give all of the info (pictures) we can use to help them.
j-c-c-62
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I can seen the OP being reticent to share the info/pictures you seek on the web no matter what his motives are, even if it restricts getting better advice.
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Wait, he's gonna make a fake Superbird out of it anyways?
If that's the case, it doesn't matter one damn bit if the car has been monkeyed with in previous lives...
Sounds more like buyers' remorse than anything else at this point.
Paid "too much" and trying an angle to get some refund now?
If that's the case, it doesn't matter one damn bit if the car has been monkeyed with in previous lives...
Sounds more like buyers' remorse than anything else at this point.
Paid "too much" and trying an angle to get some refund now?
Guy in my town made a living in the 80/90's buying wrecked K cars. Buy wrecked front or back, put the good half's together. Another bought 2 Shelby Mustangs and made one good one. Took him a few years to get whole car done working to much. A running joke was "Spring has sprung and Boz ain't done".
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When I was in private law practice, a client bought a late model Corvette that had been back halved. The body numbers didn't match, but the work was well done. Car was never represented as being "numbers matching," just a used car. In Pennsylvania, "caveat emptor" applied, as is where is, implied warranty of merchantablity only. Car ran, drove, and looked nice. Dealer told us to pound sand, and there was no recourse.
#41
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The seller may not have done this stuff or even known about it, and if he did do it you'll never prove it... so unless the seller will take the car back and refund you, just move on. Legal action is probably a waste of time. If the mismatch is going to nag at you, then sell the car and take your lumps. Otherwise, finish the restoration and enjoy your car.
I think it's also important to maintain perspective: People are already "restoring" cars by replacing every bit of sheetmetal but the inner structure with repro steel and just keeping the sections with the VIN stamps. Then the interior, wheels, and misc. bits are largely reproduction as well. Add brand new tires, gas tank, axles, brakes, engine internals, wiring, repro radiator, etc. etc. .... and this is acceptable by most of the classic car community. Is a heavily restored (re-created?) car like this more or less original than a car that has had a VIN number exchanged onto an original body?
I think it's also important to maintain perspective: People are already "restoring" cars by replacing every bit of sheetmetal but the inner structure with repro steel and just keeping the sections with the VIN stamps. Then the interior, wheels, and misc. bits are largely reproduction as well. Add brand new tires, gas tank, axles, brakes, engine internals, wiring, repro radiator, etc. etc. .... and this is acceptable by most of the classic car community. Is a heavily restored (re-created?) car like this more or less original than a car that has had a VIN number exchanged onto an original body?
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there are true survivors........... and then there is everything else
I'm outta here! Geez!
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here's the part I have never gotten............ body stampings of "partial" VINs must be in tact; but engines and trannies with FULL VINs are swapped around and no one has ever cared
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And pricing falls in line, when savvy buyers do their homework.
Davefinan
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I’m just curious. Did you look into buying a satellite for this project before buying a RR ? The car you ended up with may very well be a satellite anyway. Did you run the dash VIN yet?
How do you make a fake Superbird anyway? Do you buy a reproduction wing and nose and cut and weld them on? A regular Road Runner with a 440 sounds more fun, and probably worth more in the end, especially after the rotisserie job.
69Coronetrt
Well-Known Member
These cars bounce around a lot during the years.
He has suspicions about the car.
What if one of us/some of us remember the car from a 2005 post on Moparts and have documentation the car was chopped up years ago?
What if someone has a copy of the original fender tag we took in say, the car corral at Carlisle, and he bought the car with a badly remade fake tag?
What if someone has a picture of a broadcast sheet and window sticker from when it was on sale on eBay in 2010?
Wouldn't that be of interest to someone looking for information?
People ask for help then hamstring the very people that may be able to give them what they need by refusing to give the information necessary.
If he's done nothing wrong to the documentation and the car has 'been around' for a while and publicly for sale, there's probably little harm in showing the VIN, the fender tag or body stampings so we can answer the questions.
I remember that line also from Year One.
I thought removing the VIN tag was a no-go thing.....and they were insisting on it.
Maybe it was to protect them from dubious staff or sub-contractors doing the actual work - from stealing your quality tag to sell on?
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