53 replies to this topic

[jonny95]

If you were to use a different shell with the ID of the original car, who is going to know??

[Bungle]

would that be the same mark shell ?

[1984mini25]

If you were to use a different shell with the ID of the original car, who is going to know??

until the dvla have in interest in why the chassis number on the vin plate and the stamped in scuttle number (from the late 70's onwards) don't match and suspect it's either stolen, cloned or a ringer and then crush it.

[Dan]

  The thing is there are differences in shells even within the same so-called mark.  The changes were tiny over the years but they are there.  If the DVLA or VOSA are suspicious they send the car for a VIC check and if the tester is still suspicious they appoint someone, usually from a club, who is an expert in the field.  Believe me, there are people at the main clubs who know exactly when the shape of the wiring clips welded to the body changed and stuff like that.  They would write a report and if there were any small items out of place it would be obvious to them.  Also remember these rules aren't written for Minis, they are for all cars.  Some cars are harder to ring than others because of the way the rules work, but those that are easy to do but still desirable are the ones the authorities are going to be most interested in.

[mab01uk]

Some interesting comments on DVLA inspections below.......which are similar to my experiences.

 

Quote:

"It's fair to say that when you do eventually present your car the (DVLA) person inspecting it won't know the back end from the front nor a Rover Cooper from a '59 and actually I've heard of people lifting "cherished" number plates off early Mini logbooks by taking a vaguely similar example down to the VRO with the ID plates from a dead or un-MOT-able car screwed on, all they do is take a note of the numbers, the car itself is irrelevant unless it's very obviously a non Mini."

http://forum.minicoo...?t=17419&page=2

[Tupers]

The first rule of fight club is.........

[Cooperman]

It is not possible to buy a new Mk.1 or Mk.2 body-shell, so if you have the misfortune to damage a Mk.1 or Mk.2 and the shell is beyond economical repair you are supposed to scrap it. Oh yeah, like that's going to happen any time soon!
You do what you have to do to keep such cars on the road, but you just don't keep talking about it.

[alicetheauto]

If a shell is legitimately sourced, ie not from a stolen car, surely it should have an identity? Would it not be a less grey area if the ID originally allocated to the shell were used? If it's still a similar aged car then what does the owner of the damaged/ rotten car have to lose? Then make sure you have the original shell AND ID disposed of legally with a certificate of destruction. Less cars stolen for parts, full traceability, keeps older cars on the road. If the seller of the replacement shell has no title to the V5c, why are they selling it?

[Bungle]

a 1965 mini 850 with cooper s bits is worth a lot less than a 1965 cooper s

 

that's why ID's get swapped

[alicetheauto]

In which case the cooper s is no longer a cooper s but an 850 super deluxe which has been modified. Because that is exactly what a super deluxe shell with loads of original cooper s bits is.... Just means it is traceable and legal! And not ripping of a new owner who is buying an illegal car which could be confiscated and crushed after being found to be a stolen shell.

[alicetheauto]

I am just thinking aloud. This is a way to make the reshelling business legal and protect everyone.

[Haynes]

When Jason went in search of the fleece he set sail in a brand new ship, the Argo.  His adventures lasted many years and the Argo was damaged time and time again.  The hull was smashed, the mast broken, rigging torn away and sails ripped.  Each time it was repaired with materials at hand and set off again to continue the voyage.  Some items were repaired many times over.

 

When the Argonauts finally returned home, there was not one plank, one nail or a single piece of rope that survived from the day of its launch.

 

So tell me DVLA is it still the same ship?

[Tupers]

/\ I was thinking Triggers Broom but it's the same concept. /\

[Cooperman]

I can never understand the paranoia about re-shelling. Ever since the Mini was introduced they have been re-shelled after accidents or when seriously corroded.

It is, of course, not acceptable if the idea is to re-shell in order to create a road tax free car, but to preserve early cars is another matter.

A Mk.1 shell is a Mk.1 shell. There are no structural differences between the 850, 998 Cooper or Cooper 'S' and the shells just had a BMC part number as a sub-assembly.

The gov't, in the form of DVLA have simply complicated things and screwed up the classic car movement with unenforceable regulations. There is, in practice, no way of telling one early shell from another and even the works rally cars were re-shelled and not always with new shells either.

Just about every historic rally Cooper 'S' has been re-shelled at least once. Would it have been better to have broken those cars up and sold off the re-useable bits? Would that make the 'body-shell police' happy?

As I and others have said before, do what you have to do to preserve your original specification Mini, but don't keep talking about it on here!

[Dan]

  The problem is that it would be almost impossible to write a law that made it illegal to reshell for the purposes of ringing a stolen car or other fraudulent use, but made it legal for everyone else.