Are CHP certified on identifying car frames?

If we're going to be picky, it's merely a VIN, not a VIN #. There is no need to say number twice.

 

speaking of numbers...isnt there 17 numbers or a series of 17 numbers and letters in a VIN?

Not so in a model A production number.

hey they make the rules,,,so shouldnt they be forced to follow them?

why cant they call a production number a production number (pre 54) and a vin a vin post 54?

anyways a cop thats suppsed to know the "rules" should know the rules..
and if they are doing inspections for numbers on model A's they should know where the dam numbers are. Dont cha think?

 

Body ID numbers (coupe sedan etc or patent numbers)

 

Thanks for all the comments and advice.
El Kamino Kid - Yes it was on the Old Road.
The car came with the a VIN plate already riveted onto the frame. I had it registered through DMV. A year later they came back and said they were missing paperwork that was turned in. So they asked me to go to the CHP and get a VIN verification. This is the first time I had ever had to do this so I was not sure what they do. I thought it was just check the numbers on the frame and match them to what is on the current registration I paid for at the DMV. No where did the DMV ask to know if this was a special construction vehicle. The officer wanted to pull my body off the frame to check. I told him he was crazy and that I was not doing that.

Nazs

 

VIN Plate riveted to the frame? Unless it was a California (or some other state) ***igned Identification Number, it doesn't mean anything and isn't necessarily legal. The California ones are Blue (and known as Blue Tags) and have an official seal stamped in them.
Believe it or not they can make you pull the body to show the number if they have reasonable cause to believe the numbers are not correct.

 

Sorry to hijack the thread, I just went through a bunch of S---, to register my 2008 Toyota last week and I didn't mention the '50 Ford with a Chev. V-8 that's on the way. It has a clear ***le from Minnesota and is all legit, after the "New" Toyota fiasco!
Please hook me up with you guy/gal in Valley Center.
Dale from Fallbrook, thanks.

 

Acording to Calofornia law you have a Special Construction Vehicle.
Officer knew this because the serial number was not STAMPED on
frame in correct location.

 

First it's not about semantics, then it is. They are all VINs. They are "numbers and sometimes letters that identify the vehicle". Just because the Feds ins***uted a mandated VIN sequence doesn't mean that it is now a trademarked term that must be adhered to, or that anything that was previously termed a vehicle ID number must now be called something else so the nitpickers don't all come out whining and *****ing. As far as the LEOs needing to know where the "whatever you want to call it" numbers are, that is just ********. Do you, honestly think that the cops are trained to know where the numbers are on every vehicle ever produced in every country on earth? The burden of proof is on the owner. You drag the car to the CHP. If he knows where the numbers are, he'll look at them, if he doesn't, he'll ask you where they are. If you don't know, then who's the dumb***, some public servant or the owner of the car?
I had a vehicle inspected last week at the very same CHP station. The cop knew where the frame number was (it was a bike, they're on the neck). He had to ask where the engine number was. It was a Honda, they built a bazillion different models with engine numbers all over the place. I showed him. It's not his job to know locations, only to verify if they match the ***le, if they appear to be altered or if the vehicle has been reported stolen or has been involved in any ongoing criminal investigations.
Of course, none of this helps the guy with his initial question now, does it?

 

I'm confused, maybe cause I dont know the difference of a vin check, or applying for a ***le.. IF it's for the ***le, I went dwn with my Merc to a DMV, and flirted my *** off with the 300lb woman, and she didint question anything, she came out looked at the vin, and we filled out all my ***le paper work right there, and then. It was super easy and painless.. I think it really depends on the person doing the verifying... just my 2 cents.

 

Nope..
you say potato..I say potato

whatever..i didnt make the rules..but we are sure held to them, arnt we

 

bummer, that is the only real way to check, hopefully you can back out of this one and approach it from a different angle, registration services will let you avoid this situation. in your case it may have gone too far, good luck

 

X2 I when to AAA and they did it no biggie my car was registered

 

Thanks for the heads up everyone def good to know it is not a good idea although it has been suggested to me in the past, looks like im stuck with figuring out this special construction option to keep things legal.

 

I just had the same problem with my 30 pickup. I got it from my great grandfather. I built the frame, original one was broke and it had no motor. Went to chp to do every thing legal and to get a vin#. Then to DMV start the registration. They wanted to register it as 2011 spec con with smog. A friend of mine is licenced to do vin inspections. He filled out all the paper work with a vin (A30 and my great grandfathers dob). I was in and out of DMV in 15 min. It worked.

 

These registration threads are interesting reads sometimes. Iam still amazed at how many people on public forums are so willing to tell everyone how they illeagally registered thier cars. Guys come on, dont think for a second that the right people are not searching this stuff out. Especially in california,Why do you think its getting so hard to register these things. One thing for the OP to consider, Did that officer actually put a "stop" on your reg? If your vin is now in the system with with an incomplete status you will have to go through with the special construction registration process. DO NOT try to outwit the DMV here because you will lose. So did he actually put the stop on it?

 

I agree with this !! But here is the catch, If this was a legally ***led and registered car in another state and Ca. did a vin check and accepted the out of state ***le as face value, then Ca. is stuck with it the way it is and was. If Ca. wants to refuse a out of state ***le they would #1 be breaking federal law #2 at best they would have to return the ***le you used to you along with money collected. You might be able to say it was special constructed back 40 years ago in another state, then the new ***le would have to say that date as date of construction = no smog.

 

Building Hot Rods used to be FUN, SIMPLE, and REASONABLE.
WTF has happened to California!? What a pain in the *** everything has become.
Flirting with 300 lb. DMV women, hiring registration company's, whoring yourself to lawyers.
I'm ranting and laughing at the same time here because the whole scene is sounding like a Monty Python skit. I just envision John Cleese; "Uh yes, I'd like to register my Model A"............

 

Very true , but could be an expensive fight and lengthy as well. I went back through and it doesnt look like this would apply here though?Was his car from out of state originally? That would be the Ticket should he choose the battle. Unless he was lucky enough to get a DMV person who knows this already.

 

Let's be honest here, I understand the desire to register you car (truck, whatever) as a 1931. BUT....It is on an aftermarket frame, probably with something other than a model A 4 banger, and probably with very little model A left, other than a body....who wouldn't call it a specially constructed vehicle ???

Again, I understand the benefits of having it ***led as a 1931, but don't you think it's going to be hard to fool a State that really only wants as much of your money as it can get ?

The money is all they care about, and by the way, they write the laws to prove their point....

As state after state falls in deficit, and the enviromentalists get a foot hold, these kind of registration laws will get us all...right now, what you want to do would be easy as pie here in Kansas, but I guarantee you, it won't last forever, not even here....but, we're veering dangerously into politics here, I'd better get off my soapbox now....

 

I had my '28 roadster registered and the VIN verified at the AAA in Burbank. It was no problem and I got the ***le 2 weeks later.

 

The last time I had one verified
The DMV worker walked out side and looked at it.
I don’t understand why you got sent anywhere if you have a visible VIN #

 

Most of you Ca. guys just don't get it. Ca. will eventually call every old car or truck back in for re inspection. They aren't going to care how long you have owned it or about anything else. If it isn't on a real factory frame, ****s going to happen. No one is immune. $$$$

 

I purchased a 57 T-Bird in the early 80's from a neighbor. Basically it was a car with both front and rear clips removed [accident]. I picked up the car at a reasonable price - understanding I could sell the port hole top alone and make a few bucks.

I decided to put the car together - pieced together the body with replacement front and rear clips that came with the car. Back then, a police officer could come over and verify the frame number. No question was brought up that the ID plate on the fire wall was missing.

Twenty-five years later I decide to re-register the car. AAA tells me the car is off the DMV records [I had lost the Pink slip and had not registered the car since '83]. AAA told me to bring the car in to see the ID plate and frame number.

Since I was missing the ID plate - what could I do? Did some searching and found out they are reproducing plates - just need to verify the correct frame number with a photo. After a few weeks I have an ID plate with all of the specs. - paint code, type of top and interior, etc.

A friend from work has a LA County Sheriff friend who is a detective and checks VIN numbers and is on the Taskforce for Regional Autotheft Prevention. He drove to my house, inspected the frame number and ID plate. He filled out the DMV Verification Of Vehicle form. I then took the paperwork to my local AAA and paid my fees. What was interesting was that he found out the car was stolen and recovered back in '75. Hope this helps.

 

in california, never, ever, go to the CHP t verify the vin, or production number, did it with our buick, didn`t know better, has vin on the post, he wanted to see the vin on the frame, whick we could not find, and was obviously the original frame, told me the engine wasn`t orgiganl, which i figured on a 50 year old car, made me take it home, lift the body off the frame and clean every inch of it to find the number, finally called found out, around that time sometimes you couldn`t ever find the number on the frame, raised the body off the frame and had him come to my house, give me the runaround some more and finally sign off my paperwork........freinds have been in and out of the DMV in 10 minutes, just take an almost complete car with an orginal identifying number and your golden.....on my A i just used enough frame to make it look good and thats it.....original number...

another note, depending on year, if you try to mix up number to make a vin, it won`t work and you could be easily caught, not sure when, but at some point, they put check digits in the vin so you can`t do it, like the 2nd and 8th digit equal the 10th digit, not sure of the combination but have a friend that builds trailers and creates vins and has a quide to follow....

just some of my experiences......go to the busy dmv, have them verify your vin, act cool and be patient and nice....you`ll get much farther, stay away from cops, unless he`s your buddy.......

and stay away from special construction, unless you are in line dec 31st at midnight, you will get a modern vehicle year and be subject to smog and safetty of that year, they only give the first 200 applicants a choice of year, then it usually year of engine they go by........

 

I am certainly no expert but California VC 5051 reads that a street rod can be modified in any way as long as it is 1948 or prior, and this is because VINs as they are known did not start until 1950 and not all frames were stamped some manufactures did some did not. This is only what I have read, I take this to be that if you want to convert an auto to a pick-up (as many were done during the war for gas rationing) you can as long as it is 1948 or older

 

so what happens if a guy buys a model A hot rod project from out of state (California)with only a bill of sale and no ***le, but the car comes with the original frame and the serial number is not readable in its entirety due to rust and wear/tear... he transports it to his home state (Oregon), and he secures a 1963 Oregon signed off but not dated ***le for a model A like the car being built. If he walks into DMV with that ***le and tells them he wants to apply for new ownership ***le, would that work?

 

Funny thing, it's already happening here in North Carolina. They have been calling in vintage/cl***ic cars to inspect them to verify they are what they are registered as for a few years.

 

the smell of money is a very ,very strong work order for them..masters at fleecing the minions..

 

But doesn't North Carolina require annual inspections? So, perhaps they are being called in to verify that they are not attempting to dodge your 35 years and older rule? Just curious...
We currently have no inspections in California other than smog certs. for newer cars...
It would be pretty difficult to be "re inspected" since we have NO inspections to begin with.