Any good shells about

[rae80inch]

Hello all I've been to look at a 56 minor 2 door in black today absolutely rotten but all orginal what's the chance off finding a good shell or do they not exist seems to be a shame to let it go ,rae

[bmcecosse]

It is illegal to 'reshell' a car using an old shell anyway....so the idea is a non starter. It's a great shame that the Club hasn't worked on Heritage to produce NEW shells - as they do for the Mini, Midget and MGB. It is then perfectly legal to reshell a car with one of these new shells -provided you use the major components from the donor car -but whose to know !! You can only use the car you have found as a 'spare parts car' - or repair it of course!

[les]

This has always mystified me, a shell is a spare part, and if you have a car that you own and legally purchase another for spares surely whatever combination of parts used is ok, just return the v5 not used. I've bought a mini before now and used the shell in place of another, only because they were plentiful and inexpensive then. The original wasn't too bad, today I'd have repaired it.

[bmcecosse]

Rules is rules..... a 'new' shell from Heritage is fine for a reshell because it has never been registered. But an old shell that has been registered - must retain it's original registration number. Back in the day I built a 'new' Mini using a brand new BMC shell, and several of my mates did exactly the same thing. We each walked into the local Tax office - and registered the cars as NEW !! No questions asked....

[les]

Can't argue with the rules but in reality the older the vehicle the more elusive it is to check for originality, numbers and ID plates are not as sophisticated as today. I bet there is more that one car with a used shell complete with original vehicle numbers in all the correct places, I'm sure there are plenty of characters that stamp over numbers and stick plates over things hoping to fool people but there are real people out there that pay attention to these details, and that could have happened years ago!

[RobThomas]

Rae. If the question was "Does anyone know of a 2-door 1956 shell with V5 that needs reassembling but is missing things like wiring, trim, glass etc" then I went to see a bare shell in Cardiff yesterday just before it went in to be blasted by the same people who did a fantastic job on our Lowlight. It has a V5 and a 4number/2letter registration.

There. Nothing too contentious?

Rob
hfh200@hotmail.co.uk

[rae80inch]

Thank you all I thought it might open up a can of worms it was just an enquiry as cars very close to me only a few miles nothing ever comes up by me I've been looking for a car for a while now the only cars that ever turn up are complete rotten sheds it's been out side since 1996 so you can guess it's completely gone it's all food for thought can I ask how much that shell was please cheers ,rae

[RobThomas]

No idea, Rae, but I can ask them next week when I drop by. If you PM or email me we can exchange info more easily.
Cheers
Rob

[RobThomas]

Rae. A quick photo from when it went in for blasting. Both front inners grotty from bad wings but not too hard to repair.

[ManyMinors]

Looks a good shell but a few years later than 1956 isn't it?