.....if we were talking about trucks, nobody would give 2 hoots if we were swapping frames, cabs, doors, beds, VINs etc
Interesting argument and I will admit I have changed cabs but the VIN maintained from the original cab and I have put heavier (think, 1 ton or 4WD) frames under good cabs with any assortment of body parts but again the original VIN was maintained. I think the difference to me is the intent to deceive, if it's a half ton VIN it will always be a half ton truck regardless of how it's equipped and cabs don't vary from one to another short of maybe how the floor board is cut.
In either situation a rebody was committed, a replacement frame carries a VIN from the donor,you are now combining 2 vehicles, if a cab was replaced, and the "original" VIN was carried over from the original cab it's technically a rebody, you yourself earlier said that you considered the passenger compartment structure of a vehicle as the main focal point of maintaining the "originality" of the vehicle when restoring it, that when that was replaced and the "original" VIN attached to the replacement, then it became a rebody...
IMHO Trucks because they are not deemed "collectable", fall into a gray area where the terms rebody, VIN swapping, donor vehicle, seem to have little to no concern, often when an individual slides a 4wd updated chassis under an old Sweptline we just say nice upgrade, or when every body panel, cab, frame was replaced using 2,3, or more parts trucks to make one vintage truck whole we just give a thumbs up for the effort, why do automobiles require a different set of "rules" in this regard?...they shouldn't
