Originally Posted by CliffordK

I suppose I did sidetrack the discussion a bit with cars.

But, a lot still applies to bikes.

One of the comments on the Corvette article claims to be by a structural engineer (but not familiar with the Vette), and he is suggesting that this part of the frame would be highly structural.

Even if a good frame could be acquired, it could be a massive undertaking to swap frames.

The circles appear to me to be some kind of a spot weld. And, I've seen other photos/videos of Corvette frames that appear to have traditional MIG/TIG welds, so the alloy is "weldable". However, I'd say that Chevrolet likely does a post heat treating of the entire frame after assembly.

Welding 6061 Aluminum is supposed to reduce strength by about 40%.

Then the question comes whether there is 40% redundancy in the frame design???

Take the car to Joe's body shop, and he'll likely jump in with MIG/TIG, have it welded up, and back on the road within an hour (assuming not too much has to be disassembled to prevent heat damage).

Take the car to a Chevy Dealer, and they won't sign off on anything short of 100% complete frame replacement with all new parts.

Now, the people buying $70,000 brand new Corvettes won't necessarily be the ones making their own backyard repairs.

And, give them a choice between a repair on someone else's dime that is "probably OK", vs "100% back to new"... and they just won't accept the "probably ok" repair.

Take away the middle-man, and make them pay up-front, and the Corvette owner may choose the cheap repair, or to attempt to hide the damage and sell it to some unsuspecting buyer.

That selling to an unsuspecting buyer may be a good reason to "brand titles" even if a vehicle is repaired.

So, as a car owner, are you satisfied with the $100 "Joe's body Shop" repair... or the massive undertaking to swap frames? Or, is nothing short of a new car acceptable?