VIN Dilemna

[1986RangerXL]

Long story short: I bought a body with a junked certification to put on my clean-title but rusted out truck. Here in Illinois you are allowed to use parts off of junked vehicles but they can never be put back on the road. In which lies the problem, the vin tags on the cab.

I asked the junkyard about the process for retitling and the guy said it was such a long and expensive process it's not worth it

To get this truck properly legal I would have to send it to a licensed rebuilder, which would probably cost thousands of dollars, and then the state inspects it. But the state has a long list of requirements, including having a receipt for every new and used part you put on. Being that truck has had several owners a lot of parts aren't OEM and obviously receipts are long gone.

This is all pro-dealership bs regulations of course.

I can just drive it and hope the police never check the vin tags, but this was supposed to be my daily driver and knowing they can impound my truck just because they're having a bad day doesnt suit me well

I thought about selling/trading, but it would almost impossible since they would have the same problems

Sorry for the rant, any suggestions?

 

[Dirtman]

I have never seen or heard of a cop pulling someone over and then checking the VIN...

Just sayin.

 

[Ramcharger90]

New windshields are a good investment an pop rivets and a very steady hand and quality drill/bit.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

My thoughts.... being that it is an old truck, how easy would it be to pop the vin plate off and swap it with your non salvage rust bucket truck's vin plate?

AJ

Switching VIN's is legally highly frowned upon.

 

[Ramcharger90]

And dont be a dummy and post it on here after its done or tell anyone..... get a bucket of rustolium and roll paint the truck a similar color to what the truck is now or black whatever you want to do just dont make it obvious to those that frown upon doing normal human behavior like fixing your old truck.


Or you can go the cutting that whole firewall in and welding it in the new cab.

 

[Shran]

In SD you can get what is known as a "rebuilt" title... which means you take two or more junk vehicles, combine them into one roadworthy vehicle, provide some proof that you did that and they issue you a brand new VIN number, title, and VIN plate. It is pretty popular for situations like where you've bought pieces of several Model T's and built a car out of them. Maybe IL has some similar thing?

 

[adsm08]

New windshields are a good investment an pop rivets and a very steady hand and quality drill/bit.

Don't do this.

Standard round pop rivets have not been used to affix VIN tags since the early 60s. They are held on with rosette rivets, which have a flower shaped head. Anyone who knows what to look for will spot that the tag has been tampered with in seconds. These rivets are only available to the manufacturers, and certain approved and licensed restoration shops, who have to do a buttload of documenting around their use. Even having them in your possession when not authorized is a crime in most states.

That said, and I'd be very careful with this information, it is possible to remove a vin tag without damaging the existing rivets.

I won't say how to do it, how I know this, or even begin to go into what exactly is involved, just that I know it is 100% possible.

 

[1986RangerXL]

@Shran Sorry, I only had 10 minutes on my break to write this out. Let me clarify a bit more. Illinois does have a rebuilt title option, the problem being that only licensed shops can rebuild them ($$$). After that they must be inspected and there is a long list of ridiculous rules like having receipts for every new and used part that went on

I know that cops very rarely check VIN tags, and I can more than likely get away with it for years. But honestly I'm more worried about insurance screwing me over in an accident

Sure, I could remove VIN tags but that is likely just to end up in more trouble..

How about registering it in a nearby state and transferring it? I'll have to look into it

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

 

[1986RangerXL]

I actually do have it registered under the engine/frame VIN. Just need VIN tags for the cab so they're not "junked." Since Vermont's registration is so easy I might take a look at their rebuilt title process

 

[Ramcharger90]

Flower shaped

How close to Chicago is he? im sure someone can get him some.

Ebay has them lol

 

[Ramcharger90]

Whats cheaper? The firewall welding in? Or the whole rebuild process?

 

[Dirtman]

2 seconds on google and I found a 100 places that sell factory vin tag rivets...

Not cheap but far from unubtainium...

Like I said I've done cab swaps before and just kept the truck registered in the original vin. No one ever checked. They check the paperwork but never had someone actually look at the vin tag. And if they did I'd just say its registered by the frame not the cab...

 

[19Walt93]

Be very careful. It seems reasonable to me as someone from the salt encrusted Northeast to replace a rotten cab with a solid one, it's far cheaper than the bodywork to rebuild the original but transplanting the vin tag could open a can of worms. There was a company in Texas that was "rebodying" Shelby Mustangs with the approval of Carroll Shelby. You'd bring them your rusted out or wrecked car and documentation proving ownership and they'd transplant all the Shelby pieces into a clean straight body, including the VIN tags. Texas considered it fraud, the company's out of business and the owners were convicted. You can rebuild a vehicle with used body parts, it should OK to replace the parts with VIN tags if you own both vehicles. The cab is just another part.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Be very careful. It seems reasonable to me as someone from the salt encrusted Northeast to replace a rotten cab with a solid one, it's far cheaper than the bodywork to rebuild the original but transplanting the vin tag could open a can of worms. There was a company in Texas that was "rebodying" Shelby Mustangs with the approval of Carroll Shelby. You'd bring them your rusted out or wrecked car and documentation proving ownership and they'd transplant all the Shelby pieces into a clean straight body, including the VIN tags. Texas considered it fraud, the company's out of business and the owners were convicted. You can rebuild a vehicle with used body parts, it should OK to replace the parts with VIN tags if you own both vehicles. The cab is just another part.

That is how Dynacorn bodies work in theory. The body is a new replacement part and generally you can transfer VINs to them

The snag is they have never had their own identity.

You go sticking the vin from car A on car B... you get into technicalities.

And I am sure it all varies state to state.

I saw a BII for sale a couple years ago on a EB running gear. For whatever reason the guy jumped thru all he hoops and had it registered as the old Bronco, he had the paperwork on it from the state.