Downer body ? vin Number question

fc227

1986 Grand National
Joined
May 28, 2001
HI Everyone,

Thing about do a body swap on the GN , Looking around for a downer car . Question , what does one do about the vin number . I can imagine that the feds would not be happy about swapping out the vin plate from the old body to the new one?

Technically its still the same car, but with a different body shell on it.
 
what's wrong with the body that you have? Just about everything can be fixed on them now. If you are still pushing toward a donor car, just find a GN roller ( if you still want the GN value ) or regular Regal. There are several places on the GN that has the VIN #.
 
Rusting out , Plus I miss spelled Donor . Sorry everyone :(

T-top and the pillars are rusting out.
 
Check with the state MVD, I think here in CT, the body with the VIN tag is the vehicle ID.

Therefore a body swap would be a different car with new VIN, new registration etc.

I don't think you can just swap the VIN tags on a roller legally without going through the "rebuild" process and inspection etc.

I've got a WE4 hardtop roller in the driveway missing things like bumpers, front header panel, etc. and wrong rear end 7.5, but if you have a TR you would have all those correct parts to swap.
$1500. It's under a cover etc. could get some pics. in March for you.
 
Sounds like a good deal for you from salvageV6 and and you can sell some of your extra parts to off set the cost. I am currently restoring a TTop car and contemplated several times cutting the top off for a hard top . But I stuck with it when I purchased a - pillars and ttop parts from GBody Parts/ GoodMark. They make top notch parts to repair all of that stuff and they are not expensive but your major cost will be the labor for someone else to do the work and paint it. Good luck on the project and please udate us with progress and pics.
 
If those parts are available it would be MUCH easier than swapping a body for sure.

And no MVD headaches. :cool:

Then again people have cut the hardtop roofs off a roller and put them on T-Top cars too. :p
 
Yes, the Regal, Monte and Cutlass guys love ttop's. The GN guys....like them, a few love them, but if I had to do it all over again I would still be glad that I own only 1 ttop GN.
 
Better off just to fix it. All the parts are available and less work than swapping the body. I'd sell what you got and buy a hardtop before I would mess with swapping the body. Ttop cars are fine once corrected, they just take more attention.
 
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