From: BelAir Bob <rogerz@planetwide.com>
>Your missing VIN tag could get you in a world of trouble here in Texas.
>Any law inforcement officer can confiscate your truck on the spot for
not
>having a factory installed VIN tag. A good friend of mine is a Texas
DPS
True in California and Washington, well. Years ago I bought a 66 D**ge
van that had a custom paint job. One of the things that the customizer
had thought detracted from the beauty of his creation was the vin plate.
I wasn't worried that the van was stolen, but I did consider the
possibility that I could be taking a Sunday drive in the country some
time and have some local cop notice the plate missing, and impound my
way home.
I took the van to the CHP office near my home, and their specialist
found the hidden vin on the frame (he wouldn't let me watch, so I'd know
where it was - that's why they call them "hidden" - but it was obvious
where it was when he was done :-)) and placed a CHP vin plate where the
original had been. Problem solved.
>Motor Vehicle Theft Service Investgator. He was looking at my Panel a
few
>months ago and noticed that the VIN tag was attached with pop rivets.
He
>asked me if I had done that and if the VIN number stamped in the frame
>matched the tag. They did not. He told me to check my title and see
which
>number it matched. I told him that I had not changed the VIN tag, that
it
>was that way when I bought it. He told me to check it out and get back
to
>him. He said he would have to "run" the frame munber if it didn't
match
>the title and hopefully it wouldn't come up stolen. Scary thought. He
>said if the tile did match the frame he would help me get a state
assigned
>VIN tag. He said I would need to fill out a Form 68A, with his
assistance,
>and he would process it. He said the only way to get the assigned VIN
tag
>was to go through a DPS Motor Vehicle Theft Service Investigator
because
>they have to verify all of the numbers and they have to process the
form.
>I , like you, started to loose sleep over my title problem.
>
>When I checked my title, I found it matched the body, not the frame.
This
>made me a little sick. When I bought my Panel several years ago I also
>bought a 55-2 3600 that came with a big wad of paperwork. The previous
>owner was trying to get a title for the Panel so he switched the VIN
tags
>between the two trucks. In the wad of paper work I found a VIN tag
that
>matches my frame and a bill of sale from the Weatherford Sheriff's
office.
>I showed all of this to my DPS buddy and he suggested that I call the
>Weatherford Sheriff's office and see if they would reissue the bill of
sale
>in my name. They did. Every thing is cool now, my buddy is processing
my
>Form 68A and I'm not loosing any sleep.
In Washington State, if the paperwork couldn't be matched up to the
vehicle, but there was no stolen report on it, the worst that would
happen is that you would get a special title that allowed you to keep
and use the vehicle, but not sell it, for two years while the system
"looked" for it. If they didn't find anything in two years you got a
clear title. They also have a vin plate that they issue.
With trucks as old as ours, of course many of them will have different
frames, bodies, or enginesabtained legitimetly channels where the owner
neglected to get the title changed to reflect it. The chances of it
being a stolen is remote, so most likely the only thing you'll loose is
a little sleep while they look. :-)
>As for your question about a replacement original style VIN tag, I've
never
>seen one and if you found one, you would still need the state assigned
tag
>as well.
Yup.
Good luck,
Lewis - K7LVO Valley of the Rogue-Medford, OR
"The Forty" - 40 Chevy PU - One Owner
http://www.teleport.com/~losborn/1940.html
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