Boy do I feel stupid!

[RUDEDAWG]

Well, I finally went a head and put a down payment of $200.00 on a 54 chevy 5 window to hold it until I get the rest of the money. I bought this truck from an employee's dad and when I gave him the cash I asked if he had a title for it, He told me he did. Well it turned out that he has to get the title from his brother that has passed away a few years back. So I tried to check out the vin# my self to check if the truck is legit, turns out the vin plate looks original but some of the #'s are too rusty to read. Is there any body out there that can give me advice as to how I would go about titleing this, or should I just get my money back. I just hate to let this truck go because it is in extreemly nice shape.

[TooMany2count]

does it have a license plate on it??? look in the glove box or around in the truck, ya never know the registration paper may be in there somewhere. DMV mite be able to supply u or the dead guys brother w/a copy of the registration paper work & that should have the VIN or Serial ######'s on it. then who ever was in charge of his estate can get you a new title for it. if all else fails try ur local DMV, personally i'd use one in a small town cause it seems like they are more laid back & are more willing to help a person out. not saying someone in the big city wouldnt help u, it's just they seem rushed & overworked at times. just tell them the problem & they'll be able to direct u in the correct way..joe

[primer_forever]

just buy a beat up cab for like 50 bucks and swap the vin tags....then junk the cab. Nobody will know, or care for that matter. I seen an old cab on a site that sold for $30, a title would be worth that for sure.

[TooMany2count]

sounds like a good idea , BUT in the eyes of the law that is sooooooooooooooooo illegal & if ya would get caught, well anything can & will happen, mmmm like having ur truck taken from u & a biggg ass fine & maybe jail time.

yes i know its done all the time, but in today computor/internet world u just never know who's watching what ur asking & doing on the net. there use to be title companys that would help u w/this problem BUT a lot of them are under the eyes of the laws for doing illegal stuff like ur saying basicly..

but who's to say what u should do except U..........joe

[twinturbo51]

I have been told that the engine block number will also work as the vin. ie. it should be on the title listing.good luck i am going thru the same deal on mine.Would not be cool if I have to register mine as an 86 but is actualy a 51 on 86 running gear.

[TooMany2count]

Originally Posted by twinturbo51

I have been told that the engine block number will also work as the vin. ie. it should be on the title listing..

yeppers i forgot about that, good idea...joe

[RUDEDAWG]

HEY! I just looked at the truck and amazingly enough it did have a license plate on it! I will try to run the lic.# at the local dmv. tomorrow. and also i cannot run engine #'s on it seens how it doesnt have one. Thanks guys!

[Fred T]

Every engine should have a serial #. In that era, many states used the engine # as the vin. If it's still the original 235, look for numbers stamped in a machined area just aft of the distributor.

If this ends up costing you much money, you can go back to the seller. Selling a vehicle without a title is one thing, but saying there is a title and not producing one is against the law. Hopefully the dmv can help you get a title without it costing too much money.