themechanic
Oklahoma is OK
- Local time
- 7:43 AM
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2012
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- 18,509
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- Location
- Moore, Oklahoma
You learn something new everyday on FBBO.
??? So you've replaced the rears, now the original vin seq # is long gone. Do you re-stamp it in there? not sure if that's legal but hey what if you sell it and it ends up back here with the buyer asking hey how do I know this car was not a stolen clone? lmao but seriously did you even consider it?
Big block+4speed=fun, period. B=Big, RB=really Big, LA=lame, anemic. Just my opinion, don't take it to seriously.
I'm skeptical, because if it was rebodied , the guys would have known to get rid of that number at that location. Those people wouldn't have missed that. They aren't stupid. better to have no number than the wrong one. The state doesn't know it's there, and could do nothing even if they did. A six or eight digit number there is like flying to the moon with a compass. and, there are numerous reasons to have the wrong number there. I hung a whole section once, and ignored the number., around 1975. There is no way to know, and there is no reason to unnecessarily worry the present owner about it. These cars were Imperfect, and they still are.
You have a great car, and don't over analyze it.
I have seen numerous rebodied cars in my time and a thief or a crook is not smart to begin with or they won't perform these actions as they are illegal and many times they don't care thinking they will never get caught anyway. I recently parted for a friend a GTX that was rebodied they heated the area of the numbers tried to grid/sand and then stamped the GTX numbers right out over the other numbers and the characters were way wrong in size and font, not very smart i would say. Even left the original body number still on the drivers door which matched what could be seen of the body # again not too smart. I could go on and on what i have seen on loads of rebodied cars where the person doing it was not very smart. Another one i had was a post coupe 69 GTX again not too smart never made one. The state police and investigators most certainly do know where the hidden vins are and in many states to pass state inspection the body numbers are supposed to be checked by the inspection mechanic to pass inspection. Yes i know most don't do it but they are supposed to and if it comes back on them they could loose their inspection license. I think the OP is doing the right thing to analyze his investment and deserves to know what he has.
BTW OP glad you found out the # matches!!
It is good that the number does match, but None of the Authorities in the states of Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska, or Iowa check that quarter panel VIN#, and A law enforcement officer did conduct the Inspections in every case. I lived in every one of those states, and my charger went with me. I tried to run that 8 digit vin# number on a 383 cuda a few years ago, through my brother, who was a Law enforcement officer and auto theft investigator in Phoenix for over 10 years. he laughed at me, and asked me what I thought he could do with that? Police dept's know that number is useless in the database unless all 13 are there. And even if it was, it would have to be flagged as a stolen for them to do anything about it. Also, Many cars lost their radiator supports, and quarters in accidents, so that number was frequently Incorrect because the quarter was replaced during a repair, or had no number at all. That in no way makes that car Incomplete. Otherwise, every car prior to 1969 without a fender tag wouldn't deserve a title. my two owner 67' has no radiator support SON number, and it has never been touched. You may have caught some stupid thieves, but there are ten times as many that don't get caught, because most professional thieves aren't stupid. And many of those cars aren't here anymore. Their overseas, mostly, and long gone. What is of concern is when there are no numbers, not the wrong one. This conversation is limited to older mopars, and doesn't apply to newer cars, as by 1980 there were numerous places that had numbers stamped, and a modern database of record was created.
So good news...hopefully.
My last 6 of the VIN are 223367. Now that I found the right part of the trunk, it matches...or at least I think it does.
Definitely the 22..maybe a three and the other 3 is unreadable. Could be anything. The 6 is almost unreadable but I can see how it would be a 6 and the 7 is good. So I'm guessing with everything else lining up...its the right number.
Now that thats settled...time to get some gears installed.
I never said the OP's car was not complete or rebodied that was read in by you or others to suite how you wanted my comments to read in your mind but when numbers don't match many times that is the case more often than not and i feel the OP should know and find out what he had after all that was what he was asking. Even if it was rebodied and he was fine with that no problem as long as he knew that and was fine with it so be it. I have owned and documented hundreds of Mopars practically since they where new in 70 worked mechanics in a Chrysler dealership and yes there are times the number is missing at some locations or some number mistakes made at the factory and that does not mean the car is rebodied or stolen. I had survivor cars that had a number missing at some locations and even had a 340 Duster untouched that did not have any no where and never did and it was not stolen or rebodied. All this is beside the point i was trying to make. I was referring to a car being rebodied not about stealing a car and changing numbers (which in turn it could be) and i guess because a thief or a rebodie artist is a professional that makes him or her smart ? Really ? I don't think so! Just because they did not check the number in those states does not mean it is or was the right thing to do or is legal to do it and that it will never be checked in other states and come back on the person who did it or checked it. These are all things that are wrong and makes no sense at all with your comments. I never mentioned about running a sequence number for a stolen or rebodied car where did you come up with that of course that would not work. What i said was that police know where the body sequence numbers are to verify them with the vin of the car to make sure they match not verify the sequence number as being stolen! Yes rad supports, quarters, roof, body half clips and all other sorts of car structures got changed through the years i should know i changed hundreds of them through the years in body shops i worked in, ran and owned for the past 40 years! Yes i am also quite aware of the numbers being stamped and labeled on later model vehicles many places as i did collision repairs on later model vehicles as well as restorations.
You've probably already been blacklisted by the rebody police, but happy to hear it matches for you :hello2: