VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 Vehicle ID no.

Hi all,

I am trying to register my 51 in Calif. but the vehicle ID plate is missing from the door pillar. The car currently has a Texas title which shows the body no. from the cowling plate as the ID number. California will not accept this as the vehicle ID. It was suggested that there may be a number stamped on the frame which would be acceptable. Question, is there a number somewhere on the frame?

Thanks, Don

The body number is not stamped anywhere on the frame on cars of this vintage. One of my 1950's was titled in Texas, and they used the engine number (stamped on the flat to the rear of the distributor).

Prior to 1955 all states used the engine number for registration. The Fisher Body plate number was never used.
If the engine was changed along the way the state had a way of up-dating the number (not all states used the same process).

maybe if you look really close you may discover number stamped in the frame. That would be a good thing if you knew what number you would expect to find on the frame. Stranger things have happened. I found a factory ID number stamped on a shop built trailer that I bought from the guy that built it. He was the one that I believe stamped the VIN number in the frame so that I could register it and he didn't have to give me back the stuff I traded for the trailer.
I would be extra careful trying to transfer a title from Texas to California unless I really knew what to expect. What I mean is that I would make sure that all the numbers were matching, the numbers on the Texas title matched the numbers on the vehicle. Also I know of a guy that had a problem from a joining little Southern state buying a texas truck from the widow of the other owner of the truck, because she signed the title without having the signature of her dead husband on the title. She ended up having to title the truck in Texas in her single name then it was ok to transfer the title. As for me, I will never transfer a title from Texas to another state before getting the title cleaned up squeeky clean in Texas. I will also check under the seats and behind the spare tire for a hide-out six shooter!

I've had friends run into this before with other old cars like Model A's where the engine number is all there was, and the engine got swapped out and then the title didn't match years later. What several have done is to just have a number plate made to match what is on the title and rivet it to the door frame. Maybe not 100% correct but in the age of the 17 digit VIN these folks just don't know how to handle old cars when they come to ID/OD situations.

Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions. I'm hoping that the engine number will be acceptable for the ID. If this doesn't work perhaps I will have to seek out an ID plate that I can attach to the door pillar and stamp either the body number or engine number on it. I'm supposed to meet with a vehicle ID verifier in the next few days and then see what happens.

Thanks again, Don

Since you are trying to get your car registered in California...good luck with the counterfeit ID plate. Hope it works.

I just went through something like this in New York. I was trying to register a 1960 Buick Wagon with the original tittle from PA. The car changed hands a few times however the tittle was never filled out to the buyer portion, finding out that the document was to be notorized upon purchase. Also PA uses a tittle number and not a vin number, causing a few problems and no one seemed to be concerned that I had a problem. It took four visits and everything was solved and plates were issued, however they gave me a non transferable registration until they finish a search on the vehicle to assure that there are no leans on it.
I think the biggest problem with DMV's in large states is that nobody really seems to care and they don't get paid any more if they go out of their way to solve the problem. I never heard of anyone ever saying they wanted a career with the DMV, so I think if we keep that in perspective it sums up what we are dealing with. I also found to show up near the end of the day helps
John

How will the state do a "search" on the vehicle, if the serial number is not part of the info they have on file? I'm not understanding this, I'm guessing.

Bob

In the case of a state that uses the motor number as the control number, a Bill of Sale, stating the new motor number and signed by a reputable firm usually solves the problem.

Worked for my 1941.

Bob,
They told me that the paperwork and everything else I supplied them had to be correct and uncontested, This car had not been registered since 1988. I had plates in my hand and I was not going to question anything at that point, maybe they are checking with PA I really do not know
John