If you have an original frame and you cut out the original frame number and switch it to another frame, you are not altering the frame number. You are altering the frame just as you are altering the frame if you change the front cross member, ****** mount or the rear end. You would have to be a piss poor fabricator for your frame alteration to be noticed. You could easily make your spliced cut 12" on either side of the frame number and after the welding cleanup, a needle gun would blend in any difference. I've had the DMV check frame/ serial numbers, and they just wipe off the number with a rag and check it against the ***le. I'm sure they know how the numbers look for that year of car/truck. Some people have been watching too much tv. But then again, I may have missed the helicopter hovering overhead and the good-looking babes in their form fitting pants and blouses with their million-dollar x ray machine ready to verify the authenticity of the serial number. I probably missed the Hummer with the NCIS emblem on the side. Jay Leno had a 32 Ford built with an aftermarket frame and he pointed out how they cut out the original serial number and welded it onto the new frame. They didn't blend in the welds and made it so it was obvious what they did. He pointed this out in his video and the California DMV had no problem with it, he said. He's not in jail yet that I know of.
Just an update on this… I’ve decided to run it for a while as it seems structurally fine. Once I get a couple other projects finished up then this car will go under the knife and I’ll pull the body and decide if I want to tackle patching it or finding a solid replacement frame for it. Other than that one area on the frame the rest of it is solid with minimal surface rust.
These frames are all over the place. Just picked these three up yesterday for $100.00 each. $300.00 for all three. The other one was a 1942 and no use to me.
My thought would be repair the original frame which preserves the serial number. Although quite a few here dismiss the issue, a mismatch in numbers can become a big problem for a owner in the future depending on where the vehicle ends up. Been there - done that. I believe an aftermarket frame comes with a certificate of origin. In my area a fabricated frame and major components need to have receipts or invoices to obtain a state issued vehicle number.
No, probably use them to restore damaged original frame or verify that the vins are good and build a car. Will more than likely get a 3 year boned ***le if going that latter.
FWIW department. All the advice regarding registration and DMV issues is not only state dependent, its also dependent upon the people looking at the situation. Being a trusting person and dealing with the sister of a deceased man who owned a 54 Ford pickup, I purchased said truck on a bill of sale. It was a cold windy day in Wyoming and the nice older lady was in the house and the truck was in an open carport. She had a ***le in the brother's name but the state told her she needed to put the ***le into her name to sell it. She said she would send the ***le as soon as the state sent it back. She wrote out a bill of sale and I walked outside and wrote the correct vin number on that bill of sale. Everything was good until I started working on the project and installed my 55 rear springs onto the frame that I thought was a 54. Thats when I found out there is a difference between 54 and 55. So now I went and checked the vin on the frame. It matched the bill of sale. Then I went and looked at the ***le she sent and it was a different vin. Since I had moved to Colorado I was told by a cop, it was not a problem to get a ***le for with a bill of sale and it would be best to not mention the 54 ***le. So I called the county to come inspect the vin. He did a vin check and said the number was clear. That was over a year ago. Different cop said big problem, no ***le no registration possible. Advised me to go buy another truck and use that frame. So I waited a year and asked another cop. He was nicer, said it was an easy slam dunk. He came, did a vin inspection and said just take it to the DMV and they will give you a ***le. Our local DMV ladies are the nicest on the planet, however the nice girl said I would need to do both a state DMV search and a national search. Obviously not all DMV workers have access to the databases. She filled out the forms, both identical, both going to Denver but had to go with separate checks in separate envelopes. After a couple of months I received two separate mails from the Colorado DMV. Great news, both national and state DMV show no record. Now its just a slam dunk. Back to the nice lady at the DMV. I show her the bill of sale again and she started the process. In steps DMV lady #2. She says the bill of sale needs to be notarized. The two discuss the situation and agree to send it through with the non notarized bill of sale. That was a couple of weeks ago, they said they would call me when they heard something. The guys in my Saturday morning coffee group all have differing opinions on what I shoulda/coulda done. This situation resulted in my stopping all work on the project until I get a ***le, as I have far too much money in this to put it together and have a cop, like the first one impound the vehicle. Yes, he said he was doing me a favor by not impounding it in my garage. Yes, he was a **** and probably couldn’t do that. The bottom line is I will probably never buy anything in the way of a vehicle without a ***le that matches the number on the vehicle. Here is fact number two that is somewhat related and might be more important regarding having a correct ***le and vin number. I had some minor damage on one of my cars insured with Grundy. The adjuster treated me like I was a criminal and gave me the third degree about the accident trying to trip me up into admitting I was driving the car for an “unauthorized use”. Since the accident happened as I was moving to a different parking place on my property that was a non issue but one any of you turning in a claim needs to be aware of. You can take your car to a car gathering breakfast but if you stop at the parts store on the way home you have no insurance. That is a fact with Grundy for sure. Next, an directly related to this discussion is the adjuster had to make sure the vin on the car matched the registration and ***le. Here again, the bottom line, regardless of the state you live in your insurance will be a problem in case of a loss if the vin does not match the registration and ***le. Your experience may vary but I would absolutely try to repair a correct frame or buy something with an MSO or ***le.
The Jalopy Journal
