Hot Rods changing car body on existing registered 1932 chassis....

Had a question relating to registering a vehicle . So my brother has an aftermarket steel body 1932 ford roadster on an original 1932 chassis . On his registration it shows it registered as a 1932 Ford .
He found an original Henry steel 5 window coupe 1932 body .
Is it possible for him to remove the aftermarket body and instead run the 1932 5 window body ? The aftermarket body can sit in the garage , he told me he doesn’t care about selling it.
Never done a body swap before so I don’t know if this is doable or not.

 

Does the title read 2 door, roadster or convertible?

 

If its a CA registered car I'd check with a certified Vin verifier. There is at least one here on the HAMB. Whatever you do make sure its by the book. Originally the car had a frame number that was used for the registration. When the aftermarket body was installed was a new vin assigned by the DMV? Or was the original frame serial number retained?

 

I’m gonna go by his place later I will check to see what it says on the paperwork

 

I have three '32 Fords, all the pink slips say 2-door. They all have 2-doors, but are different bodies.

 

Title goes with the frame every time, you can put a 2000 body on that 32 frame and it's still a 32.

 

Can you clarify your question. It seems like you are asking about duplicating a title, which is illegal.

If he sells the body and frame, then the title/reg goes with the complete car.
If he just sells the body, he just sells the body and it's up to the new owner to figure out how to register it themselves.
If he sells the frame then the title/reg goes with the frame.

Title and registration cannot be divorced from the car or frame as that is what the title is to.

 

I'm with the others, on the 32 the title belongs to the frame and the body isn't that much of a concern.
As far as I know there are no indicators on the serial number on the engine/frame as to what body style was sitting on the frame. He needs to figure out if the title details what body it has but I am with the others in that the old titles were pretty vague and about all the state worried about then was car or truck and if it was a truck how much tonnage they could charge for.
I'd suggest that he wants/needs to get a good, clear and detailed bill of sale with the body. The state is going to be far more interested in the fact that he came by the body legally and legally owns it than what body style is on the car. Several states have a printed or printable bill of sale form that you can print off and fill out the blanks that makes things a lot simpler than writing something down on a piece of notebook paper.

 

He has a aftermarket body on a CA registered 1932 Ford chassis . All he wants to do is remove the aftermarket body from the car , and instead run a real Henry steel 1932 Ford body on his existing chassis. The aftermarket body will collect dust in the garage . He’s not trying to put that body on another chassis

 

Gimpy will be along shortly to straighten this all out....

 

The issue I can see is getting pulled over by the police and having a knowledgeable cop tell you that the car is a coupe not a roadster and starting a s#*t storm about numbers etc. It might also be an issue with your insurance co. I would check with my local DMV about a body change.

 

Yeah, what you’re saying was my immediate first concern .

 

@gimpyshotrods will tell you the straight facts on this, none of this guessing as many of these guys are doing!

 

When I did the title transfer on my 32 chassis it came
back stating under the body heading "coupe" It had no body when I purchased it. That will suite the body I do have for it.

 

The 32 did not come with a title from the factory. The dealer provided paperwork to the State when they sold the vehicle to the customer which included the serial number and the State created the title.
Depending on the rules of the State and who typed up the title as to the make and model.

 

He doesn't have to tell the DMV what shape the old body was in. Just that he is putting the coupe body on it and ask if it needs to be inspected or what steps he has to take after the swap. Basically it is just being honest and remembering to dot the I's and cross the T's so everything is copacetic.

It may even have more to do with telling the insurance company than the dmv. The insurance company may get more excited if they insured a roadster and something happens to or with a coupe.

 

Local rodder down here took his steel 32 roadster body off and swapped on a steel 32 closed cab PU body. Technically it required another inspection however everything was previously done to spec anyway. Still around years later with same frame number

 

I have to wonder why anyone would not follow this advise. I cannot believe the DMV cannot handle this fairly quickly, and the insurance co would probably value it a bit higher with original steel, thus higher
premium.

 

Having lived in CA for over 60 years and built numerous cars there, first thing is DO NOT say anything to DMV. That will just open up a huge can of worms. In 2010, CA decided to give everyone with an incorrectly registered vehicle a chance to come clean. If you had a completely new car, ie, typical hot rod, that was registered with original title, they wanted you to re-register it with a Special Construction title. This would give them the ability to increase the tax value. I spent about 2 hours on the phone with the SEMA Liason to the government. That exact question was one of the ones asked, as well as what happens when you put an aftermarket chassis under an original car that you have had registered for a while. Basically, his answer was that the title stays with the car, meaning that you can make the change and DMV doesn't need to know. If you go to CA DMV, they will probably make you re-register it as a new construction. Unfortunately, CA has too many overlapping registration laws and nobody at any DMV will know all of them. You can get several different answers from different DMVs for the same question. Don't ask me how I know all of this....

 

Try checking with your local DMV. If you get the answer you like be sure to get the persons name and go see them immediately. Going back a long time it used to be you told them you changed the body, they had you fill out a "statement of facts" form and they changed the body type on the title/registration.

Charlie Stephens

 

My two cents is what the title says is the body that belongs to save yourself headaches...

 

Did you ever get a look at the pink slip? Again, all three of mine say 2-door, 1-3W and 2-Roadsters.

 

Yeah I think alot of titles were like that, the titles to the coupes my grandpa used to have only said 2 door. One was a 3 window the other a 5 window, but didnt mention coupe. Now my 33 Ford pickup is marked pickup on title. (all Oregon titles, for reference)

 

Back in the early '60s in New York, when you filled out your registration you entered the make and model on the form. My 1960 Corvette was registered from the Chevrolet dealer as a Chevrolet. When I went to get insurance I was given the 1960 Chevrolet rate. A couple of years later, the big mistake I made, was to drive the Corvette to the insurance company to pay the premium. The agent asked who's car it was and I said, mine. Well after that I got the Corvette rate, almost double.

 

My 3w coupe was last registered (no title) in NYS. The registration is marked "Sedan", because NYS doesn't differentiate between sedan and coupe. Not sure how that'll work out when I go to register and apply for a Kentucky title.

 

i bought a 53 dodge powerwagon years ago. the guy had registration for every year from the 50's to the 70's, every year the reg's said powerwagon...powerwagon...powerwagon, then it sat for a few years, and the next registration said station wagon. even though i had two decades of regs to show, SOB it was a struggle to get that fixed because the computer does not know what a powerwagon is, and so then the dumb dmv who can not think on they're own are stumped

 

Since it's a secret where your from it's hard to answer your question, each state would have a different set of rules.

 

When I registered my 1st '32 frame I had them put it down as a 2 dr, but that was back 10 yrs ago. I have since registered a 2nd frame in the last 3-4 yrs and the application process in KS has changed a lot. There is NOW a drop down menu on the form at the DMV that ask specifically what style of car, coupe, sedan, conv, truck, and couldn't just tell them 2dr. So, I chose "coupe". Then, I told my wife that we HAVE to go find a 3w body for this build...

 

^^^^^ Or you could use the 5 w on the second frame and get a Tudor for the first

 

As slow as I'm going now, that would throw me in high speed reverse... don't let my wife see your rationing, I need an excuse to find that 3w