frame stamps

Are you a member of a Model A club? Our club has a set of stamps in the club tools.

Ebay has them for sale sometimes.
 
There are certain things you shouldn't do like messing with vehicle identification numbers. A well intended cleaning them up by restamping could easily be misinterpreted. Besides that, why worry you can's see them when the body is on?

Charlie Stephens
 
Agree, "hardly see..." sounds like they can be made out...which is better than most.
Messing with them is illegal and potential trouble.
 
Bruce Lancaster said:
Agree, "hardly see..." sounds like they can be made out...which is better than most.
Messing with them is illegal and potential trouble.
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HOWEVER....Soon like here in Illinois it will be the ONLY acceptable number to be put on a title of a car and it must be seen, I would definitely stamp the numbers SOMEWHERE on the frame to be seen for that purpose.
 
msmaron said:
HOWEVER....Soon like here in Illinois it will be the ONLY acceptable number to be put on a title of a car and it must be seen, I would definitely stamp the numbers SOMEWHERE on the frame to be seen for that purpose.
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I would like to assume that the some (hopefully most) DMV inspectors are smart enough to know where to look for the number on a Model A. Finding it somewhere else I would hope raise a big red flag either at the time of the inspection or later if you were stopped by a policeman and they happened to check. I am in California and shouldn't be commenting on Illinois law but I would bet that the Illinois DMV would stamp their own number into the frame using their stamps after inspection of the number under the body or attach one of their plates to the door jam.

Charlie Stephens
 
Hypothetically...I might just see if repro stamps come pretty close to fitting into the visible grooves...and possibly hypothetically sneaki up on just barely visible by light tapping. If I had a legit title that matched what I could see, or if I planned to apply for title based on what is there...
I would be, not hypothetically, realdamncareful to try to not make numbers look messed with, and with a blasted surface I'd let it slightly re-rust and then wire brush a bit...
I think: Many nooses are tightening on shaky old car registrations. A car with a title that doesn't match anything can be found out either by registration rules being properly enforced OR an insurance agent who wants to see if the car you have insured is actually provably that car.
All the information exists in some state books...where the numbers go, what they should look like.
The feds have seriously tightened the screws on drivers, coming close to a national standard to ID people for state licenses, and might decide to force states to pay attention and actually LOOK at numbers on the cars they register. A car that can't pass reasonable scrutiny is IMHO likely to draw some serious trouble in the forseeable future, AND it remains illegal to stamp the number if you aren't FOMOCO. The only way to get a new number stamped legally is via a state-issued new number, and that is sure not going to be a restrike of the original, it will be a state labeled plate affixed by someone with a badge.
 
Charlie Stephens said:
Finding it somewhere else I would hope raise a big red flag either at the time of the inspection or later if you were stopped by a policeman and they happened to check. I am in California and shouldn't be commenting on Illinois law but I would bet that the Illinois DMV would stamp their own number into the frame using their stamps after inspection of the number under the body or attach one of their plates to the door jam.

Charlie Stephens
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Actually your wrong, there is not stamp that the DMV places on the car at anytime, under the body or on one of their plates, some do know where to find it and some don't and in CA, if you get the right person at the DMV they will accept the number in a different location and i know that from experiance, and if i am also pretty sure, your local AAA will also verify the number.
 
msmaron said:
Actually your wrong, there is not stamp that the DMV places on the car at anytime, under the body or on one of their plates, some do know where to find it and some don't and in CA, if you get the right person at the DMV they will accept the number in a different location and i know that from experiance, and if i am also pretty sure, your local AAA will also verify the number.
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Mark,

OK, I am wrong. Now another question. Can you explain the plate attached to the door jam of my '31 RDPU (see photo, note numbers covered by tape)? There is a similar one on the frame under the car but I didn't want to crawl under to photograph it. I am sure my memory is just failing but I thought I remembered the DMV (using the California Highway Patrol as their agent) attaching these plates and telling me that California no longer registered vehicles by their motor number. This was in the early seventies. I agree that if you get the right person they will accept the number in a different location (I have even heard of them accepting body numbers as VIN numbers but let's not go there), my concern is if you get the wrong person (the one that knows where the number should be) you could be in a lot of trouble.

Charlie Stephens
 

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Charlie,
Had you taken a day to expose the frame number you wouldn't have gotten the "Blue Tag". It is a major pain to do but worth it in the long run. Removing the fender, lifting the body and running board can spare a lot of grief in the future. I am rebuilding my truck from the ground up. When the chassis and running gear are finished I will set the body on it and take it in for inspection before things are bolted together.
 
whats up with the one word editing on the original post and follow up on #9. maybe he is F.B.I and were all in trouble?
 
Chris Haynes said:
Charlie,
Had you taken a day to expose the frame number you wouldn't have gotten the "Blue Tag". It is a major pain to do but worth it in the long run. Removing the fender, lifting the body and running board can spare a lot of grief in the future. I am rebuilding my truck from the ground up. When the chassis and running gear are finished I will set the body on it and take it in for inspection before things are bolted together.
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When I went to the DMV in the early seventies to register my truck the engine number matched the paper work and they did not ask me to remove the body. They just wouldn't use the engine number to register the vehicle in my name (I asked it they would but they refused). It is possible that the engine had been replaced over the years and the paperwork updated so I would have ended up with mismatched numbers between the engine/paperwork and the frame. I didn't pursue the question but since the frame number would not be visible to a police officer if I was stopped, I assume they still would have given me the blue tag. Do you know of any cases in California where the serial number under the body was used to register the vehicle without putting a tag on the door jam?

Charlie Stephens
 
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