Clones and restamps

[bbg]

I follow the information you folks post regularly as I am always trying to learn more from those of you who have been in the hobby for a long time. I see more and more posts regarding clone cars and restamping. How can you tell if a part has been restamped? I have heard that there is some sort of dye or something you can put on block stampings. Is this true and what is it? How about the aluminum surfaces such as the alternator or distributor? Isn't there someone who is supposed to be going through the GM archives? Will it be possible to submit a vin # to them and get a detailed break down on a car? If so will this info help people to properly restore their cars, and document what they were originally built as? Want this make the faking and cloning nearly impossible to do? Sorry for all the questions, just seems like there is a lot of monkey business going on out there. It makes an uneducated fellow like me apprehensive to buy anything.

[Unreal]

With the value of Supercars so high, the clones will become more prevalent. You will see two types of cloners. One who builds a clone because he can't afford a real one, and one who builds a clone because he hopes to sell for big bucks. Those are the ones you need to watch out for, as they will do the restamping. However, it's hard to find all the right parts to fit into the right timeframes, as the Yenkos, for example, were batch built. The guy matching all the dates has to be either damned lucky, or damned determined. Think of the first batch of X66 Yenkos. A faker would have to find a car in the right date range, then he has to find a 512 block in the right casting date range. It will most likely be a 2 bolt, so he has to convert it to 4 bolt. Then he has to find date matched heads, date matched exhausts, etc. That's before he rounds up all the parts that need to be restamped. Not an easy task. I think they are hoping to find some poor unsuspecting buyer, price it $20,000-30,000 under market, and hope the guy lets greed overtake caution, in hopes of getting a Supercar "bargain"

I think the Supercar "bargains" are the ones bought from people who are true collectors and restorers (I did not say they would be cheap)

The clone "bargains" are ones bought from those who are not pretending their car to be anything other than what it really is.... a tribute to the real ones, at a more affordable price.

Of course, if you look at the more common cars like SS, it gets easier. But SS's are common enough, and even good examples are cheap enough that you might as well start with a real one.