Hi folks! As I mentioned in my first post, I've got a mk1 Punto cabriolet. The body work is the worst part of it. No rust just scratched and faded. A respray looks like it will cost a fortune. I've seen another one being broken and the body is better. Now for the questions: can I swap the body of the scrapped car onto my original chassis? I'd only be using the body shell. I'd use my axles, suspension, engine and transmission. If I do such a swap could I then keep my registration number? I'm looking forward to getting all your expert advice as I'd want to secure the replacement shell ASAP. By the way a minor point of interest - both cars are blue just different shades.

You can use parts from your car to get the other shell rolling. Due to a certificate of destruction being issued you will need a £400 sva/iva test. You can not swap your chassis numbers on to a different shell. That's ringing and very, very illegal.

Have you looked at paint quotes? My Punto looks terrible and it will cost about £250 if I got someone else to spray her.

Thanks for the info. I've had one quote for a respray and it's 10 times as much as you've been quoted. I'm in North London, if that's near you I'd be interested in contacting your body shop.

If youre going to the trouble to completly strip everything from your car, Id then just fix any bodywork that needs doing (youre bound to find something) and splash the cash on a repaint.

The more leg and prep' work you do, the fewer hours the spray boothist has to work; the cheaper the job would be.

Pick up a cheap gazebo, a compressor and spray gun.

Either that or wraps are pretty cheap these days.