Title goes with Frame or Engine?

Just my opinion, but I believe it is a question only answerable by the jurisdiction that makes the laws and will surely differ state to state. Ford may have had their system of assigning identification numbers but certainly were not the legal authority after the sale. Federal regulations were firmly in place after the V.I.N. system was instituted but previous to that a lot of wiggle room and discretionary decisions were obviously made by individual states and their employees.
It leads me to believe that, previous to V.I.N.s, the person who had their name on the title was free to sell all or any component (engine, frame, body) along with the title, simply because all parts are replaceable.
 
Licensed to Kill-
Restamping your replacement engine to match your title is a LOT different from stealing a car.
No evil intent and no defrauding of anyone, including a subsequent buyer.
And most of the time the first engine is junked, or if not the number can be removed to prevent any duplicate number problems.
 
Chris in WNC said:
Licensed to Kill-
Restamping your replacement engine to match your title is a LOT different from stealing a car.
No evil intent and no defrauding of anyone, including a subsequent buyer.
And most of the time the first engine is junked, or if not the number can be removed to prevent any duplicate number problems.
Click to expand...

FINALLY! Some common sense.
 
Chris in WNC said:
Licensed to Kill-
Restamping your replacement engine to match your title is a LOT different from stealing a car.
No evil intent and no defrauding of anyone, including a subsequent buyer.
And most of the time the first engine is junked, or if not the number can be removed to prevent any duplicate number problems.
Click to expand...
You are missing the point. The point is that, if it's legal to restamp the VIN on a replacement engine, then how do you determine a "legal" restamp from an "illegal" restamp?. Yes, the old engine is often replaced because it is junk, but not always and "junk" to one guy is "rebuildable" to another AND many engines get replaced with OTHER engines (V8's). Then what??. If you put a flathead V8 in your car, where do you stamp the VIN?. There are a LOT of reasons people remove serviceable engines. The point is, if it is LEGAL to restamp the VIN, that leaves the door open for all kinds of abuse and problems.
 
In the UK the frame is the item which has the title .High end cars mostly before WW 2 were sold as as a rolling driving vehicle with cowl instruments steering etc etc . These were bodied by coachbuilders to the customers requirements . Rolls Royce ,Bentley etc etc .Sometimes these cars were rebodied several times as fashions moved on . They kept their same VIN identity throughout .

John in Suffolk County England .
 
Same thing her in Ontario. The VIN. is the important number. But not a big deal to get a ownership. A bill of sale, a Affidavid and a appraisal and your all set. The big part is the province getting the sales tax. The rest doesn't matter.
 
Licensed to kill-
And you also missed my point- I did not say it was necessarily LEGAL to re-stamp an engine, just that is was by no means the equivalent of stealing a car as you implied.
Done correctly there will be NO negative consequences for anyone.
 
BRENT in 10-uh-C said:
This is probably the last time I am going to discuss this until I hear back from how the lawsuit comes out.
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Wow. I couldn't imagine dragging this into court. It's not that difficult to register a car with zero paperwork, I just did two last year. To think that the title is worth a lawsuit, that's some craziness there...
 
PotvinV8 said:
Wow. I couldn't imagine dragging this into court. It's not that difficult to register a car with zero paperwork, I just did two last year. To think that the title is worth a lawsuit, that's some craziness there...
Click to expand...


Maybe they are OCD like me and want to actually have the engine number on the title,
rather than a non-Model A state-assigned serial number.
I would not consider litigation worth the cost, but clearly someone does.
 
Chris in WNC said:
Licensed to kill-
And you also missed my point- I did not say it was necessarily LEGAL to re-stamp an engine, just that is was by no means the equivalent of stealing a car as you implied.
Done correctly there will be NO negative consequences for anyone.
Click to expand...
I re-read my previous post and you are correct, I didn't word that right. What I meant to say was how would DMV determine whether a restamp is legit or fraudulent in the case of a stolen car?. Also, if we lived in a world where everyone was honest and everyone ALWAYS did everything "correctly", we not would not need most of the laws and regulations we have.
 
Lic to kill,

Can one ever legally alter, remove or obliterate a VIN in Canada?

If so, or if not, post a link to the appropriate Criminal Code.
 
That happened to me. The fella at Bert's put the s/n of my old engine on the new engine. I power sanded the s/n off the old engine and drew a s/n out of the air and stamped it on the engine and it passed the local police VIN background.
 
My opinion - the title-able vehicle was parted out. The vehicle is just parts now and the vehicle no longer exists. I think you have to draw the line somewhere.
 
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