Has anyone ever re-shelled a car?

[Sheilas’ Wheels]

As above really.

Is it do-able in a standard double garage? Mk1 Clio is the victim.

And where will I stand with VIN plates etc. (I'm not too worried about legalities tbh)

 

[Djw John]

Effectively yeah, certainly was a bare shell that we built back up. And yeah double garage would be fine so long as the roof is high enough for the engine crane.

As for legalities er, not something we hugely investigated, kept the VIN plate off the doner car just in case. Still got it in fact!

 

[VeinAST]

People do it on old Minis all the time iirc.

Get the identity plates from a pre 72 Mini and stick them on a newer rot free Mini (if there is such a thing)

 

[Scrooge]

You should be fine Dan. Strip the car that has the shitty shell and scrap the shell. Strip the nicer shell of the bits you don't want and add the bits you do want. Should be easy in a double garage.

Then rivet the Vin plates on, voila

 

[Addz]

Yep, suzuki SJ... piece of piss, undo a few bolts and stick the old shell on a new chassis simple as that.

 

[Sheilas’ Wheels]

So not quite a clio then?

 

[roland rat]

Ive done it on a 306 and it wasnt too bad,just took a while as I had a single garage only at my disposal

 

[Sheilas’ Wheels]

Ive done it on a 306 and it wasnt too bad,just took a while as I had a single garage only at my disposal

]]

Worse case scenario is I will have my garage and my driveway next to it.

I'm hoping though that someone I know will have enough room to rent me.

Is it do-able in a week do we think? Working mon-fri 8am til 5pm?

 

[Scrooge]

In that time frame, f**king easy peasy. Yes I just said easy peasy.

 

[Jamie86]

Does depend on you not having to get anything remachined etc which always happens when you only have a short amount of time to get stuff done!

But yeah should be do able if it all goes smoothly ish!

 

[Djw John]

We started a Friday evening and finished Sunday lunchtime, that was a mk1 Clio

 

[rampantreaper]

i shelled a 205 gti 1.9 which was easy, i last shelled a pug 605 v6. never again!!

 

[.Kev.]

We did our old Fiesta in a single garage with the donar car behind, was a bit of a pain but worth the hassle. The shell was new from ford, with a blank chasis plate. We had to take it to the local Ford dealer to get them to stamp the chasis ect.

 

[Sir_Dave]

We've stripped a 172 from full car to bare shell in 3 hours, putting it back together might have taken a bit longer, but certainly not a week!!

 

[midge]

Straight forward really, drop the engine and subframe together then move the new shell over the top and pull it all up with a crane, the interior e.t.c is easy, i reshelled mine in 2 days, if its your first time doing such a big job you should do it in 4.

Regards to the vin/identity, just use the new shell's i.d? if thats not an option then you will be 'ringing the new shell' which is illegal, unless its brand new and doesnt have its own identity, it isnt legal to change the identity of a shell however many people do it to other cars, on the mk1 the chassis number is on the vin plate and on the drivers turret, it's worth noting that you may be refused an mot if the turret numbers are removed as the tester wont be able to tell if the shell is right for the vin on the plate.

 

[Sheilas’ Wheels]

Not worried about mot because it won't be going back on the road.

That and the fact one of my best mates is an mot tester.