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My point was not whether your car may be stolen, but if it had been taken for another car, greatly complicating the VIN tag replacement. CarFax may not be perfect, but many buyers get it to see there is theft recovery, salvage etc. If the CarFax follows what you know about your car and VIN, all the better.
No need to talk the authorities as 540 vette posted a link of where I can by a replacement VIN plate. Just need to ensure that the size and letters will be identical. The original VIN number i have in my registration card.
Who will know the difference of the font size on the vin tag. It's not like they are all over the place in your country. I would install the vin tag and make it look old and forget about it. Your car has gone thru customs and regi. If there was something wrong someone would have found it. Just do what you have to do and don't make a big deal out of it.
My point was not whether your car may be stolen, but if it had been taken for another car, greatly complicating the VIN tag replacement. CarFax may not be perfect, but many buyers get it to see there is theft recovery, salvage etc. If the CarFax follows what you know about your car and VIN, all the better.
I don't think older cars have enough numerals in the vin for car fax.
I don't think older cars have enough numerals in the vin for car fax.
^^^THIS^^^
1981 was the first year the 17 numeral VIN was required, some cars had it earlier, I believe 1980 Corvettes had it, but anything older and there is no CarFax.
Hey Christen, looks like you had the car restored in 2011, and it was imported in 1998??? Do you have any photos of the car prior to restoration? What is the VIN number?
So sorry for your trouble. The VIN looks like this in the drivers pillar, with and without trim. The two pics should give you a good idea of the relative size. Also get the rosette rivits available on ebay. It's rivited on. They are just barely visible with the trim on. But regular rivits should not be used for an authentic look. Yes you'll have to remove the windshield. Good luck.
If the VIN stamping in the frame and the S/N on the engine block match, it would be most likely that the car is entirely legitimate and the VIN tag was lost...or taken for another 'devious' purpose. In an event, you shouldn't feel you are doing anything illegal or wrong by replacing the missing VIN tag.
BUT, if the frame and engine do not match up, something is not right about the car or, possibly, the restoration that was done on it some years back. If you have any photos of the VIN tag prior to the restoration, at least you have some tangible evidence of the car you legally purchased.
I assume your doing something legitimate here and just "restoring" your car, and have limited correct resources overseas.
So with that in mind,
My tag is readily accessible, since no windshield. It measures 3-7/8" long by 5/8 inch wide.
Thin flexible metal. I have no way of measuring it.
Numbers/Letters are 3/16 inch high. and are almost touching the front edge, maybe 1/16 or less away from it.
Metal has that dull flat black appearance of a black phosphated bolt. Not paint.
I see no reason why you could not get one "too big" overall and tin snip it to size, do you?
Paint it flat black if you have to, if it arrives shiny.
Buy rosette rivits. The rivits are exactly 3-1/2 inches apart.
Cover most of it with the trim piece.
Don't tell any government official, and they'll never know, or care, or cause you grief. Your car is already "legal".
Take pictures of yours, your title, and mine and save it all for your records.
No it's not original, but that ship has already "sailed".
It's good enough for a 50 year old car.
Done.
Last edited by leigh1322; Jul 2, 2019 at 09:53 PM.
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Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
