Thanks for everyone's help
This info about Canadian titles is my best info only, I get a good number of conflicting stories. Recent changes to the law up here just add to the confusion. My understanding is that there are two paths to title:
First is a bit underhanded... You purchase a title for some other truck and find a way to register the vehicle as that in the title. This is often done but could result in tears later. For example, The truck that is for sale has bullet headlights (the style for cars&trucks up to the war or there abouts). I would expect a 1945 truck to have the fender mount headlights. This sort of detail suggests that the truck may have been pieced together from parts or at least change of cowl. Should the title be questioned (by insurance in the event of an accident) it would be questioned if the truck was the vehicle they insured.
Second way is to get the owner to sign a legal document (affidavit) that states he is the legal owner of the truck. In the case you do all this and present the papers to the DMV, they do a search for the serial number. Should that serial number exist in their database, you are probably out of luck. As long as the truck isn't in their data, do all that and a bunch of bureaucratic nonsense including having the truck appraised by a licensed person and they will give you a title.
Once again I find myself wondering if a title would be possible. Once this virus stuff gets over with I will try to sort out all this. For now my thinking is to give this one a pass. Were a title that easy to get, all the sellers would have it done to increase the value.
Someone looking for a small business up here should start LostTitles.com
