I'm looking for some advice. I bought a 1946 Ford pickup project a while ago. Well, I'm finally getting around to trying to get it titled and registered. It did come with a title. Listed as a 1946 Ford with a 9 digit VIN. since it has been out of the system for so long, there is no record on file for it in CA. They said I need to have the VIN verified by the DMV or CHP. They problem is that there is no VIN on the body (never had one on these) and it is sitting on a circa 1974 F100 frame, so if there is a VIN on the frame, it will be for the F100. So that won't work. What do I do? Sent from my SM-N920V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
That is a question you need to ask the DMV.... Not here. Every state differs on how that will be handled and hopefully the VIN on the frame comes back clean.
I'm asking here because I'm leery of how much I disclose to the DMV. Sent from my SM-N920V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Was that frame under it when you bought it? Did you put the frame under it? If so, where did it come from? Any case, be up front with them and the only thing you should be leery of is the origin of the frame.
I bought it as is. I'm just doing all the finishing. Wiring, bodywork, paint, interior, that stuff. Sent from my SM-N920V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
You are doing exactly what a lot of people do.... Put the cart before the horse. If you are leery of something, the first thing you should have done was get the title sorted out before spending time and money on it. Now if you go get the VIN inspected and something isn't in order.... They are going to impound it until it gets sorted out. You may or may not get it back!! Always make sure you have a proper title before starting work... You will be dollars ahead!
California is not quite as bad as most think, almost that bad but not quite. If I were you I would make an appointment with the CHP vin verifier and have him take a look. I believe that all of the Field Sub Stations have an officer qualified to do this. Simple thing make the appointment, keep it, if everything is on the up and up he will assign you a VIN number and attach a new VIN plate to the frame. I had to do this with a 1956 Ford F 100 I used to have. On those F100 the VIN plate was attached to the glove box. of all places, and I got stopped for speeding right outside of Chico in Northern California and there was no way that CHP Cop was going to believe that glove box was the real deal. He explained what I needed to do to get the VIN verified. I went to the Sub Station in Redding made the appointment and took a shoe box of paper work with me that I got with that truck. This truck was also off of the computer as it had not been registered in over 20 years. The CHP officer could not find a VIN number anywhere, he must have slid around on the creeper for two hours looking. Later while going thru that shoe box we found an old license receipt from 1961 that had the same VIN number that was on that glove box door. He said that was good and attached a new tag to the frame with my old number on it. Point being, this guy really tried to help me. At the California DMV it is like they send those folks to mean school before they stick them in a booth. The CHP was much better to deal with --Me Thinks...
I would do exactly as graybeard recommends, talk to the CA, DMV. I have seen too much info on some of these sites that in NY for example, was completely wrong. Before you open the "can of worms'' get the correct facts.
i like your thought of asking here first, and not tell them too much, that is possible, however just asking them on the phone will give you some idea of what they will want without giving in too much just yet. call em up and say you are thinking about buying this thing. some white lies never hurt too much when dealing with the state.
There is no vin tag on the body it would have been real visible on the original engine that would have matched the number on the frame. From what I can gather you are best off to use a vin verification service in California.
use a vin sevice. i use one in Huntington Beach. They had a 3" book that shows where every vin number is on a vehicle. works for me... stay away from a DMV office unless its a small one off the beatn path.
At this point you need to do some research or get a professional title service to help. Legaly, you have a 1974 ford with no title. California goes by the frame. Your 46 paperwork is more or less a receipt only. This is not insurmountable, nor overly complicated, but needs to be done right . You will get an assigned vin.
Research shows that the truck (cab) originally came with a six cylinder. Checking on the Ford truck site says that if there is a vin on the body it should be on a tag riveted to the inside of the glove box door. That late model frame with no paperwork or title to it may be the biggest can of worms you face though. I always fear that a guy with a frame swap truck that he didn't hold title to the truck it came from or have a wrecking yard receipt for the frame complete with vin of the frame listed on the receipt is going to end up having the frame from a stolen truck even though he bought the truck or frame in good faith.
I might be way out of the realm of things but why not just register it as you got it and find out what happens. Thinking and plotting before hand might just be a cause for angst. Every state is different and every DMV clerk is different even on the same day. Pat
You have a 1946 vehicle i.d. that would have been on the frame. You don't have the frame so you have no valid i.d. A VIN inspection will come up with the wrong number relative to the pink slip which makes the pink slip useless. You are in for a rough ride.
mind is blank (as usual) as for name here that does title work - one guy to try not too far from you: [email protected] (Peninsula Registration Services)
I haven't noticed anything. Where exactly should it be located? On a tag or stamped? Sent from my SM-N920V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
On a tag, It could have been titled off the bell housing number also. Do you have any of the original parts?
Ford never put any vin tag on a truck until the '50s. A vin tag inside a glove box door is bad information. Just think about it for a minute, then use your deductive reasoning to apply good logic to the idea of it.
Original # was on frame and on trans/bellhousing only. That car is entirely gone, body would never have had a # on it...in 1946 terms, you don't have a vehicle at all. GO WITH THE ADVICE TO GO TO A PRO!
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