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grumpy
01-08-2010, 10:52 AM
What do you folks think about the new dynacorn chevelle bodies
http://www.dynacornclassicbodies.com/classic2.html

Derek69SS
01-08-2010, 11:06 AM
I'm not a purist, so I don't really care one way or the other about the fact they're being reproduced.

I am a cheap bastard, so $14,500 for a bare shell is absolutely ridiculous to me. I don't see any way a complete car could be built for less than starting with a solid original, even if you intend to go with an aftermarket chassis.

Highway Star
01-08-2010, 11:14 AM
I think it is neat. It doesn't threaten me like it might threaten those with matching numbers cars, like in the case of someone using one of those to build some fake LS6 or whatever. How do they VIN them?

piette
01-08-2010, 11:23 AM
Same here, I like them. I would get one for my car in a second but there is no way my car needs $14,500 in body work done to it before it could be painted, so it doesnt work financially for me to do something like that. I hope as popularity gains, just like with everything else the price will come down on them

Jeff

Herbie67SS454
01-08-2010, 11:24 AM
Big can of worms on that one.
Doesn't bother me if that is what someone wants and pays for.
Shoot, there are lots of chevelles out there with replacement fenders, quarters, roof, floor & trunk pan, hood, rockers, doors, frames, etc.
Some people get into restoring a total rust bucket. More power to them. This will make it easier.
I know that they will cut out the VIN TAG from an existing car and reweld, grind, and paint so you can't tell.
Well...........they had the original dash piece with the tag and replaced all the rest of the sheetmetal I guess. That will be the rationale.
It's gonna happen. I, myself, would not go this route.
Legally? uuuggghhhhhhhhh NOT!!!!!!
But would it be legal if you had the original frame and replaced with one of these bodies and transferred the tag with some original sheet metal around it? Back to the rationale.....replaced the rest of the sheet metal except for the dash. Different story on the 138 on the doors.......or is it?
Replaced rotten rocker and jam area will be the rationale.
Also, there is the deal with putting a 138 tag on one of these. Yikes.
Ok with me IF original frame is used but car should be discovered as a after market body swap if sold to the prospective buyer. Never happen.
Surely, states will issue some kind of VIN tags but I can see where a lot of swapping is going to happen.
Glad I have a clear title that matches the CONVINS and match the VIN tag.
Buyers beware.!!!!!!!! as it already is...... Weird stuff going on everywhere with these old cars.
Do your homework.

rak1
01-08-2010, 12:15 PM
It doesn't bother me and in some way it kind of cool. However, i think they are very over priced and I heard some people say they are just like the other aftermarket parts and making things fit can be a problem.

Hank70SS
01-08-2010, 03:38 PM
$14,500 for the body plus $495 crating and shipping. $20,000 for just the sheet metal. Then you need a frame, suspension, engine, interior, bumpers, trim, glass, and on and on. You can buy a pretty decent Chevelle for $20,000 and it comes with all those other things.

shadowgray396
01-08-2010, 04:16 PM
Way to much for the body, plus I have heard that some states are considering them a kit car and they must meet all the smog requirement of a new car.
Ray

dbradley
01-08-2010, 05:48 PM
Can not be titled or licensed in Oklahoma as a Chevelle. Its against the law to even remove/replace the trim tag on the same car here much less transfer to a different body. You might make a case for it being a "kit car" but I don't think it comes with a Certificate of Origin so that's probably out too. A "CO" is required here for a "kit". Maybe as some "home built" thing but what would that be worth. Probably won't sell too well here.

grumpy
01-08-2010, 05:50 PM
Way to much for the body, plus I have heard that some states are considering them a kit car and they must meet all the smog requirement of a new car.
Ray

Thats easy enough to get around in Michigan. No smog testing at all. Lucky for a good portion of Detroit too lol

Chevelle_Nut
01-08-2010, 08:23 PM
NC's laws:

According to the Division of Motor Vehicles in North Carolina, a custom-built vehicle is one that is "completely reconstructed or assembled from new or used parts." Glider kits and custom-assembled vehicles also fall under the category of "custom built." Such a vehicle must be registered.

You should list the make as "custom built" and the year the vehicle was built should be listed under "year." When you register a custom-built vehicle, the title is branded "reconstructed."

Registering and titling a custom-built vehicle is not much different from titling any other motor vehicle. Registration and titling requires a visit to a vehicle and license plate renewal office and the following:

* An application for title, completed and signed in front of a notary.

* An affidavit for custom-built vehicle, Form MVR-55, which is a notarized statement that describes the vehicle's assembly from new and used parts.

* An inspector's report, as this special type of vehicle must be inspected for safety and drivability.

* An odometer reading.

* A certificate of title or Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin for the frame, engine, and transmission (or an indemnity bond can be filed).

* A title fee of $40.

* A Highway Use Tax of 3% of the value. The car's value is determined by the total of bills of sale for the entire purchase of new and used parts and labor.

Derek69SS
01-08-2010, 08:56 PM
Most of them will get a VIN tag swap from a rusty hulk with a good title. I'm not saying I agree with that part of it, but that's what I bet most people who buy them do.

bad.samaritan
01-09-2010, 01:04 AM
I think they are pretty cool, especially the Camaro bodies. But as everyone else mentioned it would only be worth it if: A.you could register it as a normal chevelle and not get stuck with smog law, etc. B. it was financially smart to buy one of those as opposed patching up an original.

I would imagine the custom build guys would like these for those customers that say "here's x dollars I want a 69 BBC Camaro" or whatever. Might make sense for them and cut down on man hrs. and total project time. Of course I'm just speculating :)

chevguy65
01-09-2010, 12:38 PM
No way in hell would I pay almost 15K for a shell

Derek69SS
01-09-2010, 02:00 PM
I'd take one in Aluminum. ;)

bigblock70
01-09-2010, 04:25 PM
I think its cool! i'm in this hobby for fun, not to make money or have numbers matching cars, if you have 14k for a body, and dont have the know how to replace your rusty panels more power to you!

Keith
01-09-2010, 04:28 PM
I haven't checked, but I believe that these would be registered like any other kit car. There are lots of Cobra kit cars out there so there has to be a legal way. I doubt that you would legally be able to use the original VIN plate.

bigblock70
01-09-2010, 04:30 PM
i'm sure lots of people do!

I haven't checked, but I believe that these would be registered like any other kit car. There are lots of Cobra kit cars out there so there has to be a legal way. I doubt that you would legally be able to use the original VIN plate.

Chevelle_Nut
01-09-2010, 04:32 PM
If you use the frame and engine from a legally titled car and cut and weld the vin plate and surrounding metal from the old body onto the new wouldn't that be legal?

300Deluxe
01-09-2010, 08:10 PM
I personally don't mind that the bodies are being reproduced. I'm too much of a tight wad to ever puchase one at the price they're asking currently.

I understand the numbers guy's arguments, but we'll just have to be all the more savvy when we're interested in purchasing that next "matching numbers" Chevelle.

I think it's unlikely the the reprodution bodies match the originals EXACTLY. Once the experts are privy to the differences (i.e. steel thickness, bend radii, a depression here, and a spot weld there) we all should be able to tell if the car's been re-bodied.

Garyb
01-10-2010, 01:14 AM
It's all about the money plain and simple.. just wish they weren't so expensive.

Cameano
01-10-2010, 03:45 PM
Heck, if I had loads of cash to burn, I wouldn't mind building a nice pro-touring type starting with one of those bodies. Takes a lot of the hard work out of the equation. If you're going to drop $50k on a car, that's a great start.

johnnys1977
01-10-2010, 10:14 PM
I talked to a friend that says he is ordering three! He has a 71 SS454 Convertible and 2 70 LS6 Chevelles that are rust buckets. He said he will use as much of the original cowl as is possible in his restoration but I know the one I delivered to him almost 20 years ago was rusted around the vin tag so I think he will do what he needs to do to put it ack to new condition.
He plans on selling the 2 70's when they are done.
I have seen guys replace all but the top half of the cowl and roof with donor parts or repro parts in their restorations. How is using this body any different if everything else is numbers matching and they are using the original frame?
I see nothing wrong as long as what they do is within their states laws.

We rebuilt a 6 month old truck that was totalled years ago. We used another cab. The owner didn't want a title that represented both vehicles.
The DOT Inspector we asked said if you use a substantial amount of the original sheet metal around the vin tag then you are just effecting a body repair! As long as you leave just as much sheet metal around the donors vin tag and leave it with it's original frame.
When he was asked what would be concidered a substantial amount of sheet metal he said 2'x2' should do it! Now another may have said something different but who knows?

flash
01-11-2010, 11:56 AM
I think the more parts being made the better although that body is pricy. Hopefully the parts will get better.

stevestrat
01-31-2010, 08:10 PM
Just doesn't seem rational to spend that kind of money on just the body. By the time you buy everything, I mean EVERYTHING else you will need, from door latches, to glass, dirvetrain, clips, screws, etc, you could be into the car for well over $50,000. With all that money spent, and then you have all the legal loopholes to jump through to get the car titled. Just doesn't seem worth it to me.
They must be selling some though because they started several years ago with only 67 Camaros and Mustangs. Now they make several different makes and models.
I would probably prefer to do a little more work, spend alot less money, and have a REAL Chevelle.

christiansells
02-06-2010, 12:11 AM
very nice but overpriced in my opinion.$5000.00 would be a realistic price.just look at what biw factory vehicles sell for.

PP46
02-10-2010, 07:13 AM
Different story on the 138 on the doors.......or is it?

Do your homework.
Since the only Chevelle body I see is a 1970-style convertible, putting a 138 VIN plate on the door certainly would raise a few eyebrows. The only 138 Chevelles in 1970 were Concours wagons and Monte Carlos.

450rdawg
02-28-2010, 11:33 AM
Here's the sad part. Any of you body guys would know that when you buy a repro sheet metal part, it always has to be worked if you want it strait. I don't think it'd be any different with one of these due to shipping, handling, manufacturing and negligence on "people's" part. This is not a bad idea, in fact, it's quite cool IMO. As stated above, most of the cars that look great and are over 40 years of age have some form of aftermarket parts on them and if you have one aftermerket part then you might as well have the whole shell cause it's not considered a "pure" car at that point.

This is a very pricey start tho that will require a lot more than you may think to get it right. The last full resto that we did was a 69 Buick GS Stage1 and yes it was a real Stage1. We replaced one quarter and just worked the rest of the car and that guy ended up with a bill just over $11,000 and that was a deal IMO considering it was a frame off job. All I'm saying is if you dump $15,000 in the shell alone, plan on spending another $10,000+ for the paint work. That's if you have a good hood, fenders, cowl panel cover, lower valence panel and wheel wells, which by the way you had to pay for already so that has to be figured into the price.

It's a great concept and if you have money to burn, do it. Else I would suggest finding a descent car to start with. Again, this is all my opinion and I'm not in any way trying to step on anyone's toes or rain on your parade.

Josh:p

Edit: I listed this incorrectly. It was actually a stage 1 GS not a GSX. We were looking back through pics of some old jobs that we did and I called it a GSX and my dad was swift to correct me on the fact that the GSX didn't come out until 70. Sorry for the mistake.

68 nova 10.5
03-09-2010, 07:29 AM
450rdawg"This is a very pricey start tho that will require a lot more than you may think to get it right. The last full resto that we did was a 69 Buick GS Stage1 and yes it was a real Stage1. We replaced one quarter and just worked the rest of the car and that guy ended up with a bill just over $11,000 and that was a deal IMO considering it was a frame off job. All I'm saying is if you dump $15,000 in the shell alone, plan on spending another $10,000+ for the paint work. That's if you have a good hood, fenders, cowl panel cover, lower valence panel and wheel wells, which by the way you had to pay for already so that has to be figured into the price."

I am on the same page as you on this it seems like this would be a very exspensive proposition. With the quality of the aftermarket parts it seems for the home builder it would be very difficult to achieve even factory quality results in a build with out some sort of "professional help".
On the 69 stage 1 you guys did how long did it take?How many man hours were involved? also how bad was the rest of the car when started? Thanks Glenn

450rdawg
03-12-2010, 06:56 AM
450rdawg"This is a very pricey start tho that will require a lot more than you may think to get it right. The last full resto that we did was a 69 Buick GS Stage1 and yes it was a real Stage1. We replaced one quarter and just worked the rest of the car and that guy ended up with a bill just over $11,000 and that was a deal IMO considering it was a frame off job. All I'm saying is if you dump $15,000 in the shell alone, plan on spending another $10,000+ for the paint work. That's if you have a good hood, fenders, cowl panel cover, lower valence panel and wheel wells, which by the way you had to pay for already so that has to be figured into the price."

I am on the same page as you on this it seems like this would be a very exspensive proposition. With the quality of the aftermarket parts it seems for the home builder it would be very difficult to achieve even factory quality results in a build with out some sort of "professional help".
On the 69 stage 1 you guys did how long did it take?How many man hours were involved? also how bad was the rest of the car when started? Thanks Glenn

We had the car for almost 12 weeks. Most of the car was decent, the usual surface rust and lots of dings from 40 years of use. The only other major work the car required was around the back glass. We had to pretty much re-fab the lower channel and that was a job to say the least. The customer wanted it built as a driver car so we had to make preperations for that as well. We ended up with roughly 260 hours in the job including work spent prepping and painting the frame. He wanted POR15 on the frame; which I thought was a little strange but not a bad idea for a driver, and opted for full gloss on the wheel wells, fire wall, core support and cowl panel. We must have spent at least 20-25 hours just getting the cowl panel right. It was a little beat up. Beatiful car though (Twilight Blue Metallic)......I think that's the right color.

68 nova 10.5
03-19-2010, 12:34 AM
We had the car for almost 12 weeks. Most of the car was decent, the usual surface rust and lots of dings from 40 years of use. The only other major work the car required was around the back glass. We had to pretty much re-fab the lower channel and that was a job to say the least. The customer wanted it built as a driver car so we had to make preperations for that as well. We ended up with roughly 260 hours in the job including work spent prepping and painting the frame. He wanted POR15 on the frame; which I thought was a little strange but not a bad idea for a driver, and opted for full gloss on the wheel wells, fire wall, core support and cowl panel. We must have spent at least 20-25 hours just getting the cowl panel right. It was a little beat up. Beatiful car though (Twilight Blue Metallic)......I think that's the right color.
wow thats impressive that equals roughly 22 hours per week!

SS_Dave
04-13-2010, 12:20 PM
It costs too much
Its not a 69

fst64_v8power
09-24-2010, 11:41 AM
kinda partial on that one

Bdubya
09-25-2010, 09:34 AM
If i'm not mistaken, Dynacorn bought the original tooling and dies for these bodies. So the bodies should be exactly the same as the came off the line back in '70. And i'm quite sure the factory didn't do any smoothing to the bodies prior to paint! If I had the spendable cash, i'd buy a replacement for my '70 Malibu. If it was an SS, i'd still do it.

Berg
11-04-2010, 02:59 PM
Kind of an older thread but i'll drop my .02 anyway. I have seen "street legal kit cars" that use a donor vehicle. Some of them use an S10 and you end up keeping the door structures, firewall, and cowl panel area with the A posts for the windshield. I can't find out what happened to it but I guess it is basically considered bodywork. I don't see any harm in the reproduction bodies as people are using clean Malibu bodies to make SS cars and there are so many companies out there reproducing 621 Bellhousings and Winters intake manifolds and guys out there media blasting and restamping distributors and alternators and decking engine blocks and restamping them that it is getting hard to tell what is original and what is not. I have seen a local shop make a 72 Malibu into a 70 LS6 complete with fake build sheet. I don't agree with it at all and the guy that bought it must have gotten ripped off too. He had all sorts of "fake" cars in the past including a 69 Z28 Camaro with a 302... It looked very convincing. The fact that he came up with documentation somehow really makes you wonder. He used to buy total rot boxes and cars that were totalled out 40 years ago and left for dead and does all sorts of immoral and unethical things to put them back together. out of the 4475 LS6 Chevelle and El Camino's that rolled off GM's assembly line in late 69-70 it makes you wonder how many of them would have realistically survived and out of the ones that are on the road these days how many of them are genuine. I think it would be cool for a track car to do a rebody or something that doesn't have to be totally clean or straight and will be cut up and tubbed out and have the wheel wells stretched and a full cage and firewall cut, back halved etc... I'd rather see it done to a reproduction car that doesn't need to run interior or any of the stuff that would nickle and dime you during a real restoration. I think it would be fun to build a car from scratch out of 80% brand new parts. I think this would be a great deal for all these movie cars they have to build up and smash. They could make them out of the cheapest reproduction pieces available and smash the hell out of em! Afterall, at that point it would only be money - not destroying a classic.

Bdubya
11-04-2010, 05:04 PM
Berg brings up a good point. ALOT of movies feature classic cars in chase scenes that get slammed and destroyed, these replicas could offer an outlet for studios to have a musclecar featured in their movie without sacrificing an original one. Although many times just painting up an original Malibu, Charger, etc. is probably cheaper than buying one of these.