[NationwideClyde]

You shouldn't need an airbag w 5pt harness, and it'd be hell, not to mention DANGEROUS, to "rig" an airbag. Generally, in custom-built cases, most people register as the donor motor. Do you live in an area which actually does safety inspections? They don't in my corner of WI, thank God, and I'm planning on moving to the Free State (www.freestateproject.org) to permanently get away from gov't interference.

For a completely scratchbuilt car, there are kit car registrations.

Generally, I'd try to find a donor VIN that's completely impenetrable by government watchdogs. Anything you can do to get this thing registered without government intervention is in your best interest. Diesels are exempt from emissions testing, for example, and a clean title and VIN off an old diesel Rabbit, for example, would allow you to register the car as a diesel and you'd never get sniffed. That is, if you have emissions testing, which, I hope, you don't. Freakin' **** plot, what that is.

Check your local laws and look up a resource like Kit Car Magazine. There's lots of people who go about this sort of thing.

 

[NationwideClyde]

By the by, most dune buggies and sandrails, being VW Beetle floorpan-based, are registered as old Beetles, even if the engine is not VW.

 

[NationwideClyde]

Isn't it already registered? I mean, if you have plates on it, and keep sending in the renewals, there's no reason the state should ever have to see the car. In fact, here in WI, I can register and title a car without them ever inspecting it.

The only time it could become an issue is if you get pulled over and the cop whips out his authoritarian scrutiny on you.

I like older Aerostars (the '92-forward dash is hideous) and have thought of picking one up. Here's the thing w/ Aerostars. Underneath that "heat trap" of a body is a Ford Ranger frame. That's right, the Aerostar is body-on-frame, and that makes your job considerably easier. Now, an Aerostar has a sort of "basket-handle" B-pillar. You could concieveably keep the windshield and A-pillar frame, cut out the roof Targa-top style over the front, chop down the doors low enough to step over and weld them in like a Jeep Wrangler or IH Scout and then chop the whole roof off the back, essentially making it an Aerostar Jeep-like convertible with a roll hoop over the front (for safety purposes- seatbelts remain in stock location). For fun you could even put big chrome off-road lights on the hoop.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;"> D_
/ | \
/| | \
/_| | \____________
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|\ __\____/ O __ E]
[__/ \_______________/ \____]
O O</pre><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Forgive the horrible ASCII art, but you get the idea. If you don't, I could do a rendering, but it's basically an open-air Aerostar, registered as an Aerostar, and completely street legal.

[ 04-28-2003, 11:51 AM: Message edited by: NationwideClyde ]

 

[NationwideClyde]

Funny we should be discussing this.

Look what I found on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2412815971&category=6445