There-in lies the rub... tbm3fan sez originality is key therefore one MUST take "as-is" and restore what is presented, regardless that 99% of it may have to be completely replaced. saforwardlook raises the question that at what point can the car still be considered original... 25% replaced? 50% 75%?. While I would agree that simply transferring the identity of the original car to another is not a restoration and smells like fraud, I would have to say that a rebody under such circumstances as these is neither fraud nor cutting corners. Obviously, we can all agree a rebody is not "acceptable" if we were dealing with a simple case of swiss cheesed trunks and floor pans. However, I'm not aware of a body man -gifted or otherwise- who wouldnt replace a fender with NOS or from a donor car rather than weld one together from several pieces. So, Realistically, if 80-90% of the sheet metal has to be replaced, the car has essentially been "re-bodied" one piece at a time rather than all at once. So what is the difference? AND if originality is the defining point, What about all the missing interior pieces and exterior trim pieces that have to come from OTHER cars, and the new carpet, the new headliner, new seat upholstery, the new vinyl roof, new window glass?? Those are not/cannot be original items nor can they be built-up-refurbished from anything that remains of the originals. Isnt that "cheating? The interior is at least 33% of the car so wouldnt replacing all of it be problematic to the requirement that one "...come to the dance with who you brought and you leave with who you brought"? I say the matter is settled by virtue of the fact that a restoration of this car from scrap condition to #2 or #1 condition entails virtually REMANUFACTURING the car from front to back. 100% of the car must be refurbished, with at minimum 70% completely replaced by NOS or repop parts, while the remaining 30% is stripped of its originality and repainted, replated, rewelded, repaired, etc. In that case nothing is original except the springs in the seats, the plastic in the panels, the remaining bits of metal that all the new metal was welded too, the tranny, the rear, the suspension, the steering column, and the front and rear frame sections. I submit then, that a fresh BARE body, outfitted with all the "original" date coded items that remain, all remaining original hardware, remaining refurbished frame and suspension, remaining refurbished drive train, interior items, wire harnesses, etc etc, will be no different than having a "gifted" body man spend 10,000 hours welding patches and panels and wheel houses and hand fabricated pieces to the jigsaw of original bits left after all the rust is cut away AND THEN putting all those original, repopped, refurbished parts back in it/on it. When only the trunk, hood, roof, and bumpers remain (because even the rockers, door jams, door sills, wheel houses, and fire wall are rusted clean through) a BARE BODY rebody is as legit as welding 70% (or more) NEW metal onto what remains of the old metal, with the proviso that everything left that is usable/restorable from the original car be used for building back up the barebody used to replace the too far gone body in question. Thats my two cents worth.
