I need advice from those who have gone before me to ***le some old tin at the local courthouse and have had to come up with a ***le. When I bought my '31 it didn't have a ***le. I now have two choices, buy a vintage ***le from out of state or one from a ***leing agency line International ***le. Any suggestions? I live in KY, so if anyone from the bluegr*** has any horror stories, please enter below!
Not sure how it works in KY, but in Ks it's a pain. Wish I knew more before I took my Model A to DMV with outta state ***le. Here's the deal with KS, maybe close to how KY works it. Ks- all out of state cars must be inspected. If the car was ***led in Ks & sold to someone in Ks, then no inspection needed & the paper work just floats through easily. My experience- Model A chopped & z'd 2x4 frame 350 chevy engine, Wisconsin ***le which was clean with the sellers name on front & signed / notorized on back. Took to DMV who shot me down saying 2 of 3 main components not original (frame / engine) thus can't be ***led as Model A & must be renumbered as Street Rod. It's this point which hung me. Highway Patrol needs court order to renumber a car. So, off the lawyer to file for "Quite ***le" which is me sui'ing DMV. I'm about 3/4 through it & just waiting for the court order. What I should've done--Re-sold the clean Wisconsin ***le & bought a Ks ***le somehow, then just take Ks ***le to DMV & tranfer to my name (no inspect. required). Kinda like altering a newer car - If it's already in your name, no more inspections needed so you can Pro-street it, ditch emissions etc...& just keep re***ling in your name. No problems until you sell to someone outta state (who incurrs problem) or you move outta state which you'll go thru inspection at which time, the DMV will become a killjoy saying it wont p*** inspection 'cause all emiss. stuff is gone. They will only tell you at that time to "Get a Lawyer" Very unhelpful. Carl Hagan
Not sure how it works there…sorry. In CA I am not even sure how it works. I have a 52 chevy car and 52 chevy truck. When I started on the car I went down to start the paper work and they instantly sent me to the highway patrol for inspection. The car was no where near running and he just confirmed the numbers and signed me off. I just recently went down to the DMV to start the paperwork for my 52 chevy truck and they just signed it off with no problem. I think it is hit and miss and depends on the persons outlook on life for the day. Here is a problem that a guy I know just ran into. He bought a diesel S-10 (does not need smog tests in CA). He put a v8 gas engine in it and went down to get it tagged. I think it had not been tagged in a while and they shot him off to a referee for inspection. He was screwed at this point since it has a sbc v8 in it. I guess my advice would be do the paperwork EARLY and before you make lots of changes. You might save yourself a lot of headache taking care of that up front.
Most states will give you a ***le with a bill of sale and do a computer verification that the vin number is clear..which is on your original frame.
Check out these threads..... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81819&highlight=***le http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123525&highlight=***le
After looking at the links, I think the easiest route would be to go with ITS and get a ***le from them. All I have is a Bill Of Sale from the guy in Wyoming I bought the car from. He used the stamped plate that is rivited to the frame as the "Vin". Or would I be better off doing the "I've owned it for 10+ years" thing and try and get a Lost ***le? The next question is, since this thing is sitting in a million pieces in my ba*****t, would it be smart to put it back into rolling shape and trailer it down to the courthouse? I don't want a registration to drive it, just the ***le to show ownership. Do you think I need to put the engine and trans back in the car? How about the doors, trunk, fenders, hood, headlights?
On "lost ***les" here in Michigan, if you have an old registration, or other official paperwork, they can write you a new ***le. Some Secretary of State offices can issue an immediate ***le on the spot for an additional $5 fee. If you don't, they go thru the offical records which are on microfiche...so the old story, "I had it ***led and I lost it" won't work now.... so far, no VIN verification is needed on "foreign ***les" which are ***les from another state. We have a form that you can fill out, with a bill of sale, and a verification inspection from local law enforcement. This sometimes goes easy, depending on the mood of the officer. (Gearhead Cops understand where you are going with your project) Others want everything operational. Lights, steering, fenders, etc. Hope this helps.
I recently went through something similar with a '26 T I just built. I got the body with a bill of sale (which was useless). My local (Oklahoma) tag agencies pretty much wanted to treat me as a felon for wanting to ***le the car. They wanted me to ***le it as a new build and started talking about paying excise taxes on everything I used. My ears and mind closed and I left. I ended up purchasing a registration renewal for a '26 T from a different state. Took it ino another agency and bingo. Not a problem. I put the VIN off the registration on the car and everything went smooth. After I bought the registraion from another state. It cost me about $50 and I had a ***le in two days. Your best bet is trying to find someone in a local tag agency that isn't an idiot. Most of them have no idea about dealing with older cars. There are simple procedures to do such things, just seems like most agents don't know them. Duckus****us
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