It comes from non-Ford people, speaking about cars that have frames, and therefore Mustangs must also have frames. LOL (Same with "numbers matching.")
Stan

 

Just FYI there are such things as numbers matching mustangs. 68 on have thier vins stamped on the block (though in 68 it seems they missed some). Now as far as frame off, maybe they put it on a frame and removed it lol.

 

Frame off restoration is something that happens to older chebies and pickup trucks

 

Whenever people say that about a unibody car, I always assume they mean that the body was stripped of every removable part and each piece was restored/replaced before putting back on. I know that is not always the reality, but that is the ideal scenario I picture when someone says that.

 

Someone should ask why he didn't do a frame-off resto and see what his response is.

 

"Frame off" should mean a total, whole and complete restoration, since we have a unibody frame, attached frame, some refer to their restoration as a "frame on", to imply that the same amount of time, detail and completeness went into their unibody car as a framed car.

 

Yeah, it's like ordering a water pump for a Beetle...

There's plenty-o-Fords out there with frames, but no Mustangs.. I always figure that if you're doing a Mustang "all-the-way", you've disassembled it to the point where nothing more can come off without a torch or saw.

Instead of "frame-off", it should be "everything-off" for unibodies...

 

For a Mustang, or any other unibody car, "Rotisserie Restoration" would be comparable to a Frame-Off Restoration. Although, the Rotisserie Restoration term also gets thrown around all too often because all to often it's not.

Typically, someone will slap a few gallons of filler on a Mustang, squirt on some resale red and advertise it as "Rotisserie Restoration!!!!!". Funny how you can often determine the level of fraud going on by the number of exclamation marks in the ad. I'm thinking they get this from gossip magazines who do the same thing.

 

BEST answer given yet Klutch,...many people may not know what a rosisserie is, but for those that do know, you have nailed it!!:thumbsup:

 

Back in the old days. Vehicles whether heavy truck, car or buggy were built on a chassis. The chassis had the springs, suspension, wheels, engine etc. Then the body was dropped on.

It's not a brand thing, it's a design thing. If you built a go cart or a lawn mower engine propelled car as a kid it probably went like this: Built a chassis with wheels, bolt the old lawn mower engine on the back. For a cool looking car you put on a body!

The 58 T-Bird and amazingly the 37 Zephyr (Lincoln) were unibody structure. Later the Mustang was unibody.

Can't do a frame off resto on a unibody. The body is the frame!

Most "modern" vehicles are unit construction. Crawl under your 2000+ vehicle and see if you can find the separate frame/chassis.


Slim

 

Crawl under your 2000+ vehicle and see if you can find the separate frame/chassis.


Slim

I found one under my 2003 F-250!

But seriously, you are right - everything these days is unibody. It's probably got a lot to do with the fact that you can get a very strong but light structure. Light = better fuel economy, so that's just one out of a multitude of things that manufacturers do to increase fuel economy.

 

Examples...

Galaxy, Fairlane, Thunderbird, Chevelle, Impala, GTO, pickup (except a Jeep Comanche); yes, you can do a "frame -off".

Mustang, Falcon, Camaro, Firebird, Nova: No, you cannot do a frame-off.

 

Mustang, Falcon, Camaro, Firebird, Nova: No, you cannot do a frame-off.

OK, well maybe, kinda, sorta,....fire up that Plasma Cutter. :shocked:

 

I thought of the term rotisserie, but in reality, a rotisserie isn't absolutely necessary to do the undercarriage of a car.. It just makes life ahellofalot easier...

 

Thats what he was stating,........no matching #'s.

 

I thought he was stating there was no such thing as a number matching mustang. I know there are people that think there are no such things as numbers matching which is not true. Depended on the year and engine. ANything after 1968 can be numbers matching.

 

I thought he was stating there was no such thing as a number matching mustang. I know there are people that think there are no such things as numbers matching which is not true. Depended on the year and engine. ANything after 1968 can be numbers matching.

Now I'm confused,..didn't know that Rustangs could be matched with anything but rust.

 

If they say 'frame off':
-they don't know what they're taking about...you should run
-they didn't do the restore...you should run
-they don't know how to spell/say rotisserie...you should run
-no restoration was done...you should run.

Another one that confuses me is 'one off'. Never heard the term until a couple of years ago. At first, I thought they were mispronouncing 'one of' to be short for one-of-a-kind. Sorry, I never went to Engineering/Design school.

 

A one-off is something made or occurring only once, independent of any pattern.<SUP id=cite_ref-1 class=reference jQuery1830024437926595292758="6">[1]</SUP> First used in 1934,<SUP id=cite_ref-2 class=reference jQuery1830024437926595292758="9">[2]</SUP> this term is employed to differentiate singular items from those in a series: e.g. "the Lincoln Futura was a one-off". It has been suggested that it is a misspelling of "one-of", but this etymology is not supported by sources such as the Oxford English Dictionary.<SUP id=cite_ref-3 class=reference jQuery1830024437926595292758="12">[3]</SUP>
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<SUP>Had to look it up</SUP>

 

Rotisserie restoration......

 

This is a saw stool restoration. Very unique and great for the back!

 

Much ado about nothing IMO.

Frame off is a general term that means that the vehicle has been broken down to its individual components during restoration.

Numbers matching depends on how the manufacturer sets up their data base. In most cases it means that the individual parts have a date code that closely corresponds with the build date of the vehicle. "Numbers matching" doesnt mean anything unless you are trying to inflate the value of a vehicle to an uninformed buyer or you are on the show circuit.

What concerns me is how loosely the term "restored" is applied. A repop catalog and a Earl Scheib paint job is not restored IMO, yet that is exactly what 99% of the "restored" Mustangs I see for sale are.

In the big picture, its just a car. Our 65 that still needs tons of work gets waves and thumbs up everytime we drive it. No one cares what engine is in it, or if I have the correct size tires, or if I painted the pumpkin bolts or left them bare.

So when I guy tells me its a 1 of x number with that option, or its restored, or its worth $50k, I just nod my head and say "nice".

 

Ditto on these comments!
Especially the cheap paint job = restoration. Kind of like Desert Car Kings TV show.

 

To add to what's been said. For a mustang (or similiar frame/body setup) I've always called the process a "ground up" restoration. This means what it says, from ground up every nut and bolt & metal removed refinished or replaced.
Has same meaning as "frame off".

 

In the Chebby world "matching numbers" is a big deal because they did not code the engine type in the VIN like Ford. The only way you would know that you have a 427 435 hp Corvette is because the engine block has the matching VIN stamped on it.

In the Ford world you know you've got a Boss because of the G in the VIN. matching numbers tells you that the motor is still original which adds value but not like the adder that comes from the G in the VIN.

 

I totally agree on this. Same with Pontiacs! I have matching numbers 69 GTO vert, 69 Firebird vert and when redone, will be worth a ton of money. It seems matching numbers mustangs where not as important to buyers. The problem with the pontiacs is that everyone raced the crap outta these b/c most had 400's and fewer had a 350 (no one bought the 6 cylinder lol). Plus the mustang did not stamp engines without fail until 1969 (1968 they were supposed to but there were gaps in this).