Need VIN/no VIN advice

[bamafrost]

I have a chance to buy a good cab, but there is no VIN. What would you guys advise? I will be trying to find out why there is no VIN. Don't want any hassles...my state will title with a NOTARIZED bill of sale. Any advice is appreciated. I am already married...don't need more silly drama in my life. lol

Thanks. Tom

[badriv455]

If you already have a vin tag off of a bad cab you are swapping out, I would use that vin. I know it is frowned upon by many here, and I believe illegal to remove/swap vin tags, but who are you hurting if you cut up the old cab and scrap it?

[Longhorn Man]

if the vin tag has been removed, it better be stupid cheap, and have a real good story as to why it is missing, a storry that can be backed up. I would get any and all paperwork from the seller and his story, and get it notorized.
if you want to take the high road and do it legally, expect red tape, lots of it, and to be treated like a criminal.

[badriv455]

Longhorn man has a good point. You want to make sure it is not stolen or something. CYOA.

[bubba35741]

If you are going to keep it in Alabama I would use the Vin off the cab you are going to replace. Alabama is not strict on anything before 1975. Last time I had one registered they never looked at nothing but the SPID.....my 2 cents..

[bamafrost]

The story goes that it came from another state and was missing the VIN at that time.
The seller will give me a statement that he owns it and is selling it to me...but without any VIN I don't know how that means much. I am possibly moving back to CA from Alabama...and I know CA is very strict about most everything. I am sure they would frown on anyone putting one vehicle's VIN on another one that didn't have one.

Makes me nervous.

[Leviticus]

Make sure you do it right, but at the same time you can look at it as metal repair. If your cab is rotted, you have to be able to repair, or replace it legally. You are running the same chassis etc, so just check the laws and go from there. If you are dealing with any DMV just be honest and tell em it is a replacement cab/repair, due to body rot.

My truck had the VIN tag removed when it was painted, I still need to re-mount it somewhere just not sure where yet.

[badriv455]

Why do you need to tell them? You have a truck with a cab on it now with the vin it came with. So you replace the cab put on the old vin and you still have a truck with a cab and the vin it came with. I dont see the problem.

[Leviticus]

Originally Posted by badriv455

Why do you need to tell them? You have a truck with a cab on it now with the vin it came with. So you replace the cab put on the old vin and you still have a truck with a cab and the vin it came with. I dont see the problem.

That is what I would do if it were mine, but while giving advise you have to make sure the receiver of said advise is aware of the possible legal consequences depending on his state laws. Just trying to be legit

[badriv455]

I guess I don't know how they do things in other states when licensing a vehicle or whatever. My theory is its better to ask for forgivness than for permission. Is it titled/licensed now? If not will it have to be inspected in order for it to be? I just don't know how anyone will know what you did in order for you to possibly get in trouble over it. But I'm in Iowa not Alabama/Cali

[tires2burn]

I always thought the rivets were a special style and the state could tell if they were changed. Wrong rivets = big problems.

[Leviticus]

Rosette Rivets. You can buy them if you do a google search.

[clay68c10]

Get the right rivets, put on your VIN plate after the swap, and keep on truckin. It's just sheetmetal repair.

[tires2burn]

I googled and this is what I found.


Rosette Rivets are used on the VIN and they are not available to the public. There is very limited availability to them. Your State Police or County Sheriff's department are in possession of them. They have a set of procedures and paperwork that need to be followed for moving a VIN from one piece of sheet metal to another.

Regardless of what anyone thinks it ain't legal to move a VIN from one body to another.

[wzuke]

Remember that the VIN is also stamped on the frame in more than one place.

[petey-pablo]

I have a doner cab on my truck the original was very rotted out and the body shop used regular rivits to mount the vin in the stock location. I would just mount your vin in the new cab.But I wouldn't show them that it is off cuz then they will start asking questions and make it hard for you or at least I think they would.

[bamafrost]

Thanks for all the good advice. I know about the special rivets, and there's a few board members that sell them here for $12 each...I can just epoxy on. Part of me thinks; Hey, they are both bought and paid for me so I should be able to do whatever I want...take my VIN that matches my frame and put that on the cab that has no VIN. I don't see a problem...but I am not a government agency either. lol

I know it is illegal and I know why, but it makes no sense in my case.

The flaw could be that the "new" cab is a 67 small window (only made in 67) and the "old" cab and frame are 1968. Dead ringer that something is not correct for those who. Most motor vehicle people wouldn't have a clue. Now if I want to sell it down the road any C10 enthusiast is going to say "What the Hey...!"

Maybe I am too paranoid...I mean the 68 already passed visual inspection and has a paper trail of ownership which is all that is needed in my state. That, and a Bill of Sale should suffice. Keep sending input guys.

Thanks.

[BOZO]

Maybe another route would be to cut out the section surrounding the tag and weld it in the replacement cab. If anybody asks, just tell them you replaced the rusty parts. Like wzuke said, the number is also on 2 places on the frame. The way I see it, this keeps you completely legal.

[jholley]

As mentioned before you can get the rosette rivets online, it just takes a little research. I wouldn't hesitate to take the vin plate off of your old cab and rivet it to the new one with the right rivets. I've done it years back, in CA with regular rivets, with an old VW and didn't have any problems. It will match your vin on the frame if anyone ever looks which I really doubt they would and who is ever going to know. Except all of us that is.

[beautimus]

bama,
my "friends" cab was toast, "he" had to replace it. the vin plate was the only usable part of it. "he" bought another cab. swapped the tags and scrapped the unusable one vin and all. then "he" had the new cab media blasted. "he" went over the cab with a fine tooth comb and there are no numbers of any kind stamped into it anywhere. however, everything is correct for "his" year. "he" paid attention to the pad for the rearview mirror, and the hole for flow thru ventilation, and all that, so as far as anyone, anywhere, can tell, it is all the original truck.
but in your case, as you said, the small window is a dead give away. i would not do it with that cab. in alabama it will fly but in cali, its just asking for problems.
disclaimer: thats my opinion, and if you add $1.25 to it you can buy a soda in some places.
Tony

[Danny Bost]

Originally Posted by BOZO

Maybe another route would be to cut out the section surrounding the tag and weld it in the replacement cab. If anybody asks, just tell them you replaced the rusty parts. Like wzuke said, the number is also on 2 places on the frame. The way I see it, this keeps you completely legal.

This is what I am doing. My truck burned, and the only usable things left are the vin and the left door. I bought a truck with a lost title. I did have the police run the vin on my parts truck. I will have a 68 cab on a 71, but all of my vin numbers will match. I will also have my NICB paperwork showing that the parts cab was not stolen.

[POPO1984]

Originally Posted by BOZO

Maybe another route would be to cut out the section surrounding the tag and weld it in the replacement cab. If anybody asks, just tell them you replaced the rusty parts. Like wzuke said, the number is also on 2 places on the frame. The way I see it, this keeps you completely legal.

This is what i plan to do

[Shane]

bamafrost .... I purchased a cab out of a salvage yard between Athens and Florence ... the owner of the yard drilled out the rivets and kept the original VIN tag when I paid for it ... he told me to show the DMV gals my bill of sale from him and let them know what was done when I re-upped the tags.

so far. so good. your mileage might vary as this was 10 years ago.

if it were me, i would call your local Alabama DMV office and explain that you replaced the cab due to wreck, rust, whatever & then ask them how they handle this sort of thing currently. it may very well be illegal to change VIN tags, but it isn't illegal to replace a cab. find out out the proper procedure first to save ya some headaches.

doesn't cost anything to ask. good luck.

p.s. the first Cruise In on the Square in Athens is coming up in march ... drop me a PM if you think you can make it.