That's fine; I just didn't want to see you go into some huge "wonder if I
could do it" experiment only to end up with a car you can't get inspected.
It'd be interesting to see what's involved in devolving a 'B from a rubber
bumper to chrome bumper state. Not sure I've heard anyone else do it.
Though for the dollars - did you say what you paid? - involved in changing
it, are you sure you can't get a chrome for the same bucks? Purely for
curiousity's sake, it'd be interesting, but from a purely economic point of
view, does it make sense?
At 05:39 PM 10/28/03, mark.d.melvin@jpmchase.com wrote:
>That presumes driving on US streets, doing so in a state which doesn't have
>special arrangements for collectors / historic / street rod cars.
>Ironically New Jersey would let me strip bumpers, chop down the windshield
>to a 3" height, weld the doors shut & smoothed, remove sidelights, and
>basically do a "melt" of the car, then title it as a street rod and drive
>it on the highway up to 3,000 miles a year. I have no such intentions, but
>compared to all the other realms in which NJ is really restrictive on daily
>life, the customized car sector is really broadminded. It is amazing to see
>what people build here as their automotive escapes from reality.
>
>If I'd found a pre-74 free of rust for anywhere near the price, I would
>certainly have purchased it. I climbed around a fair few to find this car
>with a solid structure I can count on for the next 25 years. Had my heart
>set on a '62 build '63 title. Bought it without personal inspection based
>on dozens of photos and seller's assurances of unphotographed portions. Got
>under the passenger side and looked like it had been dropped from a 3-4
>foot height onto a stack of cinderblocks halfway between the wheels, with a
>stop sign post bolted on as a replacement frame and baling wire lacing the
>bottom edge of a fake sill to the signpost. Heartbreaking.
>
>This car I can trust structurally to spend more money on it. Evidence found
>(receipts, event memorabilia, repaint touchup cannister) indicate that it
>spent most of its 26 years in Arizona, a visit at least to San Francisco,
>and the last 6 months in the north east. Maybe it did more, but the
>condition doesn't indicate it.
>
>If I could now find a dirt dirt dirt cheap chrome bumper 5 main car needing
>a body tub swap and maybe my drivetrain, and a new interior, I could
>undertake that effort... But then the easier method would be moving the VIN
>plates, and that's not legal now is it. How often do people go that route?
>
>Mark
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> Tab
> Julius
>
> <tab@penworks. To: Mark D
> Melvin/JPMCHASE@JPMCHASE
>
> com> cc: mgs@autox.team.net
>
> Subject: Re: New list member
> / B owner with special part sourcing question
> 10/28/2003
>
> 05:23
> PM
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>Purity aside, as this is your car and you can do what you want to it, I
>would question whether it would be street legal after changing the
>bumpers. The bumpers changed midway through '74 in order to meet the 1976
>vehicle safety standards. It's entirely possible after making this
>conversion that you will render your '77 illegal to drive.
>
>Why not just buy a pre-74 chrome bumper to start with?
>
>
>At 03:52 PM 10/28/03, mark.d.melvin@jpmchase.com wrote:
> >a) To convert to chrome bumpers, aside form the labor, and ride height and
> >etc. etc. etc. at a vary practical level I need new bracket mounts and
> >humps to fill the flats under the taillights. I have found places in the
>UK
> >selling kits with these conversion bits, but no US suppliers. Are there
> >any? I'd rather weld the new brackets before repainting rather than
> >repainting that area later.
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