Guys.. not that any of us should need this beaten over our heads... but I just had to remind everyone to be careful when looking at/buying Chevelles these days...

I have personally looked at about 7 cars in the last month for perspective buyers that were supposed to be either Real SS's or Numbers Matching or both.. and all were either Faked SS's or Re-stamped deck blocks!!!

Do your homework and don't make hasty decisons.. especially when dealing with the $35K plus cars... documents are being faked more than ever and decks are restamped and being done very well!!!

Just had to vent..

Be Smart!!

Mike Crown

Same thing goes for parts as well. :(

If people only knew how many bogus restamped parts are being passed off as originals... :angry:

Good advice, especially for the new members that may be in the market for a Chevelle.

Your post should be a sticky so it doesn't get lost.

Always do your home work before you buy not after. There have been many threads here and other sites were people have bought cars with vin's off of other makes and models. it's the samething with all hobby's when items get to be valued high they get faked.

I think that is what bothers me the most.. it's the guy who emails me and says he bought this car and can I verify it?? huh?? abit late now even if it is real.. I am dealing with this more and more lately... and it's not easy delivering the bad news :noway: but then I do that often in my line of work too :sad:

I am dealing with this more and more lately... and it's not easy delivering the bad news :noway: but then I do that often in my line of work too :sad:
are you a Doctor or a medical examiner??

This is why I only buy Malibu's. :thumbsup:
Even still, you've gotta be careful as Mike has noted.
A couple years ago I got burned...bought a decent Malibu only to find out later it was a rebadged SS. :(
Just can't trust some people...;)

A couple years ago I got burned...bought a decent Malibu only to find out later it was a rebadged SS. :(
Just can't trust some people...;)
whoa, THAT musta sucked.

There are more SS Chevelles now than what the factory made!!!!!!! You have to be careful and if you don't know, get someone that does!!!!!!!!

You know when I had a guy from NY that came and bought a bunch of my Nos parts he had told me about coming across bogus Nos parts. I had not even heard of this before that. Would it be feasible to start a database with the cars that are known to be fraudulent? The ones with restamp and fake build sheets.

Nelson

Would it be feasible to start a database with the cars that are known to be fraudulent? The ones with restamp and fake build sheets.

Nelson

That would be nice! Wonder if anybody has started one?

Guys.. not that any of us should need this beaten over our heads... but I just had to remind everyone to be careful when looking at/buying Chevelles these days...

I have personally looked at about 7 cars in the last month for perspective buyers that were supposed to be either Real SS's or Numbers Matching or both.. and all were either Faked SS's or Re-stamped deck blocks!!!

Do your homework and don't make hasty decisons.. especially when dealing with the $35K plus cars... documents are being faked more than ever and decks are restamped and being done very well!!!

Just had to vent..

Be Smart!!

Mike Crown

Ditto on this. I looked at one not too long ago for a customer. He had talked to all previous owners (4). All of them swore it had the original engine block. I traveled about 2,000 miles to find a VIN on the engine that did not match the one on the transmission. Car was all the money, and then a little bit more. It was the color the customer wanted. He did not buy the car, and was very glad to have a qualified person to check it out and find the truth. Check out all sources if you can and make sure you are satisfied BEFORE spending the big bucks. Take everything you are told with a grain of salt and verify it before you commit to the purchace. Very sound advice, Mike

Jeff Dotterer
Dated Components
Diamond Restored Judge

That's not to mention driving 12 hours to buy the perfect car only to find out that it is a rust bucket. I hear more of these wild goose chase stories than I do about fakes. I drove 2 1/2 hours to see a '69 Chevelle that wintered in Florida. In the ocean I guess. Is rust actually invisible to some people? As much as it is a big pain building a car, at least you know what you have when you are done. A nice smooth bondo job can hide a lot of sins from the untrained eye.

Just like when Jason and I were at the Daytona Rod Run last year when I sold my 70 ss we looked at atleast 30 chevelle's and of course they were all being sold a real ss cars and out of all of the cars we looked at I think their was only 3-4 that were real ss cars and mine being 1 of them. go figure...I think that is why my car sold for so much on saturday at the show because it was a real #s matching ss car.


(http://www.chevelles.com/forums/%3Cobject%20width=%22425%22%20height=%22350%22%3E% 3Cparam%20name=%22movie%22%20value=%22http://www.youtube.com/v/booRa8yaz6k%22%3E%3C/param%3E%3Cembed%20src=%22http://www.youtube.com/v/booRa8yaz6k%22%20type=%22application/x-shockwave-flash%22%20width=%22600%22%20height=%22350%22%3E%3 C/embed%3E%3C/object%3E)

.I think that is why my car sold for so much on saturday at the show because it was a real #s matching ss car.


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Oh sure that's what they all say :D :D

Good point, Mike. This is true for the saying, "What you don't know can hurt you." This is the kind of seminars that need to be promoted more and more at auto shows to avoid this type of scams. Magazines should focus some of their energy in this type of education. People work hard for their money and doing your home work before buying is extremely important. Unfortunately buyers who do not educate themselves end of getting the short end of the stick. I'm no expert in Chevelles, but this site has brighten my knowledge of these cars. When I bought mine I had no idea what a matching, documented Chevelle was. All I asked the original owner was, Does this Chevelle has the original engine? His reply was, "Yes", and I took his word. I was very lucky that it ended being an original engine. Thieves are moving along with technology. They are aging papers to look old, restamping engines, using old cowl tags to fake SS, and God only knows what else they are doing that we are not aware. A friend of mine wanted to buy a 70 Chevelle and he contacted me to help him verify if it was a real SS. With the little knowledge that I have gained from this site I was able to assist him and he ended up with a great 70SS that was very well documented. Can you imagine what is going to happen if "Dyna Corn" (sp) comes up with the Chevelle body. Hell will break loose with L78s, LS-5s, and LS6s. I'm reading a book on Teamwork by Ken Blanchard, titled "High Five", in the book he mentions, "None of us is as smart as all of us" This is why is so important to get as much help as you can even if you have to shed a few bucks, because in then long run you will end up on the winning side...

I can attest to what Mike and Jeff D. both have said regarding inspections. Twice in the last year I stood in my shop and informed the very surprised owners that they had just paid a LOT of money for something completely different then what they thought they were buying. In one case I told the owner what I felt his car was worth and he then told me what he paid, about 5 times more than that! When you have to show and explain to someone how badly they have just been taken, it is just like your doctor telling you that you have terminal cancer. Suddenly you are no longer their friend. It is no picnic telling people. Hence the reason they should hire us BEFORE they buy.

Please hire the people with the skills and knowledge to check these cars out for you and who are qualified on THAT particular car such an L-79, Z-28 or LS-6 car as an example. Make sure that they know more then just numbers. They need to know and understand what to look for as far as bodywork, available options for that car, correct parts for that era car, etc. Numbers are great but you can still make a POS numbers car look good with shody bodywork and you need someone who can spot that. Check around and qualify the person you chose and hopefully they will help you at a fair price. On the other hand, understand the cost of this inspection far outweighs the loss you will take if you do not hire someone.
Rick

It can still work both ways, although admittingly much rarer.

When I purchased my Last SS "69 in my signature link" the owner stated he was pretty sure it was an SS, but he had tore the car apart during restoration and didn't find a build sheet.

He told me the motor was not matching so he didn't bother checking the tranny and rear.

He did say that it was a correct 69 396 motor from a Chevelle because the suffix and assembly date was on the VIN pad, but no VIN stamping. He thought it might be replacement motor.

He sold it and I bought it as a non verified non numbers matching SS which the price reflected.

As I later learned from this site, some 69's were stamped by the oil filter Boss.

Sure enough, matching Block, tranny and rear end as well as proven SS origin due to no 396/TH400 combo's offered in non SS cars.

I'll never forget the wildly loud "Laugh" more like a "scream" finding the VIN stamp by the Oil Filter Boss with the shop lamp in my hand under the car.

I'm sure the neighbors heard it.

Probably a rare story these days I'm sure won't happen to me again in this lifetime.

That would be nice! Wonder if anybody has started one?

I have thought of starting a "CLONE REGISTERY" but don't really know how to go about it(just one year or all of them)I'm not familier with all years and options to do that.but thought it would be nice to have a list of some fake cars just to use down the road,because not all cars that are sold to be real necessairly start out to be built and passed off as real cars.alot of people will build a malibu into an SS because they can't afford the real thing or don't really care about numbers but later on down the road when the car has changed hands a couple times and some more SS authenticity put into the car the owner "forgets" to advertise the car as a clone and pretty soon its a real SS with paperwork to prove it.I've seen it done and I'm probably not the only one.
If anyone is interested in starting a"CLONE REGISTERY"please post up some ideas.I don't know how a person could verify the information that you have collected or how you would ever go about conviencing someone with a matching numbers and all documented car that its a fake because you have the VIN written on a sheet of paper.
Van