That is done all the time in the bike world. And, just like the car world, it depends on how much care the builder puts into it, or what they choose to do.

I wonder what percentage of Colner bikes ended up being badged as Colnago bikes? It doesn't take much hunting to find a fake Colango somewhere. Perhaps some people trying to run scams, others just having a bit of fun on a personal bike (that might leak onto the market 20 years later).

Even in modern production, I've heard that a number of manufactures are essentially using a common frame for a number of different product levels. So you might buy your new Wonder-Bike with either Tiagra, 105, Ultegra, Dura Ace, or some Campy line of components.

And, the price goes up with each jump. So, if the bike, say is more than $1000 more expensive with the Ultegra group, than the Tiagra group, then there are some individuals that will buy the Tiagra bike new, strip it to the frame, add the Ultegra components, sell off the Tiagra components as "new pulls", and end up with an Ultegra level bike for significantly less than market value.

Is it the same bike? Who knows. Some manufactures now match the color scheme with the component groups, but still.... does it really make a difference?

In many cases, it would not be hard to "restore" a bike to "better than original" condition.