VIN Number Question

Bought my Mach 1 from Dearbourne, MI and had it shipped to NC because it was the Q-code I wanted to start with.

On inspection, found front end frame and shock tower damage was more than I felt would be structurally sound. (See Pics)

Found a complete solid front end here in NC and was planning on putting it on. So, here's my question.

Since the alternate VIN numbers are on the fender supports. is this going to affect my title and car value? They are both Q code but the NC car came with a 4 speed and the Michigan car a C6.

Any ideas from the group?

First off, welcome aboard!

To answer your question, there should be no issue if you title it now and then register it later. Either way, most states only require proof of VIN from the dash tag so it still wouldn't matter much though some states do things much differently than others. Have you called your local tag office?

Mac

Hi markmel,

I dunno about your problem but I want to welcome you to the forum. There are a lot of people here with a lot of knowledge, so your question will probably taken care of!

I have already insured and registered the car and NC requires a Highway Patrol inspection and stolen car search on out of state vehicles over 35 years old which it passed. Do you think I should save the old fender VINs for proof of repairs? Want to do the right thing for the next owner?

Welcome Mark! As Mike here, i´m from overseas and dont know about your legal issues in your state... However, i´ve seen a lot of fronts being changed and never heard of any problem with the vin stuff...

In order to keep your car as original as you can, you can evaluate the posibility of cutting your original VIN from your fender apron and weld it in the new metal sheet you´re going to use... I too saw some of that work before in some other mustangs and as it is supposed that the legal vin is the one in your dash, you should have no problem with that either i think...

From what you are showing in the pics, i am agree with the structural need of your car in that area... Keep coming in here and you´ll get a lot of advices in every matter... specially in body work, there are several members that are proffesionals and willing to help everytime....

Thanks for being part of us!

Welcome Mark! As Mike here, i´m from overseas and dont know about your legal issues in your state... However, i´ve seen a lot of fronts being changed and never heard of any problem with the vin stuff...

In order to keep your car as original as you can, you can evaluate the posibility of cutting your original VIN from your fender apron and weld it in the new metal sheet you´re going to use... I too saw some of that work before in some other mustangs and as it is supposed that the legal vin is the one in your dash, you should have no problem with that either i think...

From what you are showing in the pics, i am agree with the structural need of your car in that area... Keep coming in here and you´ll get a lot of advices in every matter... specially in body work, there are several members that are proffesionals and willing to help everytime....

Thanks for being part of us!

Click to expand...

Great idea! We are going to pick up the frame at the end of the month and will sand blast and POR15 it before we put it in the garage. I think I'm going to like this place.

I would also suggest that you document this whole process with good pictures if it was to ever be a question on it. Post a thread in the introductions so you can get a proper welcome.

you are entering a grey area in regards to the VINs

some states require inspection of all VIN numbers and they match the dash vin as proof.

some states will Issue a New VIN when a problem is found and all the paper work is completed.

there are different ways around it, some states are more difficult to cross all the Ts and dot the 'i's to be legally on the road.

and some states do not care at all.

there are cases where the old vins are reattached to the new towers and the repair covered up to skirt the law. there are cases where a VIN has been recreated on a replacement tower.

Legality is a big deal, the system is designed in such a way that if a car sustains enough damage to warrant replacement that includes the VIN that the car may not be legally registered and must be re-certified and a new VIN issued. this is if you went by the book.

questions like this have no Easy answer and you never want to reveal your solution to the problem as it will leave you exposed.

you have options some are flat out illegal, or a grey area, or Legal.

as for value, yes it will affect it. It will depend on how much you disclose at the time of ownership transfer. it can also open the door to jail time if you knowingly defrauded a buyer.

there are many people that have gone to jail for changing vin numbers or re-creating them.

I would think that your "best bet" would be to pose the question (as MAC stated) to your local vehicle registration authority.

I would then (as Roy stated) document the specific response with the date, the name of the person with whom I spoke and any other pertinent information and keep it with the other papers on the car.

As noted and/or inferred by 72HCODE, it could get "dicey", dependent upon the rules in your particular State.

BT

First of all ::welcome::

As the other guys have stated information and documentation can only be your best friends at this point..... I'd get whatever info you could and document everything along the way.

+1 with 72hcode. Don't know about any other State, but here in Hawaii, it's illegle to remove your vin/dash from the vehicle without having a DMV inspector come out to document the removal. You will then have to re-schedule for installation. With this in mind, VIN tampering is taken very seriously here in the States.

Good luck and welcome!

As others have stated document document document !!!! I have replaced both shock towers on my restoration & what I did was to video tape..take photo's of the whole process..I have paper work & registrations on my car going back to 1979..I removed the hidden vins on the old shock towers & put them away with the other important documents for the car. In my opinion I feel it's worse to actually cut out the old vin's from the towers & put them on the new towers It raises a red flag since it now looks like you tried to install a new vin on the car. Best bet is to save the old vins & video tape the whole process. I would also strip down the old sheet metal & do a real assessment of what really need to be replaced..from the pics it looks repairable vs a entire nose clip.. But would need to see better pics with everything in bare metal

Mark, I've seen your post on the forum then just noticed that I didn't officially say welcome to you on here...so Welcome! The way you've been posting it looks like you'll give Roy a run for who posts the most.

Only reason I have so much time on my hands is I'm healing from back surgury. Now that doesn't mean I'm going to disappear when I go back to work. But I sure am going to miss waiting to see how long it takes Roy to give the newbies his personal welcome.

:worthlesswithoutpics:

I agree with Qcode351mach about perhaps being able to repair versus replace the front clip. If that turns out to be the case there likely is no issue with the VIN. Changing the clip without a bench fixture can lead to a disaster not to mention the effort and cost. Just an opinion. Transferring a vin to another car is illegal in most, if not all states. Reinstalling the VIN on the car in came from shouldn't be a problem. Let's say you replaced the drivers door and transferred the VIN tag (pretend it is a 1969 with a tag). I can't imagine that being illegal. I don't see how doing the same thing with the fender apron VIN stamping is different in any substantial way. I am not a lawyer so, what makes sense to me may not agree with the law. Lord knows I don't agree with many of the laws. Chuck

My neighbor and I were discussing this today since I'm so close to cutting the front off. Tomorrow I'm going to get up with the DMV Trooper/inspector who did my cars' original inspection for title in NC. I'll let the forum know what he says far as what is needed in Carolina. The front end is just too far gone to be repaired cost effectively vs. putting on a solid front clip.

O.K.. Here's the offifial word from NC DMV. Like you all said document, document, document. Best way. Get a title for the new frame your installing. If that is not possible document VIN on bill of sale and save the original VIN #s in the event their needed. DO NOT INSTALL THEM ON NEW FRONT END !!!

Lastly, in the event a title for new front end is not available you can call the DMV and they will run a check of the #'s to be sure there are no issues. If there are issues and you have the frame. It falls back on you for buying stolen property. Guy was very helpful. I'm psyched!!

I figure besides my hard drive and back up this forum can't hurt for documentation. I like being strait up and down.