54/S-10/Square Body!

[6 Door King]

I am in the planning stages of a project and need input. I have at the moment a 1987 CrewCab Square body which is sold to a gentleman with ideas of using the chassis for a 1939 Packard Ambulance. That leaves the body and title available, and our deal includes me getting these pieces back along with the VIN tag. My question is this, will the State of Virginia view my abomination of a truck as an 87 Square, a 1954 Shortbed or an S10? Plans are to use the VIN and title from the 87 since I do not have a title for the 54 and do not see an easy road to getting one. I plan to use an S-10 chassis to correct some of the hacking done by previous owners and to allow the use of bags and drop components. SO, what will I have when I am done? An unregisterable mess?

[G&R's57GMC]

Try your darnedest to get a title and register the 54 before you start the build.

Using the 87 vin would not work as the only thing 87 would be the vin.

The S-10 chassis would need a title and vin and then the 54 would be titled as a S-10.

So find a total junk 54 with a title and get it in your name and registered, then start your build with the S-10 chassis and you original 54 body. Now the tricky part the vin tag.

The factory uses a special rivet that you can't duplicate to hold the vin tag on the body. This could pose a problem if an official were to inspect the vin for whatever reason, and this could create a real problem for you.

On the other hand if the vin plate was spot welded by the factory this could be glued to the body with structural adhesive .

Good luck

[NEWFISHER]

You need a title to the chassis or the body, not a third party 87 or you may be the winner of the silver bracelets at the state patrol office on vin inspection day.
Posted via Mobile Device

[LLLosingit]

Originally Posted by G&R's57GMC

The factory uses a special rivet that you can't duplicate to hold the vin tag on the body. This could pose a problem if an official were to inspect the vin for whatever reason, and this could create a real problem for you.

On the other hand if the vin plate was spot welded by the factory this could be glued to the body with structural adhesive .

Good luck

Vin Plates and rivets are available http://www.classicparts.com/1947-59-.../#.UaK2K74o65M

http://www.classicparts.com/searchprods.asp

[6 Door King]

The rivets are available from the DMV here too, they were really the last of my worries. Sounds like I need an S-10, whole with title. 47-54s are not that hard to come by near me, but ones with titles are scarce. Thank you gentlemen for the replies and advice, saved me from an unwanted colon dialation...

[LLLosingit]

I know in my state they would never let me use an s10 title for any truck other then the S10 Cab it was assigned to. It wouldn't matter what you planned on doing with it. If you use the cab from a 54 then I'd have to have a title for a 54. Even then it's not exactly legal to use a Vin plate from a different 54 cab on your current cab but it won't be as obvious if you get pulled over driving a 50+ year old truck with a registration that says it's an S10, That would throw all kinds of red flags. Have you looked into getting a bonded title?

[Root2812]

Don't use the s-10 or the 87 title. You are asking for trouble. In most, if not all states, the vin belongs the the cab. It is illegal to swap vin's from one cab to another. If you swap from a 54 to another 54 no one will ever know the difference but if you used either of the other titles you would be pretty unhappy if you ever got pulled over. Your finished pride and joy would be confiscated and you'd lose it. Its not worth it. If you do have a serial number plate in the drivers door jamb try your hardest to get a title for that. Most the time its not as hard as you think. Like LLLosingit said, you can get a bonded title. Here in MN all you have to do is fill out a form and have the vin checked by the state patrol. You should probably just call or email the DMV for your state and ask some generic questions.

[65Ch3v3LL3]

Call your DMV and ask what it takes to transfer a vehicle from GA that doesn't have a title. In GA we are not required to have a title on 1985 and older vehicles. Since your state requires it, there should be a process you go through to have a title issued. If you can get that figured out then you could "sell" your truck to someone in GA, have them register it with the DMV for a tag, and then sell it back to you so you can get a title. Yeah I know this is kind of a gray area but I don't see why it wouldn't work as long as the vehicle isn't stolen.

[63 & 64 Bowties]

Sorry guys, but this thread will have to be closed. It's illegal to swap vin plates and titles. So it's not to be discussed here.