2redrovers

I thought that was against the law [emoji16]

That's what I was thinking too, sure you can get a bit of garden art and do some welding but it has to be a two door or its useless.

Although I guess the next question the idiots would ask is American number = import papers

If it wasn't so expensive, I'd suggest buying an original panel from the states and call the thing a Yankee Tudor

It should be as simple as going to the cops with proof of purchase and sellers details, let them see the shell as it is and issue a police number for it. It's history then begins with your purchase and goes on from there. I realise you are in nanny central and life isn't that simple, but doing it that way you aren't trying to hide what it is or call it something it's not. What's the difference between that and a replica that has no history or id?

Essentially in Australia, the identity of a vehicle is in the chassis. That's why when you create a hot rod from your Fargo truck and stick it on a hq ute chassis to get it low and loud, it is then registered as a rebodied hq ute. Technically you replaced every panel of the ute with "new" stuff but the law still sees it as a hq for paperwork reasons. Here's a scenario that might help you find out... Have a conversation with the authorities about a project that you are PLANNING to buy. It's a ford hard top that's had some parts cut out to fix other cars but it's mostly intact and is worth saving /rebuilding. Now the issue is, the radiator support panel has been removed at some stage and now the shell has no id numbers. because they're not available new, if I buy a second hand panel which will have another number stamped on it from the donor car, how will the car be identified and can it be registered? See what that gets for a response and if it's good news, unpick your panel and swap it out.

I haven't done it myself (should try some time just so I know first hand) but ABS plastic can be glued with acetone. Look at the inside of the bar, should be marked somewhere saying what plastic it is but I'm pretty sure it will be ABS. From what I have read, it will give you one of the stronger bonds especially if you can add a bit of reinforcement to the joint. Alternatively, a soldering iron can be used to weld it back together. I used to trim a small strip off the back somewhere unseen to use as filler material to help join everything together. Unfortunately those tabs are fragile and there's a risk it will break again down the track. We used to use the fibreglass tape used for repairing plasterwork with a special plastic glue to give some bulk to the repair and hold it together, minimising the fractures afterwards.

Totally[emoji16] .... wait, what were we talking about again

I measured the jig and the little tag we welded on to help guide the shaft is exactly 240mm [emoji106]

Is the shifter rod measurement you gave me for the final shortened version? (470mm)

From what I can tell from pics, the sedan is shorter and includes the recess for the bumper. The ute and van panels are longer but stop at the dropped edge to the bumper, not including the corner. Ute Sedan Wagon

Psst don't forget to measure the black bit

I don't recommend installing it like that... The shifter angle would really kill your wrist [emoji16]

Looks nice and shiny[emoji108] Dopey me forgot to measure it, so if you're able at some point to measure the gearbox casing that would be great. That way I have a reference measurement for the jig if I don't have a giant cast iron chunk bolted to it.

Don't leave it in too long though or it could be like this ^^