Gang
After i have looked and relooked at the main shell of my 69 Cutlass S i have gone with the option to scrap the very rusty shell and find another with less rust. i would have to redo the complete floor pans and tons of work in the lower windshield and rear window work plus the roof is full of rot. What i could spend on a donor or roller is best due to my lack of welding skills.

What i am looking for is the proper swaping process when switching out shells. Do i swap out cowl tags or when done title the car with the donor car title? Or am i totally off base here. Any info is greatly appreciated. I know when hauling a car for salvage you must provide title.

Thoughts?

Mike

 

You need to check your state laws. I believe swaping out cowl tags is a problem legally.
Most get around this by keeping as much of the cowl with tag as possible, this way the frame vin matches it. cowl vin must match title or you are looking at trouble.
I know it gets done, swapping cowl tags using the special rivets, but not legally.
Sounds like you will need to learn how to weld or become an outlaw.
Again, it is your state laws.

 

I believe I would title the car with the donor title. This gets to be a very controversial issue. Certainly if the cars are almost identical, I think that makes the most sense.

 

x2

 

btw if anyone has a lead on a 69 cutlass shell just past them along. It doesn't have to be an AC car?

 

Swapping or replacing cowl tags is legal in every state except Oklahoma

Use the VIN and title from the donor car and there's absolutely no gray area (except Oklahoma). If you have a donor vehicle that must be inspected prior to registering it (inspected as in it was totalled) you may have some explaining to do if the frame VIN doesn't match the vehicle's VIN tag.

Replacing the cowl section with the VIN intact will incite all kinds of banter back and forth on this forum but I'm not even going to go there.....

 

If it's all Cutlass, no 442, then no one will get snitty about faking a 442, eh? Just fixing one Cutlass with parts of another. I would then leave the best car's VIN tag alone and use that title of course for the new creation. Use all the best parts, and sell/ scrap the rest.


"If you have a donor vehicle that must be inspected prior to registering it (inspected as in it was totalled) you may have some explaining to do if the frame VIN doesn't match the vehicle's VIN tag."
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I can't imagine a problem with replacing a bad frame with another, as long as the numbers don't indicate a stolen car. It's just a part of a car. Last time I did this, I x'd out the old VIN derivative stamp, leaving it readable under the x's, and stamped that car's VIN derivative next to it, and also a more visible instance up by the LH upper A-arm. For the forseeable future, that frame belongs to that vehicle. The frame donor vehicle had died.

 

Discussing this topic is like discussing religion, only with stronger feelings.

Do what you need to do, don't post about it or tell anyone, and no harm, no foul.

The reality is that this is all just sheet metal, and back in the day you could buy a brand new cowl panel with NO VIN or cowl tags of any kind on it. Infer from that what you will.

As for the chassis VIN derivative not matching the car's VIN, people swap frames all the time. They also swap engines and transmissions with VIN derivative stamps on them.

I'll also add that FEDERAL LAW 18 U.S.C. § 511 (state laws can and do differ) only discusses VIN "tampering" with intent to commit fraud. It specifically states that the law does NOT apply to repairs "if the removal, obliteration, tampering, or alteration is reasonably necessary for the repair".

 

Those crazy Oklahomans!

 

My guess is if your car is that rusty and you find a shell that is not that rusty then the rest of the car ie: frame will be better as well. If that is the case then your car becomes the parts car for the new car you are restoring...just sayin