New bodyshell? or not?

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Naamen
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2016 9:05

New bodyshell? or not?

Post by Naamen »

Hi all,

i have a 1968 Austin Moke, which i found garaged for many years, it passed its recent mot, bodyshell is solid but not pretty, patch on patch on patch & one of the previous owners decided Spruce green wasnt for them, & put the whole moke in a spray booth. & sprayed everything white, over the years the paint has cracked. making for a sad looking moke,

I have looked into breaking down the bodyshell, seperating the good from the bad & rebuilding with new panels, as i wold be paying someone to do this it works out horribly expensive,

So my question is, if i was to buy a new bodyshell, could i still say, "yep its an original Austin MK2 Moke" i would be using all the original bolt on bits, seats, etc.
or is there an exceptable percentage of original Moke as a doner?

The front end could easily be used if needed, i just want the better option allround, ending up with a very smart Moke i can be proud of, without upsetting the mokes pedigree.

Thanks for your time,

Naamen.
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Robin Jones
Posts: 655
Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2007 20:02
Location: Maple Heights/North Royalton, Ohio, USA

Re: New bodyshell? or not?

Post by Robin Jones »

It is very subjective. Yes good work costs $$$. My late father found someone local that specialized in VWs, pricey but worth it. I dare anyone to figure out what is new metal and what is original. Either way you go original rebuild or reshell it is going to cost you. Price for new English Moke Shell from m-parts.co.uk is £6,594.50 / Inc Vat: £7,913.40. I haven't actually seen the bill from the bodywork, but if I had to guess including my conversion of £ to $ about the same if not more. Can't wait to see your progress and having fun in it.
This is Matt Jones Son of Robin.
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Tim
Posts: 2284
Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2006 0:41
Location: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Re: New bodyshell? or not?

Post by Tim »

I agree, its very subjective. In broad terms, restoring original is better than replacing, but it depends a lot on what you have to start with. If you're at the point where its hard to decide whether to repair or replace then its probably better to replace the whole body shell (as long as the replacement is of a very high standard).

Over here, replacing whole body shells has legal problems, so the usual thing is to patch up the original until its too far gone, then roll it round the back of the shed and forget it.

cheers
Tim
Any sarcastic, ignorant, libellous, unfounded or stupid opinions expressed in or through this message are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the opinions or views of any member of The Mini Moke Club or the opinions or views of any other individual.
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