Roof Swap

[vc commodore]

The front half was a wagon and the back half was a ute, therefore this car doesn't have the same structural rigidity as a car which came from the factory as a ute...

Not sure 30 years ago if there were any sorts of procedures that needed to be followed or tests available to the public to test the ridgity of cars that have undergone these sorts of modifications...

From memory, these sorts of procedures came into effect to combat car re-birthing along with unsafe modifications...Unfortunately the memory doesn't stretch back that far to remember when this came into effect...

 

[Commo64]

Not sure 30 years ago if there were any sorts of procedures that needed to be followed or tests available to the public to test the ridgity of cars that have undergone these sorts of modifications...

I don't think there was, but thank goodness there is now days...

 

[Skylarking]

Can be done....As for the procedure....Would be interesting if their is a government document relating to the procedure for the replacement for the car, considering the age the car is and when it was produced if it was even considered way back in 1984....

Anything can be repaired/rebuilt given enough cash…

There are national government documents and state procedures for classification and repair of vehicles. These documents define the criteria for declaring a vehicle a write off (statutory or repairable) and the repair process and procedures one follows for registration. A adjunct to this is the vehicle manufacturers repair processes (which would exist for a VK)…

These docs and don’t reference ADR’s as such so aren’t age specific, but the WOVR process does provide an exemption for vehicles that are 15 years or older so that makes it easier from a bureaucratic standpoint as they don’t have to be declared…

However, such docs and processes provide the scope for what is a safe repair and only a fool with grab a grinder and welder will ignore such repair documents. As is always the case, investigating best practice repair methods would yield a better and safer result while winging it may see a much worse outcome.

And we can’t forget that welding structural stuff requires real skill, not back yard podgy welds layer via multiple passes which are cleaned up with a grinder each time to make them look better… You really need to know how to weld correctly… OP may have such welding skills or he may not, only he knows..

For shits and giggles, the following SA doc specifies the process to define whether the vehicle is a write off and what level of write off.

https://www.sa.gov.au/__data/assets...s-for-the-SA-Written-Off-Vehicle-Register.pdf

There are other govco and manufacturer docs that define the repair methodology as well.

 

[vc commodore]

Anything can be repaired/rebuilt given enough cash…

There are national government documents and state procedures for classification and repair of vehicles. These documents define the criteria for declaring a vehicle a write off (statutory or repairable) and the repair process and procedures one follows for registration. A adjunct to this is tne vehicle manufacturers repai processes (which would exist for a VK)…

These docs and don’t reference ADR’s as such so aren’t aren’t age specific, but the WOVR process does provide an exemption for vehicles that are 15 years or older so that makes it easier from a bureaucratic standpoint as they don’t have to be declared…

However, such docs and processes provide the scope for what is a safe repair and only a fool with grab a grinder and welder will ignore such repair documents. As is always the case, investigating best practice repair methods would yield a better and safer result while winging it may see a much worse outcome.

And we can’t forget that welding structural stuff requires real skill, not back yard podgy welds layer via multiple passes which are cleaned up with a grinder each time to make them look better… You really need to know how to weld correctly… OP may have such welding skills or he may not, only he knows..

For shits and giggles, the following SA doc specifies the process to define whether the vehicle is a write off and what level of write off.

https://www.sa.gov.au/__data/assets...s-for-the-SA-Written-Off-Vehicle-Register.pdf

There are other govco and manufacturer docs that define the repair methodology as well.

I am aware anything an be repaired...I am also aware you need to be a registered business to obtain any repair procedure forms, should they exist for this era car, especially in S.A to do the replacement on the roof....

Written off register doesn't come into the discussion with this particular thread unless the car in question is actually on it...

I am also confident in saying these procedures came into effect as a result of shoddy workmanship way back when this car was produced and to help combat re-birthing...Re-birthing came to a head back n the 90's, so that makes it before this particular car was built....

That being said, it may well exist and whether the rego authorities are actually aware his car has the structual rust requiring this work is another that remains to be seen.....That being the case, doing it on the sly means any procedure than may exist doesn't have to be followed to get the car registered...Even though it is strongly suggested to make sure the car is actually structually sound

 

[Skylarking]

@vc commodore, I wasn’t disagreeing with you, just reaffirming that wovr related processes exist for a good reason (safety of repair) and that OP would be wise to examines such resources so that what he does justice by the car and makes a safe quality repair…

And as I said, the car is > 15 years old so doesn’t need to be declared as a write off even if it meets some write off criteria… exemptions are good that way…

 

[losh1971]

The bloke who did the EH was a qualified panel beater. At the time finding an EH ute without substantial rust was pretty much impossible. I did question it and he said it was solid. He did good work he helped repair my rusty Torana, well I helped he did most of it.

 

[vc commodore]

@vc commodore, I wasn’t disagreeing with you, just reaffirming that wovr related processes exist for a good reason (safety of repair) and that OP would be wise to examines such resources so that what he does justice by the car and makes a safe quality repair…

And as I said, the car is > 15 years old so doesn’t need to be declared as a write off even if it meets some write off criteria… exemptions are good that way…

I fail to see where a write off even comes into the equasion.

With the OP.....The way I read it, they don't really seem compentant enough (and no disrespect to their abilities) to actually complete the repairs, asking the question to begin with....They should go see a panel beater to actually complete the repairs

 

[Skylarking]

I fail to see where a write off even comes into the equasion.

In this specific case it’s not relevant as the vehicle is exempt from an owner notifying rego authorities of write off condition (due to rust damage) because of its age.

But as the forum is also for learning, I thought it relevant to identify Owen responsibilities around WOV notification issues for vehicles less than the exemption age of 15 years (in SA, other jurisdictions may be different). And it’s also relevant in all cases to identify that there are documented manufacturer and state based repair process involved in doing quality repairs…

After all, I‘d hate seeing some bodgy repair made to look good and then seeing that unsafe car for sale for what is silly money…

Such happens and it’s just another one of my pet hates (just as cut and shut repairs were back in the 80’s)

 

[vc commodore]

In this specific case it’s not relevant as the vehicle is exempt from an owner notifying rego authorities of write off condition (due to rust damage) because of its age.

But as the forum is also for learning, I thought it relevant to identify Owen responsibilities around WOV notification issues for vehicles less than the exemption age of 15 years (in SA, other jurisdictions may be different). And it’s also relevant in all cases to identify that there are documented manufacturer and state based repair process involved in doing quality repairs…

After all, I‘d hate seeing some bodgy repair made to look good and then seeing that unsafe car for sale for what is silly money…

Such happens and it’s just another one of my pet hates (just as cut and shut repairs were back in the 80’s)

The written off vehicle notification relates to a car being in a accident and being written off due to being uneconomically viable to repair...Not due to rust issues...