Right this site is fooking dead at the mo, It has been mentioned thet is colud be coz peeps are on hols, others have said it's coz no controversial post have been posted. well hear we go
Right when is a capri not what is says it is.
I have seen loads of reshelled brooklands capris, well to me they are just a std 2.8 with the interior and wheels fitted, and i also have heard that one of the professionals capris has been reshelled in to a white 3.0s, well come bodie and doyly never sat in that car let alone drove it.
so to me the car has to have as much as poss of it's original shell that it came of the production line withother wise it is just a homarge to the real thing.
mickey c [/IMG
Fair point... I'm trying to save my 2.8, even though the shell is in a bad way and it would have been much easier to get a better one. You could argue that provided you have a welder, no shell is ever past it.
I saw a guy on one of the welding forums that was saving a porsche that has sat in a field for 15 years. There was nothing much left of it so you could almost say he was using it as a template. But then how much of the shell has to be original metal before it becomes a new car?
well I suppose as long as it still has the original chassis number thats ok but you see 3.0's all the time, they were either a laser or a 2.0s with the motor fitted and then they try to sell them off as genny 3.0s. I have no problem with some one fitting a 3.0 motor in a 2.0s but it has to be keept as a 2.0s with a 3.0 motor fitted
mickey c
Surely you could do it properly though. And cut the chasis number out from down the side of the door, or inner wing and weld it to the new chasis. Then grind off all the weld.
I think that if the new shells original identity is gone with V5 marked as Scrapped, and the reshell has been done to a high standard then its going to be indistinguishable from the original shell, and then just as good.
I guess problems come in where people stick a 3.0 in a 2.0laser but don't do any of the shell strengthening so then you have a fairly significant difference from an original.
lets hypathetically assume your lovely brookie (dosent apply in your case tho sorry lol) was badly damaged in an accident in circa 1987 just 2 months after you took delivery yes!..you ended up with the car and didnt claim on your insurance...then you go to ford dealer and BUY a new shell from Ford!......(as many did)....you get new shell delivered in any colour you wanted (tiz true) or fully primed.....your new shell didnt have a chassis number stamped into the floor (coz none of em actually did have em stamped), it was up to you to prove via documents and pics of prior vehicle i.e a re-shell b4 the authorities would stamp original number in there....
Now Michael, you swap all the interior and wheels and everything else a southern geezer might want to swap over (inc the gay fluffy dice yes).....you get it painted by a friend of Parts Guru (although he may well rip you off BIG TIME lol )...now then...you got a nice looking brookie c/w original V5.....is it GENUINE????.......Y not?.....if you get the original numbers stamped into the shell who the fecking hell would know?....wouldnt bother me either way...thats y i got exactly same car sat in front of my house lol....
Is that controversial???....well u did ask 4 it lol....
...with you Mike (I think). For me there are 2 types of Capri. Original cars - may have had panels replaced and/or simple mods like cam/exhaust etc. Some lovely examples out there of these, from concours to tatty but sound. And then there's others, modded to owners taste, mild or wild but are original only in the sense that they are unique. Rats like mine are an example of this - for the DVLA and insurance it's a 2.0gl but it's just a Capri really - it isn't any particular model
In that case to me yes that is a genny car as it had a brand new shell fitted not a second hand shell as that has it's own history, The same can be said about racing escorts as they had there shells written off so many times whilst they were racing that it was nearly a new car each race
I've got a reshell. In fact it's one of those 2.0 converted to 3.0 ones mentioned above. I wasnt gonna buy it cos I wanted originality, but in the end it was just too good and eventually came to be mine.
Is it original? No. It's a 3.0s running gear in a 2.0GL shell. What does it say on the back? Capri 3.0. I'm looking for someone to sell me a dirt cheap GL decal- I think a 3.0GL would look cool, and stick one at the people who tell you they used to own a 2.8 injection cosworth laser! I dont think there is any problem with reshelling per se- though I know without the welding in place it is a different car (i'll get the welding done at some point, for the moment it's got a strut brace). It's not, and will never be, a 3.0s or Ghia. It's got 2.8 recaro seats, brookie wheels, new brakes, new suspension, new speakers and CD player, 6 pod dash, and i've got some plans hatching for it for the future myself. All of which make it a non original car. It's a capri, but it's not an original. What does it say on the V5? 3.0GL Capri. So in that sense, it's not a lie. Is it a fake car? I dont think so. It has it's own history, and the new engine etc is a part of that history. Is it a 'real' capri? Well, no. Not really. But it's mine and I love it for what it is, and will continue to until the engine dies and it goes back to being a pinto (or a v8, we shall see!) or until I decide to sell it; as a 2.0 with a 3.0 fitted
The question is, if one day I fit a pinto, will it then be an original car again? Or is a 1.6 with a 2.0 engine merely an 'homage'? Or is a tickford turbo a real capri? After all, it wasnt a ford standard engine fitted in a factory, it was a breathed on aftermarket modification.
So, er... basically before I get too sentimental, I agree with the point, to a point
Total number of friends who have so far managed to open the passenger door first time: 1.
....imho is in my second group - it's a 3ltr Capri, and it's yours - the way you want it. As you say, if you sell it, it'll be as a Capri with a 3ltr engine, not a reshell or a fake or anything else derogatory.
To the DVLA, the chassis IS the car. You can replace every component of a car, but as long as the shell is the same, it keeps it's identity.
The only legitimate way to do a shell change and keep a cars identity is to use a brand new shell from the manufacturer, and get them to stamp it up as so.
As capri's are about 20 years past that occurance, im sorry to say that any shell change with VIN plate swaps is just a glorified "cut and shut" job.
And to make a cut and shut legal, its an advanced MOT test ending with a Q plate if it passes.
So as far as the DVLA/VOSA are concerned, the car is whatever the VIN plate says it is, regardless of whether its green/has 15" wheels and black seats or not.
But how much of the shell has to be original? e.g. how much rust can you cut out and replace with new steel until the DVLA don't recognise it as the orignal car. And in that case it isn't another Capri shell you've taken, its just steel you've shaped yourself. So that than mean that your capri has become a kit car and then needs to pass and SVA?
I have to say I agree with you. A reshelled car is just not original. Thats surely why in the case of a really rare or significant vehicle people go to loads of hassle to repair the original shell, rather than just put the running gear into another. If it was reshelled it wouldnt be the same car. There is of course a rare and significant Capri which was reshelled, unfortunately, and lets be honest, would you buy it? Not at the likely asking price.
Here's another way to look at this. I have a friend who has an interest in old commercial vehicles. Lorrys, buses, coaches, that sort of thing. He invests ridiculous amounts of time and money (and some of my time lol) in restoring them back to there original splendour. Now, we are all obviously Capri enthusiasts here, and like to see Capris at shows. We can't however look at a Capri that has been restored and imediately say whether, say, the colours been changed. With the exception of limited editions that are registered in a particular series, you cant just look at the reg plate and say "that car should be red" if you get me.
My friend however has a bit of a problem, particularly in the case of his old PCV's. There are thousands of enthusiasts/spotters whatever you want to call them out there who can look at a vehicle and tell from it's reg whether it's in it's correct livery. Remember, batches of buses are cosecutively registered and years ago many operators could specifiy unique features, which immediately make the bus recognisably there own, if you know what to look for. So, if he dreams of owning a particular bus that used to run for an old local bus company (which he probably does, most of the day lol), but cant, simply because none have survived, would he go out and buy the same make and model, maybe even the same year, that used to belong to another company and paint it up to look like the vehicle of his dreams? No, because it would be a replica, and therefore would never really be the vehicle he dreamt of. And besides, the spotter types would string him up at shows lol.
Sorry to rant on but I hope you see my point. It's probably because of my 'anything with a massive diesel engine' loving mate that I think originality is important, at least when the vehicle is being passed off as such. None of my Capris are 100% original, but are still what they say they are on the boot, with a few little mods, and added rusty bits lol. I also believe that as vehicle owners we are entitled to do what we want with them, so please don't anyone take offence! What's funny is that my mate, and other people who are into the same thing, do feel obliged to keep their vehicles original. It seems that any 'modding' is considered sacrilige! But I suppose their vehicles were never made in the same numbers as ours, and many survivors are unique, so you can see why. Not many of us lot would customise a Tickford I suppose.
Sorry again if I've bored you (If anyone actually reads this far lol), there's my thoughts on the subject, and a slightly different way of looking at it.
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