ReshellIng into another shell. Is it legal?
Turbo Mini Forums

Theres a green '68' on ebay too and i always look for 'reshelled at some point' in the listing.. this one has not?! So i wonder why they are not telling people or are they dumb n just actually think it is a 68

Yeah I've seen that one too. To be fair very few of them might have bought them and genuinely thought it was a 68 shell so that's what they are selling it as because they know no better. What happens if they ever got caught?

They don't die, they just get faster!

Thats my other point tho? How is mr policeman going to prove that some good ol boy didnt just genuinely reshell his rotten mk1 back in the 80's? Or that its been done but paperworks lost? I have in the past just said to my insurance it has been reshelled at somepoint and they knew exactly what i meant and just put it down in modifications,said its also known in vw and ford scene and in some yanks...

Well hopefully the reintroduction of rolling tax exemption will help sort this issue of reshelling to some extent.

I mean what happens if you get caught selling a log book or selling a ringer on eBay? Would they just destroy it?

They don't die, they just get faster!

Its a big thing for the americans because of the 25year rule, i know of a few 1960 mpi's lol

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

Most people selling logbooks dont show complete reg (a friend did try sell logbook on ebay once but someone apparently a cop said he will be contacting dvla.. my friend got scared and took it off ebay and gave it to me! Aint been destroyed and that was 4 years ago :-p ) when it comes to full ringers it comes to my point again of how will anyone prove its not been done right or along time ago?

If the car was reshelled in the 80's for instance with a correctly issued replacement shell, the numbers on the car would not come back to another unlike a fair few of the current cars which are clearly a result of people simply trying to achieve that desirable tax exempt status. While it is easy to change the vin plates, the scuttle has the number stamped into it on later cars so it can be quite easy to identify a later ringer if you know what to look for or the person ringing doesn't know fully what they are doing

Another dodgy ebay ad. http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm?itemId=121453369545

I've reported him

As I mentioned a while ago (and others have said the same), back in the 80's, early 90's, the rules were very different.

Re. the old points system,

I can't find this anywhere on the DVLA or other Gov site but I did find it referenced on another "classic" car forum and it is pretty much how I remembered it except, when I used it (twice but many, many years ago), the IVA etc. didn't exist.

Because I can't find it on DVLA's site I wouldn't guarantee it but it does make interesting reading.

I thought it was phased out once IVA had been introduced but as this copy refers to IVA, I may be wrong, maybe it was just the bit about bodyshells that was phased out.



"Points,
chassis or body shell (body and chassis as one unit - monocoque ie direct replacement from the manufacturer) (original or new) = 5 points
suspension = 2 points
axles = 2 points
transmission = 2 points
steering assembly = 2 points
engine = 1 point

If less than eight points are scored or a second-hand or modified chassis or altered monocoque bodyshell is used an Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA), enhanced single vehicle approval (ESVA), single vehicle approval (SVA) or motorcycle single vehicle approval (MSVA) certificate will be required to register the vehicle. A 'Q' prefix registration number will be allocated."




Anyway, if you ignore the 5 points for bodyshell/monocoque because it's not a new Heretige shell, and loosely assume all the bits on the subframes is suspension and axles, for a straight reshell, back in the old days, you can easily get 9 points.

The debatable bit is the "or" statements after "less than eight points"
Because it says "or a second-hand or modified chassis or altered monocoque bodyshell is used", and doesn't use the words "monocoque bodyshell" after the first two "or"s, I read it like this...

If less than eight points are scored or ((a second-hand or modified chassis)) or ((altered monocoque bodyshell)) is used....
ie, the secondhand dis-allow is only for chassis's, not un-altered monocoques.
To mean either it would have to have been worded,
"If less than eight points are scored or a second-hand or modified chassis or a secondhand or altered monocoque bodyshell is used....
But it doesn't say that. It doesn't mention a secondhand monocoque bodyshell, it only says an altered monocoque bodyshell.

But this is all history,

There are clearly lots of people trying to sell illegal logbooks only on ebay and elsewhere but why should that stigmatise those of us who are old enough to have done it when it was perfectly legal ?

So when I did it to a rotten Mk2 Mini into an early accident damaged (but before they had the A,B,C,D ratings for write-offs) Mk3 shell I considered I got 9 points and when I rebuilt my S3 Landy onto a brand new chassis I considered I got the maximum 14 points.

There was no paperwork involved, I just phoned DVLA (or whatever they were called at that time) and got a “just do it” reply and the second time I just did it. This was before the new rules and I don't have a problem with what I did.

The only proof of my innocence is that both logbooks (now V5s) show me to be the owner (registered keeper) from dates long before IVA etc. took over.

And both are tax exempt but that's just because the rules at the time allowed me to do this on the original registrations.

That may upset some people but it's just how the rules were back then.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???