Model A serial number verification

As I see it the real question here is "Does the serial number on the title match the engine number?" If they match I would not worry about the year. Also if they match I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone at the DMV that could tell a 30 from a 31, or for that matter who would care what the year said.
 
I have a Mortgage receipt on a 1930 Model A ford 4 door that my father baugh in Bedford Iowa in 1941.
Motor No 3639136. I am couris if this car is still around.
I have 2 A,s my self. a 1930 4 door and a 1031 coupe.
 
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Hi, This a re post, but it explains my opinion on this issue. We're supposed to be in pursuit of originality.
Hi, Not everyone wants their original car mutilated with a state assigned vin number. Whats wrong with a change of engine/number form that some states still use and Calif. ill advisedly got rid of in the 1970s. At one time this may have made it easier to reregister a stolen car, but nowadays Model As and Ts are rarely taken compared to modern cars except by accident in enclosed trailers. However in my city a Victoria was stolen by rat rodders and all that was recovered was chassis components. Such people would just remove a state assigned tag and sell the parts at a swapmeet.
 
aermotor said:
Frame number, engine number or whatever. To be able to sell, register, title, license, transfer or whatever you want to do you must have a VIN number in order to be do any of the above to have national inclusion. A VIN number must be generated by the requirements of your state - get a VIN number and you are go to go nationwide.
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The manufacturers generate the VIN not the feds or states. The engine number on a Model A IS THE VIN. That is what Ford used to register them in every state and country.

States now want to see a number on the frame. This is because the rules the feds put in place in 1968 require it (for new cars). Problem is there is no visible number on the frame of a Model A with the body in place and DMV employees can't relate to any car older that 5-10 years.
Over they years most Model As have had engine swaps. Some restamped the replacement engine with the original numbers. That works unless the original engine was rebuilt and installed in another car without restamping. That could lead to 2 cars with the same VIN.
Not seeing a number on the frame most states will go the AIN (assigned identification number) route rather than use the engine number which is easily removable from the chassis. These are state issued numbers and the pattern is the same in all states and recognized by all of them.

Mine is registered as a 1929 Ford Cpe. There is no "reconstruction" special construction" "salvage" branding on the title.
 

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russfororig said:
........ Such people would just remove a state assigned tag and sell the parts at a swapmeet.
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The original Ford number only appeared in 2 places. Both easily removed with a grinder. So removing a tag isn't an argument.

If you want your parts back you'll need to mark each one with the number on your pink slip (or drivers license). The feds since 1968 have implemented a system that the VIN be stamped in an ever increasing number of places on each new car and its parts.

As a side note they were called serial numbers until the mid 1950s not VINs.
 
I recently lifted the body to remove the front fenders for painting. I took a photo of the serial number on the frame, which matches my registration and the original engine sitting in my basement. I stamped the original serial number on the Burtz engine when I installed it using original stamps. The last number on the frame is a 6 but was not stamped well and the upper part is missing so it looks like a small zero. But any reasonable person will know it is meant to be a 6 and not a 0.
 
No one has mentioned a bonded title issued by the state. Sold my A powered hot rod with a Colorado bonded title that was accepted in New Jersey.
 
California has a process where individuals can be licensed to verify VIN. My 30 Town Sedan body is off the frame right now, I intend to get one of these guys in to verify the frame vs engine vs Murray body tag. That will get me set when I go for Year of Manufacture plates. (Frame number matches title, thankfully).
 
JayJay said:
California has a process where individuals can be licensed to verify VIN. My 30 Town Sedan body is off the frame right now, I intend to get one of these guys in to verify the frame vs engine vs Murray body tag. That will get me set when I go for Year of Manufacture plates. (Frame number matches title, thankfully).
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Do you have any title now? If not stop work and get the title sorted out. A friend bought a Mustang out of a junk yard in NV put a new 1/4 on it and fresh paint. Went to DMV and they said ooops stolen and kept it. He had zero recourse.

Mine has 1929 YOM CA plates and a CA AIN - the engine serial number is Aug 29 and the gas tank Jun 29 - I don't have a clue of the number on the frame is. My title states 1929.

All that should matter is your engine number. A licensed verifier will use a book that lists what the number should look like and where it's located. It probably lists first and last number for each model year. Your body number has nothing to do with the titling and registration - that's only relevant to show judges.
 
ModelA29 said:
Do you have any title now? If not stop work and get the title sorted out. A friend bought a Mustang out of a junk yard in NV put a new 1/4 on it and fresh paint. Went to DMV and they said ooops stolen and kept it. He had zero recourse.

Mine has 1929 YOM CA plates and a CA AIN - the engine serial number is Aug 29 and the gas tank Jun 29 - I don't have a clue of the number on the frame is. My title states 1929.

All that should matter is your engine number. A licensed verifier will use a book that lists what the number should look like and where it's located. It probably lists first and last number for each model year. Your body number has nothing to do with the titling and registration - that's only relevant to show judges.
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Yes, I have a current title that came over from Wisconsin in 2017, and the frame number and engine number match the title. My concern is getting some knucklehead at DMV that insists on inspecting a frame number, which of course on a drivable car is not possible. That’s why I’m going for an independent verification while the body is off.
 
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