A couple of concerns

51504bat

51504bat

Well-known member
I'm normally over on the flathead side since I have a '39 P/U but lately I've been bitten by the Model A bug again. My first car at 15 was a '31 5 window. That said I looked at a '29 5 window but 2 things worry me.
First, the engine number doesn't match the pink slip. I learned the hard way back in the day about a Model A being registered by the engine number not the frame number under the body. The engine number is for January 1929 and the pink slip number crosses to May 1929. Apparently the engine was changed at some time. How can I prove that I own the car when the numbers don't match short of lifting the body. Secondly the car has a full vinyl roof. I'm no Model A expert but I've never seen a full vinyl roof on a Model A. The owner says his uncle bought it new from Ford that way? Any thoughts?
 

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What you have is a special coupe. I have a 28 special coupe. Special coupes have roofing material down to the beltrail. Ford made special coupes from July 28 to July 29.
Rusty Nelson
 
Get into a Model A club near you and find out who has the proper set of number stamps to correct your numbers to match the title. Done all the time, I'm told. Personally I have never worried about such things as long as I have a pink slip that has my name on it. It seems to happen to many of us that we need to exchange the engine these days, the cars, like us, are getting older.
 
Tell the seller to lift the body and show the number matches the pink or no sale. You will probably have to lift it again when you go to register it. Do it right. Just my opinion.

Charlie Stephens
 
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Good price? The one picture of car looks good. “But” Paperwork needs to be right.

At some point you might want to sell this car after spending unknown amount of money and time.

I would say you have to confirm that VIN number on pink slip is the cars frame number. If not, I would walk away. If pink slip number is nowhere on car, you COULD have a real problem someday.

If frame number matches, I would grind off old number from engine and re number using frame number.

Take pictures of frame number. Enjoy.
 
Thanks for all the replies. The car is a pretty solid runner but has had some poor quality rust repair just above the splash apron on the driver side in front of the rear fender. Not sure what surprises may lurk under the vinyl top. As far as lifting the body, I doubt the seller will be willing to do that. The re- stamping the engine number is a non starter. If the frame number matches the pink slip the ideal way to resolve this would be to have a DMV assigned vin plate attached to the body so the number would be easily visible and any future engine changes wouldn't be an issue. Even if the seller would lower the price because of the ID issue I'm not sure I want to risk thousands on something I might not be able to prove I own.
 
I just went through this. Take the car to the DMV (make an appointment) and have them verify there is no VIN on the frame that matches the title. They don't like the engine number. DMV will give you a form to take to the CHP (make appointment). CHP will install a new VIN on a plate and rivet to the car inside engine compartment. Return paperwork to DMV and they will correct the title to match the new VIN.
 
On my '29 pickup, the frame number matched the title, but the engine did not. Go on EBay and you will find people selling vin tags with a Ford logo on them. I bought one, and had the supplier put the number that is on the frame/title on the vin tag. Then I pop riveted it to the drivers door post. Legal? I don't know, but it sure looks original/reasonable to someone not familiar with Model As, and is simply replicating the frame number to a visible spot. I seriously doubt any legal entity would ever question it, and if they did, I'd still be OK, as that is the number stamped into the frame.


My motivation was to have a vin# handy and visible in case of an accident or if it was stolen or ???
 
Corley said:
On my '29 pickup, the frame number matched the title, but the engine did not. Go on EBay and you will find people selling vin tags with a Ford logo on them. I bought one, and had the supplier put the number that is on the frame/title on the vin tag. Then I pop riveted it to the drivers door post. Legal? I don't know, but it sure looks original/reasonable to someone not familiar with Model As, and is simply replicating the frame number to a visible spot. I seriously doubt any legal entity would ever question it, and if they did, I'd still be OK, as that is the number stamped into the frame.


My motivation was to have a vin# handy and visible in case of an accident or if it was stolen or ???
Click to expand...

We just bought one last month, also on EBay, for our 29 Sport Coupe that has matching numbers, frame and engine.

Purchased for the same reason, visibility. Mounted on firewall above stamped gas tank date. Looks great and really looks orginal.
 
When I registered my car it has a decal from Oregon with the old engine # on it. She asked about a VIN and I told her that the car did not have one and that they used the engine #. She said OK and used the number provided on the decal. If you tell them about the frame number they will make you lift the body. Try going to the CHP first before DMV and explain the situation. They will understand better than DMV.


Mike
 
Thanks for all the input. I've decided to pass on this one. I doubt the seller wants to go through the work to lift the body and who knows if the frame number will even match the pink or even be visible after all these years. Also, since it was identified as a Sport Coupe I've been researching them a bit and all the ones I've seen have a soft top 3 window configuration with Landau bars where as this one is a 5 window with a typical 5 window roof but its been covered with vinyl top material.
 
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