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I recently corresponded with a guy who is restoring a 1970 and he mentioned that the car had been hit in the front at one point and the frame was bent, so he acquired another frame to use. He later indicated that he cut out the original frame stamped VIN and welded it onto the donor frame. I do not know if that means he cut out a section of the original frame that has the VIN and welded it ("patched" it) in place of the donor frame VIN stamp, or simply welded the section on top of or over the donor frame VIN stamp or someplace else on the frame.
I do not know this gentleman personally and do not wish to second-guess his intentions for doing that, and I am not trying to raise any trouble for him. Its just that I have never heard of doing such a thing. I know donor frames are sometimes used in place of bent or rusted frames and can often be the only way to salvage an otherwise good car. But welding in the original frame VIN stamp section to the donor frame?? It raises some interesting theoretical questions as far as, is it (1) ethical and (2) legal. I guess as far as ethical issues, it depends on how later the car is tried to be passed off, whether it is disclosed the frame has been changed or not, and whether the welded in section with the original VIN stamp is tried to be passed off as original (although I can't imagine how someone would not notice). As for legality, is this along the same lines as altering a VIN tag, removing it and putting it on another frame? Interesting question, as the VIN tag is readily visible but a frame VIN stamp is not, also I don't know if the laws address altering frame VIN stamps like they do VIN tags. Just food for thought - any comments?
I do not know this gentleman personally and do not wish to second-guess his intentions for doing that, and I am not trying to raise any trouble for him. Its just that I have never heard of doing such a thing. I know donor frames are sometimes used in place of bent or rusted frames and can often be the only way to salvage an otherwise good car. But welding in the original frame VIN stamp section to the donor frame?? It raises some interesting theoretical questions as far as, is it (1) ethical and (2) legal. I guess as far as ethical issues, it depends on how later the car is tried to be passed off, whether it is disclosed the frame has been changed or not, and whether the welded in section with the original VIN stamp is tried to be passed off as original (although I can't imagine how someone would not notice). As for legality, is this along the same lines as altering a VIN tag, removing it and putting it on another frame? Interesting question, as the VIN tag is readily visible but a frame VIN stamp is not, also I don't know if the laws address altering frame VIN stamps like they do VIN tags. Just food for thought - any comments?