scubastever

i think i'm opening up a can of unpleasantness, and possible fighting here, but..

if you were working to rebuild & modify a classic car, for no other reason than to have a nice street car to drive around..but lost the VIN & COWL tags; would you try & buy some from somebody scrapping their own car ?

it means doing something illegal, ofcourse..i understand that. vehicle ID tags are not meant to be swapped.

again, you're not building a car to send to barret /jackson auction. its an obviously modified vehicle. the tags are required solely to get the vehicle registered for road use.



its a question of scruples.

what do you think?

Oldsguy

Yes, and yes.

I hope everyone will remain objective and calm in their comments.

rocketraider

Scruples and ethics.

Say a guy scraps his car and saves the plates to sell. You buy the plates. His car goes to JY without them. A reputable JY is going to question why no plates in case they receive a stolen car and the liability that goes along with that.

He gives them a title. It goes to DMV as a salvage car and then when you try to register your car with the "new" plates it shows up in DMV history as a salvage or theft recovery. You really don't want to go there.

And no, the cops and the DMV will not understand what you're trying to do or why you're doing it.

Run to Rund

The closest "legal" situation is that of buying a new body in the white; Olds had them in Group 10.001 (Shell Assy., Body) and you had to call Lansing and pay shipping and crating charges, check availability. I presume such a body would receive the cowl and VIN tags from the collision victim "donor" body.

With today's laws trying to "protect" us, the safest way would be to use the tags from the donor car's body shell, leaving them intact. If the codes on the cowl tag don't match the options you put on, and the paint color, then you have ensured that no future owner will likely make fraudulent claims. If you swap tags, you are opening yourself up to claims of fraud, and to future owners making fraudulent statements about the "restored" or "re-created" car.

TK-65

People think this "practice" is a new thing. These cars are 30-40 years old, all sorts of things went on in the 60s and 70s, when these cars were just cars. Every mid 60s Ford had the VIN on the DOOR. Think a body shop or insurance company would scarp a car that got hit on the drivers door? Nope, new door, tag on it, on your way. So is this reallly a VIN swap or a door swap.



How can it be legal to sell repro Ford doors when the VIN was attached to them? Shouldnt every buyer be reported to the FBI?

Are these Fords frauds??

1969w3155

How do you lose the vin and cowl tags? Sounds fishy to me. Whatever your reason, it ain't kosher.

501Paratrooper

State of Florida:

SALE OR POSSESSION OF VIN PLATE
did knowingly possess, sell, exchange, offer to sell or exchange, or give away any certificate of
title or manufacturer's or state-assigned identification number plate or serial plate of any motor
vehicle, mobile home, or derelict that has been sold as salvage contrary to the provisions of
section 319.30, Florida Statutes, or did authorize, direct, aid in, or consent to the possession,
sale, or exchange or offer to sell, exchange, or give away such certificate of title or
manufacturer's or state-assigned identification number plate or serial plate {or} did knowingly
possess, sell, exchange, offer to sell or exchange, or give away any manufacturer's or stateassigned
identification number plate or serial plate of any motor vehicle that had been removed
from the motor vehicle or mobile home for which it was manufactured, or did authorize, direct,
aid in, or consent to the possession, sale, or exchange or offer to sell, exchange, or give away
such or manufacturer's or state-assigned identification number plate or serial plate, contrary to

Florida Statutes 319.30(5)(a) and (b). (3 DEG FEL) (LEVEL 1)

POSS. OR SALE OF VEHICLE WITH ALTERED VIN NUMBER
did knowingly and unlawfully possess, sell or offer for sale, conceal or dispose of in this State a
motor vehicle or mobile home or major component part thereof, on which any motor vehicle or
vehicle identification number has been affixed by the manufacturer or by a state agency, such as
the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which regulates motor vehicles has been
destroyed, removed, covered, altered, or defaced, with knowledge of such destruction, removal,
covering, alteration or defacement, except as provided in Florida Statute 319.30(3), contrary to

Florida Statute 319.33(1)(d). (3 DEG FEL) (LEVEL 1)

sx455raidercelticfan

i switched the vins on a cougar many years ago, i bought a very clean out of state cougar xr7 with pink slip BUT the pink had 2 be noterized 2 change owners i tried and tried 2 get it done legaly and couldnt, i bought a beat down couger and used the vins on the clean xr7, i gave the beat down couger back 2 the recycle yard and they crushed it for scrap, my cousin still owns/drives the couger

THERES NO WAY 2 LOSE YOUR VINS!!!!!! if you do LOSE THEM take the car 2 the chp and they will re vin the car for you legaly!!! i had a grand national stolen in 2004 the person who stole it took the vins out and drove it with regal plates, i got the car back a year later without vins i took it 2 the chp and they put new vins on it for a couple hundred dollars!!

as long as the car with the LOST vins is not stolen your good take it 2 the chp!! but if your using restored stolen 442s and putting $1200 cutlass s vins on it your asking for trouble! youll get away with it a couple times but sooner or later the boys will get you!! there was a post on classicoldsmobile a few months ago about people in NY buying old junk mustangs and using the vins on stolen shelbys than selling high prices! it happens alot!!

dmcianfa

cowl tag? ok I guess if your the type and don't intend to purposefully defraud someone down the line.

Vin #? A big big no no.