hrockwell,
Search in this forum on "registration" and "serial number" and you will find a lot of information on this topic. Different states use different "serial numbers" for registration and/or title.
The bottom line is that your appraiser does not seem to have much experience outside your state (besides having suggested that you do something illegal and most likely unneccessary).
Some states register based on an engine serial number, and some states register on VIN/VID, and some states might register on a frame serial number (many pre-1956 trucks do not have a frame serial number unless it was put on after manufacture - some people have said this was done in CA).
Have you called West VA DMV and asked what code was used for title/registration in 1949? Then ask how they register an old truck from out-of-state. Or, just leave well-enough-alone if you are registered and rolling. Keep your old titles and registrations, especially if the numbers match your block and/or door plate.
By the way, in the 46-72 ID book (by Cars & Parts Magazine), there seems to be a manufacturing serial/sequence number on the door plate for all those years (someone will correct me if this is incorrect). In many years there is a serial/sequence number pressed into the engine block, but in some years (1957 and later, for example) there is a date but no serial/sequence number pressed into the block.
It surprised me that NY was very flexible in registering vehicles that are older than 1972. If you do not have a title, you can show them a photo or rubbing of the door ID (or, a letter from a police officer, stating the VIN/VID) and you get a new title. I did this last summer with my '54 suburban that had not been registered since 1981. They just took the number that I gave them and then registered my vehicle. They said that in NYS, the registration is now also the title (maybe only on pre-1972 vehicles?0). My VIN/VID door plate is in my glove compartment (I will put it on someday).
Tim
