63 replies to this topic

[slyoldfox2001]

what is the difference between using a new shell or a used shell that has been 75% restored.


as for the new shell option - it never was.
they cost £3200
with all the new heritage panels i have only spent £1000.

[The Matt]

what is the difference between using a new shell or a used shell that has been 75% restored.

One method is legal, one method is not.

EDIT: Actually, one method is 75% legal, I guess???

Edited by mini mad me, 27 September 2006 - 12:39 PM.

[slyoldfox2001]

so at what point does a repaired shell become illegal ?

[The Matt]

Well, that's an interesting question really.

It depends which part of the shell you are retaining.

[Guess-Works.com]

A repaired shell will never be illegal...

Only the application of the shell...

If the shell still has it's identity, ie V5, then that's what it is, end of story...

If it does not, then it can be used to repair an existing vehicle, but because of the points scheme on rebuilt vehicles, it would need an SVA and Q plate as it a vehicle rebuilt from more than one source or undetertemined sources. to be 100% legal.

http://www.direct.go...n...&chk=VsQ/Fs

[The Matt]

A repaired shell will never be illegal...

I thought he meant repairing one with second hand bits

Read it wrong! ooopsies!

[slyoldfox2001]

like the bit with id no's stamped in it


who are people trying to kid.
at the end of the day unless you are the original owner of your mini you havent got a clue what has or hasnt been replaced and therefore nearly every mini on the road has doubt over its history !!

i disagree with the Q plate comment.

i still have the V5 for the shell and the GT. what happens if i inform the dvla that the cubman shell has now been scrapped - does that then mean the shell or whats left of it is then classed as repair panels !!

[Jammy]

If you inform the DVLA of a shell thats been scrapped, when it hasn't, well I guess thats illegal in some way?!

At the end of the day, you can't reshell a vehicle with a shell thats already been registered, it may suck, but at the end of the day its the law!!

[slyoldfox2001]

but you are still missing the important point that you cannot say for sure that the identity of any current mini is 100% legal yet everyone gets on their high horses about re-shelling !!!

i can understand that opinion when someone is doing it for deception - ie to make the car appear older than it is or rarer than it is so they can increase its value or obtain tax-free status.


i would also like to know at what point is an original shell illegal depending upon how much repair/replacement work it has had done ??


the other point i forgot to make is that i am informing the dvla that the CAR has been scrapped.
that still doesnt stop me from using bits of it onto other cars.

this cannot be illegal or all scrapyards are trading illegally.

[Guess-Works.com]

But isn't our responsibility to preserve the heritage of a mini, rather than just the mini itself...

It's only because a mini is so easy to reshell that we have this issue...

If you bought an accident damaged modern car and reshelled it with the remains of another... would you be calling it the original vehicle ?

[slyoldfox2001]

the only heritage part of my GT is the rust !!
the shell is completely shot

so in todays car terms - if i was to roll my brand new car and the insurance wrote it off. i then buy it back and carry out the repair myself replacing every panel with a 2nd hand panel (or new) then would i have to have it sva'd with the chance of it getting a Q plate.

[miniboo]

what you just said there though is different to replacing the whole shell in a oner. replacing panels etc on an original shell is ok but not transferring the id from one shell to another

[Guess-Works.com]

i can understand that opinion when someone is doing it for deception - ie to make the car appear older than it is or rarer than it is so they can increase its value or obtain tax-free status.

Isn't that exactly what you are doing, by taking the shell from an 1100 clubman, and reshelling a 1275 GT with it... thus implying that the car is a 1275GT with a higher residual value than the 1100 clubman... ??

so in todays car terms - if i was to roll my brand new car and the insurance wrote it off. i then buy it back and carry out the repair myself replacing every panel with a 2nd hand panel (or new) then would i have to have it sva'd with the chance of it getting a Q plate.

Depending on the write off category it would be subject to a VIC, and if they could not conlude that it's the original vehicle would be give a Q plate

[Jammy]

the only heritage part of my GT is the rust !!
the shell is completely shot

so in todays car terms - if i was to roll my brand new car and the insurance wrote it off. i then buy it back and carry out the repair myself replacing every panel with a 2nd hand panel (or new) then would i have to have it sva'd with the chance of it getting a Q plate.

In this event it would probably be a category A or B write off, so you wouldn't be legally allowed to buy it back and it would have to be crushed.

EDIT: I wonder if we can get a knowledgable member of the DVLA to sign up and answer this barrage of questions!

[slyoldfox2001]

not really as the 1275GT exists as a propper car and is indeed sitting on my drive.
the shell is falling to bits and if it wasnt for the rust i reckon it could be the first skeleton mini ever to be seen.

from looking at the shell i reckon the GT had already had 40-50% of its panels replaced/repaired/bodged !!!

i have got another clubman shell that is now having 75% of it panels replaced with genuine heritage parts.

the plan is then to strip the GT down and rebuild it into the new shell.
i reckon if i can prove then over 75% of the shell has been replaced with new parts then the dvla will find it hard not to accept the fact its a more or less a new shell and hence the GT can retain its originality.