!!! Massachusetts' new law that everyone here should read!!!

Its late, my head is still spinning, and I shouldn't be taking the liberty to write this, but I will. Hopefully, this will be read with an open mind and any non- informational, political, and drama inducing comments will be avoided.

I will give my synopsis of what I learned and what you should know. I am not a lawyer or a DMV expert, just a hotrodder who asked some questions and is still trying to work out all the facts.

Before you comment you MUST read these links in their entirety!!
http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2010/Chapter311
http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/186/ht04pdf/ht04871.pdf

Now that you are "informed". That is the bill that is now LAW in Massachusetts. It was initially drafted and supported by SEMA and Factory Five Racing (that may be false?)

What, I believe, was originated as an easy way to title, register, and inspect "kit cars" has backfired onto the hot rodders of Massachusetts.
For those that have bone stock antiques, these laws do not affect you.
For all others, most of which belong here on the HAMB, this affects you!
And if you already consider your car a street rod you may want to pay extra attention.

What has been established is a way of classifying and qualifying every old car. If you read the above links and your car is considered a "street rod", "replica vehicle", "custom vehicle", or a "specially constructed vehicle":

Your car MAY be flagged as a "kit car" upon trying to register it OR getting it inspected at your local gas station.​

IF that should happen, you would be required to make an appointment to have your car inspected at one of the few, State Police run, inspections stations. There they will perform an inspection. If you pass you will be assigned a new MASS VIN. You will then need to reapply an RMV3 form to apply for a new title with that VIN on it.

Being that the RMV representative does not deal with the SP inspection he could only give an overview of what is required. All I can say there is if you have a modern powered, fiberglass car you may be in for a trying time. You really need to do your homework AND more exacting questions need to be answered by the governing powers!~I dont have all the answers!

There was/is alot of discussion of how to proceed from here, I will not give advice here on an open forum because this IS the law now. There are options, many of which will be taken.
If you have ever bought or sold or plan on doing any building or restoring in Massachusetts you need to become involved or at least informed to these issues.

For those that were at the meeting they understand the confusion at hand. The questions that were asked were many and the definitive answers were few.

Thank you to HAMBer "2many projects" for bringing this issue to the board.
And thank you to the MAAC for having the q&a session.

Ok, fellas, discuss!
But please keep it drama free and on topic!!

 

Thanks for posting this. This is super important for us MA folks. I've forwarded this to a bunch of guys. That being said, I wonder what I should do about it?

I have a 62 impala that I upgraded from a 235 to a SBC, it's currently registered, inspected and on the road in MA but the title/reg still says 6cyl. Should I do anything about this or just keep driving it and hoping nobody notices?

 

Thanks for posting SW!

Did you hear anything about pre 49 cars without fenders?

I'm wondering if they now consider running fenderless... "altered from the original manufacture design"?

Thanks to all those that attended.

 

I really feel sorry for you guys in Mass, and can totally relate. For years I lived in one of the most oppressive and antiquated States, Pennsylvania. I grew up there and you literally could not alter anything on a car and remain legal. In recent years I understand they have finally come out of the dark ages and have loosened up the laws to allow street rods and custom cars, but not when I lived there.

Mass has taken a huge step backwards from what I read in those new laws. What they are doing in actuality is legistlating hot rodders out of existence, or at least making it extremely hard for you to have a legal car.

Damn politicians.


Don

 

Wow, thought California was bad. this type of thing will likely spread. imagine that there will be some very surprised car owners when they get bush whacked at registration renewal time and new applications.like to hear from those that have had to go through this new procedure already.

 

Thanks for the info and links, Bill...here we go!!

 

A little off topic but a while back MA adopted the River Protection Act which controlled any building within 200' of a river. We had an 8 lot subdivision approved, road in, but no house approval. We were the guinea pig. The act had no rules in place yet. Nobody knew what they were doing. Now it's not that bad. The in between was the killer. Once this goes on for a little while at least we should know what to do.

 

Wow!
According to the letter of the law, and some tight ass will apply it that way, if you replace the rusty rockers on any "old" car with repro parts it just became a custom car. That may not be what they meant to say but that is what they said.

 

This is also affecting Jeep owners with oversized tires - the wheels cannot stick beyond the fender flares more than 1" or you will not pass inspection...colleague of mine has been fighting this for 6 months - using the biggest aftermarket flares available he's +3/4 beyond the 1" and they're still kicking him back...doesn't bode well for the "fenderless" question posted earlier...

Yet another reason to hate the government

 

as a long time (sadly) citizen of the Republik of Massachusetts I am absolutely flabbergasted at the sheer number of idiotic bits of legislature the politicians here have enacted. I know politics is a taboo thing and I try to not demean anyone for opposing views. However in 2012 we as a country are seeing so many of our freedoms being legislated away that I am angered. While every demographic of society has it's nitwits, I am getting tired of the few spoiling it for the majority of people in the auto hobby (esp those with enough discretionary income to afford to hot rod/restore an old car) do things the right way. Government simply cannot continue to legislate the masses for the few.

Until Obama and his left-wing agenda - and Deval Patrick in Mass - are voted out to stop the spread of their eco-friendly crusade (which is nothing more than a sham to drive up the prices of oil and a directive to force people to use pseudo-eco friendly autos etc that are priced much higher than their gas-fueled counterparts (wonder who makes that extra profit hmm?)) are voted out, we will face the very certain extinction of many freedoms so many thousands have died to secure.

Get out and vote. Vote smartly. Think beyond just what will be in your wallet this week and include what will be there in a year, 5 years, for your kids. America is the greatest place on the planet and it's time to stop letting big government tell us what we can eat, drink, drive, etc.
Sorry for the rant and feel free to delete the post. I lived in NH where while things aren't perfect, life is just better. I detest Massachusetts, cant wait to leave again. The state simply continues to use taxing those who earn as a means of justifying lavish and idiotic expenses and rewarding the lazy.

Soapbox over. On sat i get to go pick up my 48 chevy. on Tues i get to try and register it in Mass. On wed i recover from the hangover that tuesday will cause.

 

This is pretty much law in CT already. If you're doing frame swaps, etc and you need to register your car as something other than bone-stock; the only legal way to do so is to take it to one of the DMV inspection stations (the main one in the state) and have it run through rigorous inspection. It is a known fact that they will refuse you time and time again (at least 3 times) and they will give you the run around over and over again. One time theyll tell you a specific thing needs to be done and then you go back and the next inspector will tell you it needs to be removed. At the end of it all; when your car is finally approved, it will then be titled as a self-constructed vehicle and officially titled as the year it was approved (2012). It will no longer be titled as a "1932 ford coupe" or a "1941 plymouth". On top of that; CT DMV takes any old title that you walk in there with and you will never get it back. It is a known "no-no" to not bring your car's original title in there...only your legal bill of sale/vin verification. As for the inspectors who will be performing the inspections; they are well-schooled in what cars are suppsed to have for vin #'s and where theyre supposed to be and they are well versed in whats the norm and what isn't. Sometimes you'll get a "cool" inspector but for the most part; if your inspections are being done by the state police- it might get ugly

in response to the jeep comment: that's been law here for a long time too. It sucks but the majority of people who do run them a bit wider are not ever bothered by the police unless it's extremely obvious or they get pulled over for other reasons. Outside of the hot rod hobby; my other half and I are both avid Jeep fans and i own a lifted and restored 1986 CJ-7. They had to modify the rear wheelwell/body panel to accomidate the newer fender flares in order to cover most of my tires on the Jeep. My Jeep isn't rediculously tall but it's quite big. I'm just waiting for the police to pull out the, oh so famous, measuring tape and measure from the ground to the door-sill. Joy

Good luck to all of the Mass hot rodders. We in CT know how you feel and unfortunately it sucks.

 

Don..

Your comments bring back some good and bad memories. Born/raised in Pa. The Inspections were "brutal" compared to other states, like Ohio. Only way I got away with headers on my Hemi was that the Chrysler brochure stated "Header Type Exhaust System". Of course, there were some Inspection stations that would "wink" and slap the sticker on for a couple bucks more.
In the search for more revenue, states are going to be more aggressive in using any method in obtaining funds, and perpetuating the need for more bureaucracy.

Bill

 

Thanks for posting! I thought New Jersey was bad.....well it is, Mass. just jumped on the bandwagon!

 

Jesus man, I feel for you guys up there. ALL rodders need to know about this, as it could just as easily happen in your state.
Come to Maryland, just walk into the DMV with a title, and walk out with tags for your classic. No inspection, no emissions, nothing.
Government always plays to the lowest common denominator. They make laws for the worst of people, and the rest of us are affected.

 

Now do you see my anal retentive tendencies to stay OEM, traditional, and purist , Bill?

To be honest, the registration process for kit cars and those without proper paperwork will be a PIA. Otherwise, I think registration is a breeze. Slightly 'altering' an old car after the fact is and should be irrelevant. And for what its worth, the PD isn't interested in pulling over hot rods just because they're hot rods.

 

Without getting overly political, I agree with Neverwinter above. We now have a Gov. that is at least half Socialist and we know how well that's worked out elsewhere on the planet. I never cease to be amazed at the amout of legislation that gets passed in the name of revenue enhancement, (Socialism), while we are being told that they know better than us whats good for us.

The founding Fathers were foresighted and correct. The Constitution is a just and viable document. At least for now, we still have "We The People". In short, get active or be dominated by whatever they feel like feeding us.

I am well aware the HAMB is not the place for stuff like this rant but I strongly feel that we are going to have to band together, through this forum or elsewhere or we will be legislated out of existance by both sides of the aisle. Sticking our head in the sand is no longer an option. Join the SEMA network. They stay on top of stuff like this.

My two cents!

 

Are there any Massachusetts State Troopers on the HAMB that would like to give their take?

 

Damn Massholes

 

Yes, it would be good to hear from somebody who deals in reality.

It would be nice if we could find out what they DO want. Or, maybe they get a charge out of seeing us walk into a minefield so they can cause problems for everybody they can.

Unfortunately it is probably utter & total incompetence of political hacks. It is hard to get solid information from somebody who lives in a fantasy world who has no idea what that is.

 

Thank you, Willy, for condensing the pertinent info into one spot. I've bookmarked this thread for future reference. Thanks also for attending the discussion last night, asking the right questions, and reporting back to us.

 

It sounds to me like the law still allows people to do most of what they want. This is very similar to the current law in PA. The only problem I see is that the enhanced inspection gives many opportunities for failure, depending on how strict the station is.

Replica or specialty vehicles have to comply with the emissions laws for the year of the engine. Makes some sense (though perhaps not perfect sense). The idea of a maximum mileage for replica or specialty vehicles could perhaps be a problem, though ... especially since it could be as low as 3,000. You couldn't do 1 long road trip with that.

It sounds like street rods and customs would be re-titled, but otherwise would not face any additional hurdles. But that's not exactly clear.

 

Okay, since I started this mess Im going to try to clarify things a bit:

FIRST OFF: THIS WAS NOT A POLITICAL AGENDA! THIS WAS MADE, PUSHED, AND SOLD BY "YOUR FRIENDS" AT THE
SEMA ACTION NETWORK!!!
http://echo.bluehornet.com/hostedem...820709378&ch=793A9F059F621A8863C5D508B4F274C2​

The bill was actually passed over twice by the govenor, for what its worth!

2nd.) This does not affect any previously in place laws concerning old cars, such as fender laws, exhaust noise, ride height, etc. This is a new titleing and registering process.

3rd.) Jeeps or any truck have never been allowed to have tires sticking past the fenders...way o/t sorry!

4th.) The state police are very green to this issue, as we all are, Being the way this is stated (as LAW) Every one of us will at some point soon need to have a state issued VIN from the salvage reclamation garages, which there are only 4(?) in the state...you do the math! They dont "need" to know about this and I doubt it highly if you will get an answer from them you will like!

5th.) I implore you all once again to read all the links and comments and understand once again THIS WAS NOT POLITICAL !!
I feel it was our own fault for not thinking it was too good to be true...
Do a search here and you will be suprised!

 

Outstanding job Bill
Thanks George

 

If it is like the PA law, you should be O.K. I went through it & built (from a pile of parts with receipts) a fenderless, hoodless, side exhausting hot rod. I have a legit title & registration. The process was not without its bumps & hurdles, but it is reasonable. The biggest problem is the fact that the law is not definitive enough. What one inspector or bean counter would consider acceptable, another wouldn't. So, your success or failure might depend on someone's mood on a particular day.
I would anticipate that this will get better as time goes on. Unfortunately, there is a long & oft times painful learning curve attached to these things.

 

Mind you all, this is not only for new builds! You could have been driving your '32 coupe since high school in the '60's! They want to see it, bring it in, and assign it a new VIN!
Thats how this law is being interpreted!

 

Thanks again to Too Many Projects for getting this information out to us and Terry from the RMV for taking the time to answer these questions. And a super really big thanks to SEMA for helping to put the home builder / enthusiast on the endangered species list.

 

Newbie here (first post, occasional lurker, hi). Not seeing much discussion on the "custom vehicle" deal. 25 years? Hell, I *daily drive* (season permitting) 30+ year old vehicles and never bothered with antique plates for that reason. I see lots of pre 87 cars on the road driven by 'normal folk' every day.

 

I don't know if we need to crucify SEMA on this one quite yet. They have a vested interest in seeing our hobby prosper. They may have started out with great intentions and it simply backfired when the politicos got their hands on the bill.

I have no facts to back that up, just tossing it out there. But I do know that SEMA has a pretty good track record in most States of keeping the wolf away from our doors.

Don

 

Don, I dont know...
A bill passed as law is just that, amendments come later, I understand.
If you click on the link above (bluehornet.com one) That is what the SEMA rep passed onto us as what was passed. I feel they then washed their hands of the situation, because it covered all aspects that Factory Five needed to continue their business in MA, and then walked away.

This was not a situation where SEMA stepped in to alleviate a pending political issue such as cash for clunkers and so forth. They say they were working on this for over 5 years but yet no one knows specific answers!

I will speak only for myself here~SEMA failed this time...