hey i was wondering about the PA laws for a rod (street rod is i think what they call it) what i have been hearing is that if you have a car 1948 or older you do not need fender coverings, now is that with a regular 1948 or older title or do i need a 1948 or older "street rod title" are there any specifications as far as scrub height, height from frame to ground, headlight hight, etc
bump, anyone know? is there a section or another thread where i can find out. i searched but couldint find much
Act 228 of 2004, effective 1/30/2005, finally allowed rods without hoods, bumpers, and fenders. If you run that way, you have to have your car titled as a street rod/re-constructed vehicle. With a stock appearing exterior, you can get away with a regular passenger registration, even if the chassis, exhaust,and/or drivetrain are modified, but they're really strict with fenderless rods. There are supposed to be some major changes coming January 1, 2007 too. You can usually find most of the answers to your questions on the PennDot website and on the State of Pa. legislation site. There's a safety bulletin #B105 that updated the fender, hood, bumper changes. Pa. has never been the best place to own a hot rod, but I guess for safety's sake the laws make sense. I would have sent you some links to this info, but didn't know how to attach them to this forum reply. If I can help, or if you need more info, just P.M. me and I'll give you my e-mail address. Woody
No longer need fenders or hoods! There was some talk about making it a law that you have to fill your car with gas from the outside... no more opening the trunk and filling? Not sure if that's coming in 2007? There are some new inspection requirements coming into effect in 2007. Only certain inspection stations will be authorized to issue (I believe) new inspections on Reconstructed & Street Rod tags.
I've heard the same thing. If Fast Eddie can screw things up, he will!! I guess you guys have heard we are getting FULL Ca. standards for emmissions, too.
Hey Pete, thanks for the information. I am buying a 1928 model A tudor this weekend and I wanted to make sure I didn't have to go through that enhanced inspection penndot crap again. LOL
I know this is old... did you buy the Model A? How was the paperwork/inspection handled? I am hoping to sell my Tbucket so I would like to know the procedure. I thought the idea was once it was titled and registered selling would be like any other car. But I also heard the new owner has to go through Enhanced Insp. Are the plates on my car transferable? Again conflicting answeres. PennDOT's website and local notaries weren't much help. Thanks, Bill
I have looked at PennDOT's page it is a bit confusing. It says the enhanced inspection is required for initial titling only. I went through that when I initially titled it. To me selling would be a transfer of title not an initial title. Koz, on the HAMB has done several cars and he says they need the enhanced inspection again. I trust his experience and know him personally. My worry is it will take weeks to months to get the plates which would kill a sale. Plus the hassle of towing the car around. When the law was originally talked about the enhanced inspector could issue temp plates and the title would read what the car most closely resembled. Neither of which came to pass.
Very easily done. If the car is registered as a “street rod” then that is how it is sold. The plate is transferred to the new owner and it is as easy as that. No enhanced inspection. Did mine at the triple A.
........That's probably all true unless the car gets sold out of Pa. to another state. That's where problems develop because the current title may not have the appropriate YOM (or closest resemblance to) that the other state requires.
OK, so you didn't hear this from me, but as a practical matter they've relaxed the Pa requirements for Antique plates. There are no photos required anymore and as far as I've seen, if your title shows the car is more than 25 years old, they'll issue an Antique plate. I know a guy with a '24 Ford fenderless, roofless, T-Bucket that's homebuilt with an unknown chassis, a 350 SBC, etc, etc. He's running Antique Plates.
I called PennDOT they said the Street Rod plate does not transfer but the enhanced inspection is not required since my car is branded on the title as a Street Rod. The guy checked. I can't find a registration form for a Street Rod plate. The only form is MV-426b which is for a title and it has the enhanced inspection. Maybe that is also used for the plate and the enhanced inspection is ignored. After the initial enhanced inspection the yearly inspection is a normal inspection The inspection should not be a big deal. It has passed before with no real changes. The problem I have heard is some of these enhanced inspectors seem to be using them to generate income by requiring repairs to comply. The car is tentatively sold. I have to get with the guy to transfer the title. His garage, that does his inspections, does work on hot rods so maybe the inspection won't be a problem. Hopefully they know how to do the paperwork.
If it's already branded, then I think an MV-1 is all you need. Any tag/title place can do it for you. As far as enhanced inspections, it depends on the inspector. I had a nightmare enhanced inspection on a kit-built utility trailer that was brand new and took me an hour to build and a whole day to get inspected. He even required me to go to a weigh station to get an unladen weight certificate.
I just reread the MV- 426B, all the way to the bottom. I think that is the correct form there is an area if the title is branded as a Street Rod. It has all the proper fees. I think this will be OK. In school I didn't read the whole question which got me in trouble. Got me here too!
.....................Glad to hear that it's working out for you. Can I assume (if you don't mind) that it is staying in Pa.?
I built a chopper from scratch, homemade frame, misc flea mkt parts, obviously no title or vin,,,i created the bike out of thin air. Filled out an pa mv1, copied a cpl handwritten receipts, got an enhanced inspection, and 4 business days later i got a "special construction" title, vin plate and registration. I was shocked how simple it was.
I did not have too much of a problem when I got my title originally. On paper selling doesn't look too bad either. The enhanced inspection is the unknown variable. If the guy is reasonable it will be no peoblem. My car passes the NSRA 23 inspection every year and the yearly PA inspection. If he wants to generate income it could be a pain. I guess it's the buyers problem really. I could also be overthinking it. A bit of a tendency I have.
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