'72 pickup with a '69 VIN?

[skyhack]

Back to my Chevy, filing under "Don't ask the question if you can't stand the answer!"

Well, my original Colorado title had a misprint on it, they put my make down as a CEH rather than a CHE. When I went back in to pick up my Collector tags (5 year tag for antique vehicle), they took my title and are sending me a replacement. The Clerk sent me a letter regarding the error, saying I needed to fix it (process already underway, and the left hand didn't know...), and asked me to check by the DMV office.

I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and ask the VIN question there. I am sooooo stupid!

The DMV said I'd have to get a Trooper to investigate the frame and cab VINs, and submit a request for a state assigned VIN. The new VIN would probably be totally different from either of my existing ones, although I'd have a chance of getting the one I want. (frame 1972 VIN). I would get a state approved VIN tag, though.

If they assign a new VIN, there's also the possibility of having to register it as a 2009! That's unacceptable to me, I'd rather give it back to my brother in law and let him sell it!

I'm probably going to exercise a third option, just let it go, keep the '69 VIN and '72 title, drop a crate in it, and keep a low profile.

This is a road fraught with peril.

[Longhorn Man]

you can argue the 2009 part, it's not a kit car, and its not a new vehicle. It is an old truck that's had a large body panel replaced (cab) and that's all.
You did the right thing, now, the whole title verses VIN problem can never bite you in the ass.

[skyhack]

Thanks, Longhorn Man. Cool ride you're leaning on in your avatar.

Found out the 307 doesn't have a VIN at all, just an engine number. The dealer may have decided he liked having a low mileage 350 more than a new 307.

Of course, that gives me the green light for a crate, but a small misgiving for not being able to make it all match.

[Longhorn Man]

none of theswe engines had the VIN on them.

[skyhack]

Really? How could someone tell if it was original, then?

[Longhorn Man]

basicly, an educated guess. Look at when the motor was built, and if you are lucky, there's a sticker int he door jamb that tells you when your truck was built.
Its a crap shoot in reality.

[skyhack]

Well, some time since I looked here, but I finally got the whole skinny on my truck. I went to a family get together at my wife's grandparent's farm (her cousin has it now) and he told me what happened with the truck.

My father-in-law was an agricultural professor at the college in Scottsbluff, NE for many years. His office and classroom were in the vocational shop, which included the AUTOMOTIVE college.

This truck was apparently given to the school after being wrecked, and they put it back together as a class project! My father in law actually told grandpa about the truck, and they went together to check it out, and came home with this old beast.

Not much romance or skullduggery there, but still a good story. Gotta keep it. Gonna give it some PUNCH.

[Car'n'Guitars]

So what ever happened to the titling issue?

[Leonard1]

So, if I understand the thread (and I've read it twice), the VIN on the title matches the SPID and the VIN tag on the cab, but the title says "1972", and it is setting on a '72 frame?

Also, I didn't see it decoded anywhere else, but V0901TDA is a 1972 307 2-bbl with a manual transmission, assembled at Flint, MI, on Sept. 1, 1971. Would it be reasonable to guess that it is original to the frame?

[skyhack]

Leonard1, you're reading it right.

Car'n'Guitars (Gibson J-45 here), the title is fine, but has the '69 VIN. I'm planning to remedy that, but it'd be easier to do in Wyoming or Nebraska than in Colorado.

It's reasonable to believe that the engine and tranny are original, as well as the bed. I think all sheet metal from the cab forward is not. The cab is apparently a 69, although I can't find where the mirror mount would have been. The cab has the '69 VIN tag (which is what it is licensed under, but as a 1972), and there are no vents in the door sills (1972 has them). Where this was a rebuild by the college, it'd be tough to try to really pin this all down, especially since the rebuild took place about 35 years ago.

I'm running with the bed, engine, and tranny being original, and the Cheyenne white/gold also being original, as it is on the bed. The cab has rust through on the mounts, so I'm going to replace it anyway, and get the VIN straightened out so the frame VIN is licensed. Wonder if I can find the original cab... Nah, no chance.

I've retired from my ATC job, and will actually get some time to do this. For now, I'm just putting in a new water pump, the old one's got that telltale squeak inside.