[L16pilot]

"At what point do you or don't you call it a re body?"

I've been involved in discussions on this topic more times than I care to remember and honestly believe there will never be a clear consensus. What is clear is the legality issues state to state and whether fraud/misrepresentation is committed for the purpose of profit.

Personally, I would rather buy a car that had been rebodied with a donor assembled in a GM factory with GM sheetmetal by GM employees in the year the car was produced....as long as it was disclosed fully it is a rebody...rather than a rusted out hulk pieced together using Taiwanese sheetmetal stamped two years ago and billed simply as a full restoration...but maybe that's just me.

I also find it interesting that in the world of aviation, every P-51/Spitfire airworthy today does not have the original engine, has had the majority of it's airframe replaced...at least once, and are often completely recreated around a data tag.....and no one cares.