<<As to the legality of the proposed action, your best bet is to contact a
lawyer who practices in the state where you live, and pose the question
to him or her -- I strongly encourage this. They have the appropriate
training, materials, etc, to render a legal opinion. They also have
errors and ommissions insurance, in case they tell you the wrong thing,
and are close enough to ream out in person....>>
Well I _am_ a lawyer, but having said that, this advice is worth every cent
you paid for it, ie you may _not_ rely on it, but should get advice from a
lawyer in your jurisdiction.
It seems to me that it is a matter of degree.You are clearly allowed to
replace parts on a car, up to and including a whole new body tub, and unless
the law in your area prohibits it (sometimes the title is attached to the
chassis by law) also the frame. So you could take your old, titled piece of
s--t and replace everything on it, and still use the title. Is that really any
different than taking good used parts, even en masse, from a donor car that
you happen to have? Probably not. If you just unbolt the number plate and
throw the rest of the car away, I can see how the intent would be clear enough
that the authorities would step in. If you remove bits piece by piece to
restore the titled car so that you gradually end up with most of the parts
from the good car transferred over, I don't think that there would be any
illegality in most jurisdictions. It is the big grey area in between that
keeps us lawyers busy and able to afford the odd car part.
Bill S.
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