Bent Chassis?
I brought 1 chassis to a local automotive frame shop. It cost me $75.00 to have the straightened. I straightened the horns on another chassis myself using a floorjack and a 4"x4" to the rafters in the garage. It took alot less effort then I thought it would. I added no extra support and they haven't bent back yet.
I did place one stand on each end of the rear torsion tube and but I used two stands for the axel beam, one on each side. All of the jack stands are even. I am going to call a couple body shops and see if they even want to bother with it. Otherwise I think I am just going to reinforce the chassis and not worry about the slight bend, it is just an old VW frame, not a formula racer!
Hi Eric! Good to see another NJ guy here! At first I thought you were another EricB who is frequent on VW forums and also in NJ but he is down near mt holly so Im assuming you are not the same? I think these guys have given you alot of great advice, if you have means to transport it Im down in Blackwood NJ and have a fair amount of "weapons of destruction" at my disposal, that is to say a well stocked shop. So if you need a hand or such I'd be happy to help out. Is your buggy already titled as a reconstructed vehicle in NJ? If so that alone makes it worth saving because the process to title a reconstructed vehicle is not a pleasant one.
Legally....no. Some people get away with it but here are the 3 possible scenarios, and what you will run into. You register it as a regular vehicle, you will then have to go through inspection and they will catch it right then and there. You register it as a collectors vehicle, you wont have to get inspected but you do need to go to the inspection station for a mileage verification, again they catch it. This also requires you to carry collectors insurance...which is a whole different nightmare to try and get on a dune buggy. You register it as a historic vehicle, you dont have to go to the inspection station at all but you do have to submit photos to the DMV. You may get lucky and get it past them, but you run the risk. If you go reconstructed your buggy will suddnely be a 2005 or 2006 model (depending on when you do it) since they base the year on when you finished the rebuild (My Meyers Manx is a 2001....LOL) Also if you dont have a title for the chassis you are going to have problems as well. You need to have the chassis title for any one of the above steps. I dont want to be a downer...it can all be done...its just a pain sometimes. But its all worth it in the end
Title info
For all you buggy bums in or around Delaware, The Delaware DMV allows residents to bring thier untitled cars on the 2nd Tuesday of every month. The state police are there to run a check on any vin number. if the # comes back clean, you are issued a title (Delaware of course). If it is reported stolen, it is confiscated. You can bring just a pan with a readable serial number. I live in De and havent actually done this yet but I know its true. I am sure there are buggy enthusiasts here (including me) that could help you guys out. It would probobly entail registering the car to the De resident. then having him ( her) sell the car back to you for like $1.00. Then you can take the title to NJ DMV and have it transfered. I dont think this would be illegal.
You can contact Broadway Title service http://www.broadwaytitle.com and for about $150.00 (Wow the price has really went up in the last 3 years) they will send you a title for your vehicle. It took me 10 days to get a title from them and I'm in Illinois. Tell them it's a 1961 VW Beetle don't mention it's a kit car. If the vehicle hasn't been titled in the last 5 years and not stolen they will have you a title in no time. At that point you can get it inspected in your state so you can have it legally titled as a dune buggy, but without a title for the 61 Bug you can't do anything.