I bought my 53 3100 in So-cal when I got out of the Navy in 1980 from the back lot of a dealer. It was my only truck and my construction work truck for 9 years. In about 85 I was pulled over and found out my VIN did not match the registration. The CHP spent hours checking for numbers and installed a California VIN plate on it. I moved to Indiana in 89, parked it and started a truck restoration fund account. Two years ago I found out I could run a YOM plate and bought a 51 plate and 53 topper. I wanted to get it plated before they changed the law. It still had the California plate on it. My house and shop burned in 2008. I called California to get a duplicate title and they said their records did not go back that far. Then I started playing document tag with the state of Indiana. Several months and about 2" of paperwork plus 2 court orders later The judge wrote with sharpie on the state form "ISSUE THIS MAN A TITLE HE HAS OWNED THIS TRUCK SINCE 1980!". I now have my original VIN number back.
