Michigan DMV?

Franchise_24

Franchise_24

Well-known member
Anyone on FordBarn work for the Michigan DMV? I'm buying a '28 Ford there and the car was VINed by Michigan back in 1971 and the vin plate has long since vanished. Well here in Ohio when I get the car home I'll have to have an out of state vehicle inspection, and the VIN on the title has to match the VIN on the car. Well since there is no VIN on the car the current owner has to have it re-stickered with the VIN and they told him it will take 5 to 10 weeks to get it done. They basically told him they don't care and it's not a priority and they'll get to it when they get to it. I thought *maybe* I'd be lucky and a fellow Barner who worked at the DMV and could push some buttons and help out or something. He lives in Brooklyn MI so it's near Jackson I guess. Drop me a line if anyone works there and could help. I know it's a long shot, but I really don't want to wait 10 weeks to get my car home LOL.

Thanks,
Neal
 
Here in Canada we have " In Transit " license for that purpose to get your A home and complete your paperwork from home that should not be a problem? At least your car is at your home, Press on regardless Gord B by the Bay
 
Gord. B by the bay said:
Here in Canada we have " In Transit " license for that purpose to get your A home and complete your paperwork from home that should not be a problem? At least your car is at your home, Press on regardless Gord B by the Bay
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No the car is not at my home. It's sitting in Michigan. They have to come out to the Owners house and apply the VIN sticker themselves. :mad:
 
29ModelA said:
I'm surprised Michigan re-vin'ed it, it was a cakewalk to get an original title until last year.
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Who knows why. Its a 28 ford with a 29 engine. My title for my coupe they used the engine number as the VIN, so I don't know why Michigan did what they did 41 years ago LOL :cool:
 
Unless the engine has been changed since the car was last titled in Michigan, the engine number of the model A is the V.I.N. With that being said, it is a good possibility that the engine has been changed and the correction was never made and a new title not issued. And as far back as I can remember (well before 1950), Michigan has never issued a V.I.N. plate or tag for a car.
 
criswellnk said:
Unless the engine has been changed since the car was last titled in Michigan, the engine number of the model A is the V.I.N. With that being said, it is a good possibility that the engine has been changed and the correction was never made and a new title not issued. And as far back as I can remember (well before 1950), Michigan has never issued a V.I.N. plate or tag for a car.
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See the post above yours. 28 Ford, 29 Engine. That may have something to do with it. And according to Michigan SOS they issue their own VINs often for older cars. Starts with MICH then a series of numbers.

Edit: Actually what I've always been told is the VIN to a model A is the # that is stamped on the body under the frame that is sometimes hard to get to.
 
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Only if you consider removing the body as hard:eek:

There's other ways to get it done. You have to be creative. Is there an old registration with the car?
 
If they had the number on the frame, there are much faster and easier ways for the current owner to get the title. He would have to have an appraisal, and probably a surety bond, but once he did that he would have to wait 2 weeks for the title to be mailed. I just did the process with our Coupe.
 
29ModelA said:
If they had the number on the frame, there are much faster and easier ways for the current owner to get the title. He would have to have an appraisal, and probably a surety bond, but once he did that he would have to wait 2 weeks for the title to be mailed. I just did the process with our Coupe.
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That's really not the issue though. The issue is Michigan gave the car a new VIN number in 1971 and that sticker/plate/whatever they use is no where on the car anymore. So for me to get it titled here in Ohio the owner has to get a new sticker from the DMV and they have to apply it.

I appreciate everyone weighing in on the subject, but the main reason for the post was to try to find out if anyone works in the Lansing MI DMV or any DMV in Michigan to try to get the 5 to 10 week waiting time sped along. Thanks again!

-Neal-
 
Franchise_24 said:
that sticker/plate/whatever they use is no where on the car anymore.
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One of my favorite quotes from Lily Tomlin as her character "Edith Ann"...
the truth can be made up, if you know how

There are guys who advertise brand new VIN plates and some will even stamp your numbers on them..
 
Do like Scott says, or go to a "trophy" store and have a tag made. Does the present owner have a legitimate title for the car?? What are the chances Ohio dmv knows what a michigan issued vin plate looks like?? Or, to be on the safe side (in case seller is not trustworthy) wait until new plate installed by Michigan DMV. In my opinion a car is not as valuable with a state issued vin, salvage title, new construction vin, etc.

Paul in CT

Paul in CT.
 
1931 flamingo said:
Do like Scott says, or go to a "trophy" store and have a tag made. Does the present owner have a legitimate title for the car?? What are the chances Ohio dmv knows what a michigan issued vin plate looks like?? Or, to be on the safe side (in case seller is not trustworthy) wait until new plate installed by Michigan DMV. In my opinion a car is not as valuable with a state issued vin, salvage title, new construction vin, etc.

Paul in CT

Paul in CT.
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Which is why I suggested he have the seller get the 'real' title based off the frame number. It would be faster AND more legitimate. Ohio should know that Model A's did not have a vin plate from the factory when the vin inspection happens.

If nothing else he could use the engine number even for the title if he is worried about the inspection. Michigan made it harder to get the titles last year, but you can still pretty much put any number off the car on the paperwork.
 
29ModelA: They may have known that the original VIN was on the frame (covered by the body) and because it wasn't "visible" issued the new VIN.

Paul in CT
 
1931 flamingo said:
29ModelA: They may have known that the original VIN was on the frame (covered by the body) and because it wasn't "visible" issued the new VIN.

Paul in CT
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True, but this is what I worry about: Losing the car AND my money when down the road it was found that there was another reason the car was not titled with its "real" number. It has been happening more lately as records are being computerized at the SOS/DMV whatever your state has.

https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=car+returned+after+years
 
A while back, I had a '42 Dodge military truck with no title here in Michigan. I got an application from the SOS, called the local police dept, and a policeman came out and looked at the serial number on the frame. He verified the number on the application, I sent it off, and had a new title in no time at all.
 
I just did the title thing last month in Michigan. I went with the surety bond and got a lecture from the lady at the counter when I applied. Apparently I wasn't a good judge of my car's value.

So for round 2, I went to the SoS website and printed out their requirements. I went to the bookstore, bought the Old Cars Value Guide. I went to my garage and had my son photograph me holding the value guide with my arm looped through the door opening so it could be determined it wasn't a clever photoshop attempt. It was either this or pay a licensed appraiser to come and look at the car. The website says they will accept an appraisal or a recognized published valuation such as Kelly Blue Book.

Back at the Secretary of State, I presented my photos and the value guide estimate which says my car is worth less than the two times value bond I had presented a couple of days earlier. This time they took my word on the valuation and took my money.

The second question was weight. I had printed out the published weights off the Model A website and there was no glitch there.

I am still waiting for the title. Apparently they are searching every states database to make sure this vehicle doesn't exist elsewhere or is stolen. In Michigan, the days of the local police inspecting the vehicle at your site are long gone. You now have to transport the vehicle to a state police post if you need the vehicle number verified.
 
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Looking at the original post, I just thought of something else. I built a Westcott bodied Model A in '78 on my uncle's donated chassis. At first the SoS tried to convince me to title it as an assembled vehicle instead of using the engine number on his chassis. On my first visit, they issued me a number that was something like MICH-123456 for five dollars and they instructed me to permanently stamp it on the frame in a visible location.

So as far as I can remember, Michigan was not issuing any kind of VIN plate for vehicles in 1978 or earlier for that matter. I would look on the car and see if you can't find the number they assigned stamped somewhere on a frame rail.
 
I've restored two Model As and the frame ID was so corroded on both that it was unreadable. The engine number was sufficient here in Indiana to get a title, though not without some minor hassles. It just about all depends on who you get at the license bureau, and which state police officer comes to check the car out.
 
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