Classic car could be destroyed even though no crime committed

Took me months to deal with a typo in VIN on my Riv....in Maryland....in the end no one even looked at it but they sure put up a fight.....

 

I am going to have to take issue with the title of the thread and of the television story as there was a criminal act. At the very least, there is intent to deceive with regard to the frame. That is obvious, and I am certain the law would see it that way.

 

I doubt Mike would have mentioned it unless it was a contributing factor. That "restoration" is waiting to be crushed - believe what you want. Reality trumps hypothetical all day long.

Maybe, maybe, maybe the frame was from a stolen Corvette?

 

So how do they handle cars that have been back-halved, engine swapped, restomod, street rod, etc? Engines and some chassis parts are not going to match.

 

MD us pretty easy too although I've never tried it w/no paperwork. Maybe I should before getting a VT title.

 

I titled the thread exactly as the story was titled (coly/paste).

 

Years ago I bought a new Volvo. When the dealership sent out the title paperwork they showed the car as a 4-door. It was a 2-door. When I tried to correct them they said "doesn't matter, it"s no big deal". Afterwards, every year I renewed the registration and pointed out the error and DMV said "it doesn't matter". I sold the car, bought it back, sold it again, each time they said it doesn't matter. The current owner (in Connecticut) says that, to this day, the title says it is a 4-door. I guess he should stay out of Kansas for fear of having the car inspected with a microscope, impounded, and crushed for the vin tag not matching the car.

Beyond all of this, is there no other remedy for correcting the situation and letting the owner get his car back? What is the point of having the car destroyed? Who benefits from that? The state? An enthusiast? Certainly not the owner. Would a fine and a new, state issued vin and title not suffice?

 

Even if one or all of the items, the body, frame or engine is stolen the insurance was paid out eons ago to the original owner(s) and the issue is over. Unless he's the original theif then which he should be charged. If the original owners of any said parts are contacted and want them back well then sorry about your luck as it was rightfully theirs but they should have to pay back the insurance money that they recieved if they did want he parts back. If not then the state should just retitle the car and give it back to the guy and let it live on instead of crushing it. Heaven forbid if you travel to Kansas with your children, one of them aren't yours by blood andfor some reason you need to take them to the hospital. What happens, if you can't prove that they're made from your sperm, from your nutsack then what, they take that child and hold it in prison for years until they decide to uthinize them. My analogy is a bit far fetched yes but come on its a dam car for crying out loud.

 

Coincidently I began to reassemble the Scout this weekend. I got a it back from the painter a few weeks ago but I've been booked solid. Anyway the vin tag is screwed to a plate that is bolted to the firewall. No special rivets or anything of the like. I removed all of it to paint the firewall. Sounds like Kansas would have a field day with the IHCs.

 

I blame it all on that young girl and her dog, murdering some old lady and stealing a pair of red shoes. Really messed up Kansas, that one...

 

The real victim is the car Jason. It didn't ask for any of that crap to happen to it.

 

It was in excellent shape before the resto, for a Scout anyway. So, yeah it's mostly mig wire...

 

Possibly the original owner of the car that was stolen and possibly retagged. If the car was restored and the vin tag was reattached improperly, it wouldn't be an issue, but what about the ground off numbers on the frame? Back in the 80's, a buddy of mine had a 71 Chevelle and the cowl was rotted out. He took it to the Ohio State Highway Patrol along with a used piece of cowl from a donor car. The HP documented the repair. When it was repaired, it was towed back to the HP and they riveted the original tag back on with the correct star rivets. I'm not sure if anything was documented on the title.

 

Right now, I'm in the process of a body off restoration of my 1986 Cutlass Salon. I was looking into having the body dipped to remove all seam sealer and sound deadening/ undercoating. On the one site that I found, it stated that anything aluminum will be destroyed. I weighed my choice of building a transport frame, the three hour drive each way to the company, or spending forty + hours heating and scraping. I ultimately chose heating and scraping because I wasn't sure what to do about the aluminum vin tag and rivets. I would have needed to contact the Ohio State Highway Patrol and find out the correct procedure. That may have been a problem, especially during Covid. I often wonder what was done on all of these restored cars that they do on the tv shows. I'm guessing that there is a procedure for every state.

 

One issue w/the trim tag is cleaning/painting under it especially when there's visible rust from the dissimilar metals. We've discussed this in other threads. One of my basket cases has that issue & the other one doesn't. I'm inclined to remove the tag on at least in the one car & document that whole process. The top of the dash on that car is also questionable. I'm going to try & save that but if I have to I'll remove the VIN plate too & document that as well. I haven't read the laws in my state but I'm not doing a re-body or anything with any intent whatsoever of being fraudulent & it'll look 100% orig. when done so I don't particularly see the need to get the State involved in my business regardless of the law. It's also admittedly not a super high dollar car like a GSX, Stage 1, or 427/435 Vette, etc.

As the guy in the Corvette article said (paraphrasing), "I like to see before, during, (emphasis added) and after photos."