On Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:24:12 -0800, pyotr filipivich
wrote:

Gunner Asch on Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:33:00 -0800
typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:


So what would this 2012 production-legal Mustang look like?

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/ford-rei...5-mustang.html

Yeah, just like that.

These aren't meant for "Volume Production" per se - there are a lot of
those old Ponycars on the road that have been fixed and restored and
fixed again - with the Unibody all rotted out from road salt, one of
the first really popular Unibody cars.

All those body-shell stampings have been available as individual
repair parts for years, but you need a body shop to tear the car apart
in and weld in the repairs and the results can be highly variable...
They've never sold the bodies already jigged up straight and true and
welded together as a complete assembly - and with a primer dip too.

Now you can order the replacement body-shell, finish the prep, do the
Paint, rebuild and transfer over the powertrain and interior from your
old Mustang, and have a "New" old car.

(Well, for another 15 - 20 years, then you'll have to do it again...)

There's one wrinkle that they have to address - you can certainly just
do it and keep your mouth shut, but I wonder if it's really legal to
transfer over the VIN Number tags, section in the body rail parts that
have the "Hidden" stamped VIN, and make it your "old" car in the
fresh body shell.

I could see a system where you order the "new" body with your old VIN
already stamped in (because they keep control the special die stamps
for those numbers) and the closest Dealer transfers over and rivets in
the VIN plate when you're done because they control the special
security-head rivets.

And AIUI wrecking yards aren't supposed to accept the old body shell
without the VIN on it for destruction and melt-down. They need to
invent some new paperwork for the purpose, or chop it up first.

Would have to be addressed on a per-state basis unless the Feds come
up with a rule that covers everyone.

It's the "Grandpa's Axe" conundrum - We've changed the handle a dozen
times, and the head wore out twice, but it's still "Grandpa's Axe."

-- Bruce --