How do they do this?

[Agent M79]

I was watching the soap opera... er... reality show... er... shameless 1 hour advertisment for Boyd Cottington known as American Hot Rod.

So these guys, and I assume many like them, go find a car and tear it down to the frame.

The heavily modify the frame and the procede to not put a single original part back on the frame.

How do these guys deal with the bureaucratic stuff the rest of do? Like VINs, titles, and all that stuff?

What stops anyone from building whatever they want using nothing more than a shred of the original vehicle?

[cyclone03]

Well,ol Boyd is dealing with this stuff,in the courts as we speak.

For years the owners of these cars could bring in an old grill shell and build a car behind it then claim it's a "rebuild" when they go and title it.

The CA DMV is working to close that loop hole and Boyd is one of the big names that got caught in the trap.

Theres a link about it someplace but I don't have it.

[wsmylie]

Yup....it's a bit of scam going on with some of these so-called "rebuilds". In many states it is the VIN of the majority (usually the frame or unibody platform) "doner" vehicle that is usually used to represent the finished product. As you saw though there is plenty of room for "interpretation" of the various states' DMV laws and regulations going-on regarding how much of the actual "doner" vehicle needs to be present in the "new" car and what numbering will be used to identify the final creation.... lotsa room for abuse here. Some states might require an entirely new VIN be created by the applicable DMV to identify the vehicle with it being designated as "homemade", "assembled from parts" (sometimes abreviated as ASPT) or some similar wording. Have seen a number of cases where almost an entire stolen vehicle has been disguised by doing some minor cosmetic alterations, then renumbering and titleing it as a rebuilt with some B.S. "doner" car VIN from a salvage. Have also seen this scam done to reidentify vehicles that are encumbered by car loans/liens in order to obtain title under the "new" VIN and then offer the car for sale.:shake: