Help. I just bought a 54 corvette. My state DMV requires a physical inspection of the vin. They do not like the fact that he vin plate is held on with screws and want to re issue the vin. I have a valid out of state title and the vin matches the frame number. Is there some official legal type documentation from GM that I could show the DMV that shows that the vins were screwed on from the factory?

 

My state of Indiana is the same way. If the ID is not on the dash, then a Police officer must check it. I always use Noland Adams book or something like it to show proof of how they were attached. Several years ago I had a State cop start to refuse a 63 that I bought because of the spot welded tag. After showing him the books he approved it. Good luck.

 

The Judging Manual "might help"?

jack

 

...but let's not debate Obamacare here.

One of the guys here in Tucson had his '58 VIN plate CONFISCATED by the DMV when he tried to register it.

And yes he showed them all the photos from Noland. Didn't count for anything to those conscientious public servants. Rules is Rules.

Oh it gets even better! When he went to reclaim it, with additional documentation of the phillips screw attachment, THE DMV COULD NOT FIND IT!!

Don't know how it eventually ended up, but can anybody beat this DMV story??

 

Here in Georgia, all it took was a Policeman to verify the VIN. I took it to the tag office.The Police Dept was next door.

 

I bought my 54 from NJ and I am in IN. so I need the police to run a check on the Vin to make sure it is clear and free. I have taken the Vin tag off the car and stripped the paint off of it and put it in my safe while I am taking the car apart. Anyway I have several police officers that are close friends of mine. They will just run the numbers and they don't care if I have the tag in the car or not. They know I am not pulling anything. Maybe I should have them run a check on the other 2 Vettes that I bought out of state. So I can plate them and drive them.

 

I bought my 64 in Washington state and brought it in for an inspection when I shipped it to Louisiana. The trooper who looked at the vin went to a book to see how it should be attached. I was shocked but happy it was OK.

 

When I moved from NY to KS in '93, I tried to get my '55 210 registered. The guy who did my paint job removed the VIN plate to paint the car, and a trooper told me he was going to confiscate my car and park in in the lot next to the station house. He said he will get to it sometime in the next few weeks.

He told me he was going to cut a hole in the floor, next to the driver's seat to see the VIN on the frame. He told me it also might be on the frame under the trunk and if he had to, he would cut a hole in the trunk. This was a completely finished car that had won trophies just months before, so I was nervous.

I told him I had owned the car for over 12 years and had pictures of the build. He didn't care. I told him I felt like getting in my car and running from him back to NY. There are plenty of hail storms in KS and I could have my car ruined if it were left out for weeks in the lot.

It took almost an hour to convince him to let me take the car home and find the VIN on the frame. He told me "Don't let me catch you driving this car on the street", and in the meantime if I find it to call them and they would send out an inspector to verify the VIN. It ended up taking about a month for them to come out.

The inspector put a blanket on the ground and took out a mirror and verified the Vin was the same as the plate on the "A" pillar. I never heard of anyone going through anything like this before, and it was a nightmare.

When I bought my C2, I thought I might have trouble again because it was bought out of state, but the trooper looked at the plate and passed it in less than 5 seconds.

 

How about this, remove the screws and rivet it in using existing holes? Then bring it home and drill out the rivets and reinstall it properly.

Just a thought.

 

Man, I'd think he's got the making of a lawsuit there. The difference in value between a '58 with the original plate, and one with a repop or none at all has to be significant!

As for KC John with the cop threatening to cut a hole in the floor, he had to be playing with you. NOBODY could be that dumb, could they? Unbelievable!

 

I would get books like the Noland Adams book and show them. If that doesn't convince them, go to another office and keep going to different offices until you find someone who will work with you. Show the books to every office you go to. I've found that when working with government employees such as in an MVD office, results vary greatly depending on who you happen to get.

 

First disreguard anything the guy from Arizona says this is not a vast Goverment conspiracy. Take any books you have showing pictures of the vin plate . Proteam has some good pictures also. This is Oregon we have some sense. I went through this myself in Astoria, Also I sold a car with a Washington title to a Canadian with transposed numbers. He stopped at the state Police at the border and had them look at it and they took care of it. Show them som pictures and you'll be fine.

 

How old are you all?

Don't you know how to play the game yet?

Tell your buddy the judge what's going on and then tell the public servant that you will call the judge if he takes anything off of your car. A court order does wonders to keep public servants in order.

 

DO NOT let them re-issue a state VIN tag. You might as well throw tens of thousands of dollars of value out the window.

STOP what you're doing now..

I moved to Florida about 2 years ago. Brought 3 old cars with me.

The policy in Florida is that IF you have an antique car, one without the standard 17 digit VIN visible through the windshield........

you have to have a police officer come to your house to check the VIN.

The bureaucrats at the DMV have NO idea even where to look for a VIN tag if it isn't dash/windshield mounted. Don't let yourself get screwed over by some DMV idiot, who has no clue about ANY brand of antique car.

I called the local sheriff's office. They sent their "public service officer" to my house. Nice guy. He was actually a part time volunteer with the sheriff's department, who did this kind of work.

He checked the VIN's on my 63 and 69 Corvettes and my 56 Chevy. Filled out a few papers. We had a cup of coffee, and he was on his way.

My best advice again. STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND REGROUP.

If you don't, you're gonna get hosed big time. A state issued VIN tag, commonly referred to in the antique car hobby as a "Voodoo Tag", will just kill the car's value.

Chuck

 

Obviously you did not read the form very closely. If you bring in a car with a valid title it only has to be noterized that the vin is the same. This can be done by anyone who is a notary public not necessarly a police officer. Been there did that.

Tyler

 

I respectfully beg to differ, Tyler.

Took one of the cars to the Crystal River DMV. They didn't want to even mess with it.

SO, a day or two later, I took one to the Dunnellon DMV. Talked to a knowledgeable guy there, as the people in Crystal River were clueless.

It was the clerk at the DMV in Dunnellon who told me that they only look at the 17 digit VIN's of new cars, and that I should get the rep from the Sheriff's department to come out to verify the VIN numbers.

I also spoke to several members of the Citrus County Cruisers, the local crusiers club with over 200 members, all of whom have old cars.

They ALL had the public service officer out to verify their VIN's.

AND again, I was told that ALL VIN's had to be verified. They were able to do that on my wife's Saturn Vue and on my Chevy Tahoe. Did them right in the parking lot.

Chuck

 

Here's Oregon's VIN inspection form. It indicates the NICB has detailed info on where and how each year/vehicle's VIN should be originally attached.
http://www.odot.state.or.us/forms/dmv/11.pdf


Here's Florida's VIN verification form. Yes they'll accept a notary public's inspection/signature as well (for now), but if you ask any of the DMV personnel, they'll all say inspection by officer of the law only. Most DMV reps in the trenches at the front line (customer service counter) just don't know, or can't keep up with all the forms, regulations, updates. This is most evident by how quickly they search for their team leader or manager whenever something out of the ordinary comes across their counter. Stay patient with them.
http://www.flhsmv.gov/dmv/forms/BTR/82042.pdf

 

I took the out of state title in with the Florida form completed IAW the instructions (a Florida notary public signature and seal) and had no problem. I have done 2 cars this way. A 1955 corvette and 1988 prototype corvette. The vins were checked by the notary who knew what was correct.

As posted the form states:

'This section requires a physical inspection and a verification of the vehicle identification number (VIN) (or the motor
number for motor vehicles manufactured prior to 1955) of the motor vehicle described on this form by a Licensed Dealer,
Florida Notary Public, Police Officer, or Florida Division of Motor Vehicles Employee or Tax Collector Employee.'

Most used car places in Florida have on site notary services that use this method all the time. The DMV does this all the time for them, I did not expound on what I was doing, I just handed the clerk the out of state title the completed Florida form and walked out with a Florida title.

As a side note a car earlier than 55 might be iffy.

Tyler

 

Hmmm. Interesting.

I "did what I was told".

It was really not a problem to have the police public service officer come to my house. Didn't cost anything. He brought the forms with him, filled them out, etc,. After I had them for all 3 cars, I took them back to the DMV office to get the title transferred and get new tags.

The Citrus County and Marion County offices didn't tell me about any other options.....told me to call the sheriff, and he would have the forms and know what to do.

Chuck

 

My local (Beverly Hills, FL) State Farm Insurance agent came out to the house, and inspected the vehicles and filled out the forms. We took the forms to the DMV in Inverness for the Florida registrations and titles. No other inspection was done. This was in 2005, so the process may have changed.

John (Plasticman)