Attn tim

[bowcoffin]

Tim,

There is a post going around on the 67-72 facebook page that I thought might benefit from your input. There is a guy who bought a 72 truck with a swapped cab. The problem that he is inquiring about is that the cab does not have a vin plate in the door and the SPID is gone. He has the original title with the original VIN.


As for top dollar resto, I think that it is safe to say that that will hurt it.

They are also saying that it is not legal to have a truck without the VIN plate.

My question for you is, why cant they just replicate the vin plate if they have the orignal title? Do the 72's have a vin on frame in case this becomes an issue?

[bowcoffin]

Would like to hear others pipe in on this as well if you guys have anything on this issue

[davepl]

He had the original title and VIN of some truck, but how's he going to prove it's that truck. The law varies by state. I would contact the State Patrol and get an actual answer, not conjecture from us on the forum.

Call from a payphone and don't give your name :-)

[bowcoffin]

Forgot to mention that it matches the frame as well...

[bowcoffin]

So it sounds like he did a cab swap.. If it were me I wouldnt have even asked... Maybe this common sense issue to me IS a big deal?

[davepl]

Yeah, it's a big deal. That's why I said you need to go to the state patrol. The identity of the vehicle is determined by the vin tag. Not the frame, or the spid, or the protecto plate, or his mom's notarized letter. You can have a picture of yourself 40 years ago picking it up at the dealer. None of this matters.

The VIN tag is missing and (at least in most states) the only way it can be resolved is via the State Patrol. They will try to establish the VIN of the cab to make sure its not stolen.

My concern would be that you or he don't do the right thing now, put a bunch of money into it, and it winds up seized by the police later.

I'm not an attorney, this is not legal advice. Just opinion.

Ultimately ask yourself this question: where's the VIN plate? If he has it, put it back on (still of dubious legality). If he doesn't it, could it be on a different cab and registered somewhere else or in some other state? Only the proper authorities can tell you.

What the proper authorities tell you may not be good. But its not a problem that will go away by ignoring it. On the plus side in some states a new VIN can be issued.

[bowcoffin]

Crazy! Would have never known this was an issue if not for the post on facebook.. Thanks for the info and glad mine has the original vin plate!