I have a '49 with a title. the car is legit. I lost the vin tag that goes on the a-pillar. What i need to know is what your's looks like (printed "chevrolet" or raised stamped "chevrolet") And how long is and/or the distance between the mounting holes. I understand there are 2 different ones for '49. I know where to get either one, I just wanted to know which is the more common one or if they are different sizes. Any help here?
I can check on my dad's '52 if you need me to. My guess is that your question will be answered prior to me getting home and back to work to answer you though.
It is a hot rod so the engine is long gone. Not the issue anyway. I have the title and the vin already. It is a legal car that was always all together and registered. I lost the stupid tag during the body work process and need to get a new tag in case I get stopped by the cops or if the dmv ever has reason to look, or in my case, if I want to sell the car. I know what needs to be stamped on the tag but there were two different ones used in 49 so I am hoping to find out if they were both the same sizes and which would be more common or correct on my 1949 2 dr styleline sedan.
The chevrolet is raised. what about the vin? also raised or is it stamped down? Only 1949 will have the choice guys. I know that from 50 up they are the raised "chevrolet" style. Somehow they change over in mid '49?
I am looking at mine right now as it is off the car and in hand. All raised letters: Body By Fisher ST ####### LOA##### BDY TR ### ## ## PNT ##D A## Then there is a paragraph of text all raised. Hope this helps.
That's the plate off of the cowl on the r/s. I have that one. I need the one on the l/s a-pillar. Judging by your avitar pic. your car is chopped right where this tag should be. right on the post.
Damn... sorry man. I still have another tag on the upper cowl section that is different than this one. I took this one off during the chop...was many, many years ago so do not recall where it was located exactly.
No sweat. I appreciate you trying to help. Most chopped cars, these are tossed or thrown in a box or sawed through.
Mike go over to chevytalk.com and ask over there. You'll find some older fellows who are like chevy encyclopedias. I bet you'll find the answer to the 49 differences questions. Go to the 49 to 54 forum. Dom
Sorry I wasn't any more help.... but if it were me, this is what I'd do. Make a new tag outta aluminum sheet, stamp all the correct letters and let it rip. It's not like the tag off is going to know whether the tag style is the correct one. I'd make it as similar as possible to the original though. something like this, I made these for a couple IHC pickup cabs... I bought titles here on the hamb, and I'll just stamp the correct numbers on it and rivet it to the A pillar or firewall.
Check out "49 Chevy" or whatever on E-Pay, a few dudes sell the blanks, take it to a jewler and get it engraved. At least that's what I've been told
FWIW when I got my 52 sedan's title switched over to TX, they had me stamp the VIN onto the engine block (which was from a 74 Chevy p/u). YMMV in other states.
Yeah, I just want it to be as right it can be for the next guy. I hate when I get the screws from people so I certainly don't want to drop it on the guy like that. I found a guy you has the tag already and will do the stamping all nice and all. I just have to know which one is right or if there is no difference. I'd hate the guy to go to DMV in his state and get trouble. I just don't work like that. Here in NJ they only ask once in a while for a rubbing and it's easy enough to pull it off. I know some states actually have you bring the car in and they look at it. That's why it's important.
Here's a pic of the one that was on my '49 coupe. Printed Chevrolet and stamped #'s (last 4 #'s greyed out). Hope this helps. I no longer own the car, so I cannot measure.
Mine is stamped in on the tag. Originally the car was titles with the engine number, I know as I sold the engine and it matched the vin number. I just stamped a new tag with what use to be the engine number. Mine was a one owner car with the original sales receipt as well.
49-54 the tags look like the black one pictured. About as wide as the A-post is. You could probably do one out of a piece of aluminum sheet, stamp your number, and just paint it to match the body, mine they painted over when the car got painted blue about a billion years ago.
Teddy that would be great you can PM the Pic. to me so you don't have to show everyone your #s. I'd just like to see another one to see how the nums are laid out too. I'll get it right. Looks like there is no rhyme or reason to where the plates changed. I would guess that they simply changed the ones they used as the plants ran out and that's it. I just didn't want to get the one and find out later that it was only used on trucks or something. Good point about the painting over. I guess I just assume that a body shop would tape that up but I know they don't. Like I said 49 is the only year that they are either printed or raised. I just wanted to do it as right as I could. I appreciate all the input guys. Thanks,....Mike.
Here's the one on my '50 Sedan Delivery. It's 3-1/4 x 1-3/8 and the holes are 3" apart. As already mentioned, the number on this tag will not be the same as the VIN. The VIN will be the motor number.
Missouri accepted mine as the vin #. They initially wanted to replace it with a new vin tag. Then we wiped the old paint off with acetone and they let it go. Does New Jersey DOT really know what its supposed to look like? If you are gonna fake it anyway?
I don't know who is gonna look at it. The point here is that I'm not trying to fool anyone. I have a legit title and had the tag and lost it. I want to get a repop tag and I want it to be right so I can sell the car to someone and they won't have any problems with their DMV in the future. My only question was for owners of 49 cars to see why there were 2 different ones (in 49 only. 50 on they are all the same) and if it made any difference which one I put in this car. Like are the 2 different styles different sizes. My screw holes (yes there were screwed on from the factory) are 2 7/8" apart. I want to know which tag style fits this pattern. And yes, It is the vin on this tag. At least according to just matt and teddyp as their tag match the vin on the titles and the numbers on their vins are similarly structured to mine. Please don't take this the wrong way guys, but if you don't know for sure then please don't speculate. It only adds confusion for everyone. And it really doesn't help me out at all. All I wanted was to know what the tags look like in 1949 CARS that YOU own, their mounting pattern, and if those numbers matched the "vin" on your title. Not what you think they should be or what you did to get paper for your car. Not where they are or how to cheat the DMV or how to screw the next guy. Just those answers. Thanks,...Mike.
There is no VIN tag on Chevys until 55 I think. The tag on the A pillar is a Serial # tag but the title has the engine # for the VIN. I know its backwards but thats the way it was done back then. They finally realized that many cars were having the engines replaced and decided to make it simple and start using the body serial # for the VIN.
Yep. That's the point. My tag is my Vin as are most others re-titled after the 55 date. Just matt's was the same way as was teppyp's and and every other one I've heard from this week, which is about a dozen all together now. But some were raised "chevrolet" and only a few were printed "chevrolet". I have been able to find no reason for the switch except that chevy changed it, which is normal, cause it wasn't broke. Sorry for my last post but it really aggravating to keep hearing answers to questions I didn't ask instead of the one s I did. I do really appreciate all the input and am glad to have been able to get the help here. I am a member of one message board for cars and that's here. I only milk the others in extreme cases and don't like them anyway. Sorry if I pissed anyone off. A big thanks to everyone for taking the time to go measure tags and send pix. and all.....Thank You,.....Mike
The Jalopy Journal
