The shop where my car has been for the better part of 18 months has somehow managed to lose my YOM plates and my firewall VIN plate and I'm not too optimistic that they are going to be found. I'm pretty certain Dennis Carpenter repops the VIN plate, so I can have the VIN restamped and I can probably find another set of plates but what do I tell the state? Has anyone ever had to deal with this before or am I just ****ed? Thanks...
Hey man! So, you should be able to take a new set of plates in and have them swap the plates ***ociated with your car in the system. I don't think you'll have a problem. Go to the place on Airport..... call me on Monday, John
Sorry to hear that Greg. If i remember right, those plates were pretty minty. They have a few sets of Texas 51's on e-hay(yee-haw) right now. Go to Collectibles > Transportation > Automobilia > License Plates > US: Texas
Hmmmm...Your VIN number is "missing" and the YOM license plates ***igned to that VIN are missing too. You know, for something like that, I'd say you have to file a police report just to cover your *** and make sure it doesn't come back and haunt you. If someone tries to register that VIN or those tags...NOT SAYING THEY'RE "STOLEN"...but if they ever do turn up on ebay or whatever, you need to cover your own *** and get ahead of it. What happens if someone else tries to register that VIN, and it's already registered to you? Do you come to the door one day and find the Policeman wants to impound your highly modified car until the situation can be sorted out? Hey, I dunno...could happen? Just what does happen if two people try to register the same VIN? And that's exactly what I'd tell the shop owner. How the **** do you just "lose" a VIN plate and a set of vintage plates?! It's a shop. There are four walls, and only so much square footage. They're either within those walls, or they're not. The VIN plate could have gotten thrown away by accident, but a set of vintage tags? No, they're either still in that building, or they walked out. I'd tell the show owner that you're obligated to call the police and file a report, so it doesn't come back to you in the future. And then see if they don't suddenly become "found." -Brad
Could not find my Texas Penal codes book. But I think it states that it is a violation to remove a vin plate. I would think one should check with the shop's lawyer before I called the police. This might open a can of worms. Also even if the shop owner is a friend he would need to take the correct measures to fix this problem. You may have to have DPS come there and show them the frame number and all that stuff. Only saying you might keep this under your hat more and just fix it the easy way....$0.02 worth.
Brad has a way of getting to the nub of it, doesn't he? I agree 100%. I would also tell the shop THEY have a problem, not you. And at some point, biddniz is biddniz-friendship, comaradrie, fuzzy bunnies and $$$$ don't mix.
Wow! Lost vin and tags. If that shows up on another car and your car has a homemade vin tag, i'm pretty sure your car will be impounded til they sort this out. Maybe even getting arrested. Call the dmv, see what they say then file a police report to cover your ***. The person with the altered or homemade vin will always have to prove his is the real deal.
Friends are friends. But business is business. When conducting business with friends, the friendship is out the door until the business is done. I say cover your own ***.
I don't know about Texas but in Kansas if you do that (Call the dmv)This is what they will proably tell you. You will have to provide evidence that it is yours and a receipt for everything that is not stock on the car. (Motor,trans,suspension,ect) Then they would issue you a 2008 State of Texas vin for a vehicle resembling a 19__ Ford (whatever make and modle) Talk to the shop first and see if a solution can be worked out without the law. If they lost or threw the numbers away the chances of someone ***ling a car with your vin would not be great. If your car is something rare by the numbers and they think the vin was stolen, that is a different problem.
report the stuff stolen as that will cover your *** later down the road if their is a problem. just stating the fact that is what you will be doing might prompt somebody to get off their *** and look a little harder and longer for your stuff. might just be time to do the "clean sweep" of the shop.
I haven't checked or even looked at a Dennis Carpenter catalog, but I'd be stunned if they repop VIN tags. I was always under the impression that anything to do with a VIN is sacred. For instance, it used to be that you could get one of the little stickers that goes inside the door jamb of a '67-69 Camaro with the VIN number printed on it. These came from the factory, and during a restoration were often removed for repaint, etc. Someone was repopping them several years ago, and got shut down. Otherwise, what's to stop someone from just creating VINs for anything? ***igning VINS for the repop '69 Camaro and '67 Mustang bodies is a problem, and when I worked at YearOne, our official line was "These are off-road bodies only. What you do with the new body and your rusted POS parts car is between you and God." Taking the VIN off one body and putting it on another has always been frowned upon by John Law. I just don't know what they'll say about a lost VIN plate and ***igning you a new one. And then what will they say about all the rest of the stuff on the car? I'm certainly not saying the guy is running a chop shop or anything, but that's exactly what the cops are set up to ferret out. If you've got a customized car with no VIN, a later engine, lots of used parts... Either way, at the very lease the shop needs to pay any and all costs involved in correcting this. Including buying new plates and the fees involved in ***igning them to your car. -Brad
I heard Bill Clements was doing them for 55-57 chevies here in Texas a few years ago, and the FBI made a personal visit to convince to not do that anymore. Geeman-if that car in your avatar is the one in question, it looks GREAT without wheels. Figure out a way to make it levitate! Good luck. One option you have is to get a vin/data plate and the ***le from another car the same year, make and model. Put the new vin and data plate on your car and ***le the good car using the dead cars' plates and paper. Just don't tell anyone I told you.
I am a shop owner. I have never removed the vin from a car to do a restoration. I have had cars come into the shop with the vin plates removed by the owner, a previous owner, or a different shop. What I am trying to stress is the fact that a screw the shop at***ude can screw you at the same time. Yes it is a bad deal that they lost it. It is still your car so I would proceed with caution. Ask yourself a few questions. Do you want the car ***led as a 1951 or a 2008? Calling the law and reporting that the vin on your car is gone (stolen or missing) will result in an ***embled vehicle ***le or a state ***le and some hoops to jump through. Also, the car looks very nice in the photos. With an ***emled ***le you will need to appraise the value so they can tax it in Kansas. Don't know about Texas. If it is not to be found maybe the "historical do***ent" and procedure suggested by belair and paid for and performed by the shop would be the best method.
Ya, yom plates in good condition are very pricey... $200+ for clean plates. Maybe ask the shop to pay or split the price of new ones? I work on a couple officers personal vehicles and will ask their opinion on the v.i.n. My first thought is that your car may be confi****ed if you report no v.i.n. tag...
Split the price? Dude, p*** me what your smoking, I could use a good hit.... I want the car ***led as a 51, that's why I spent boo coo bucks for pristine YOM plates and jumped through hoops to get it ***led YEARS AGO. It's one thing for the shop to say, "take X off the bill", but I still have to sort out THEIR problem. The VIN plate (admittadely removed by me to detail the engine bay), YOM plates, registration, and insurance info were all in an envelope kept neatly and securely in the drivers door. I'm not trying to screw the shop, I just want my ******* 400.00 PRISTINE YOM plates back, my clean ***le, and the worst decision of the build behind me. Out of respect to Ryan, I'm not going to get into the long drawn out sordid details here, but this is the diarreah squirt on top of the **** sundae... They didn't steal it, they just run a pig stie of a shop and and they can't find it. My wife and I spent an hour looking through their shop yesterday and were appalled by the sloppy conditions. Their latest theory is that the whole envelope went out with the homeless employee tjhat was living there until they fired/evicted him. I'm so ****ing pissed, I'm about ready to torch the car and take up golf.... Anyway, I will call whatever state office tomorrow to find out what the real deal is.
Hi. If you ***led it years ago, then those vin numbers are already spoken for by you. No one else can use them as long as your registration was either curent or on Non Op. status. Also, you may want to consult an attorney? Just a thought.
Okay for those keeping score, it's really not as bad as initially thought. Per the county tax offices, as long as I still hold ***le restamping the plate is no big deal, the clerk says they do it all the time. They will also issue a temporary plate for 30 days and will switch the YOM plates to a new pair when I locate them. Lastly, I did speak with the Sheriff's office for the area of the shop and they took and filed an incident report as "lost plates" opposed to stolen, so if they ever show up on a getaway car, I'll be proptected. Soooo, does anyone have a mint or NOS pair of YOM Plates?
Glad you're only out the plates-(I know you"re not, but it could've been a lot worse). Hope you get that sled on the road soon.
I agree, sounds to fishy, when you go and register, you may find that VIN already being used by others.
Greg, Dave has a set of plates he would part with. Either way, if they don't find your stuff, I'll help you find some plates...I might even have some myself. Glad to hear it's going to get worked out. Let me know if I can help in any other way!
For those who were following along at home, the shop has reported that they have found ALL of the missing items. I am elated and relieved. Many thanks to those who tore 1/2 of ATX up trying to find them, I appreciate your efforts....
You've obviously never played golf if you were looking in that direction for something less frustrating. Glad you got your stuff back. Horrible situation for everybody involved.
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