The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk St. Louis Production numbers

So, Florida DMV is giving me a hassle with registering my 3100. Going on 2.5 years. My vin plate somewhere over the years got pinched, and the bottom corner is missing, which cuts most of the last number off of the plate. I contact the Missouri DMV, where it was last registered, and the VIN they have on record doesn't include the last number at all! So, I'm thinking that if I can find out how many 3100s were built in 1953, I might be able to use the process of elimination to determine the last number. The number I have is:
H53S01703___. Number has a rounded top, looks like a 2 to me, but could perhaps be the top of a zero, two, eight, or nine.

Thanks for any help or suggestions, as the DMV is nonresponsive.

Don’t you have the title with the number?

I do not. The truck was bought by a German exchange soldier while stationed at Ft. Leonardwood, MO. I bought it from him while in Europe. He had import paperwork. I did get the MO DMV to look up the last registration, which was in 2000, as I do have photos of the truck with the license plate. Missouri is good with it.

So the Vin number Missouri used was H53S01703?

and Florida wont accept that?

Florida want you to stamp and new number on the door post?
Then get it verified






Do you like washing fire trucks on the weekend?



You might need help from someone who specilizes in these matters
Try a diffrent DMV office

If I find the thread with a similar porblem Ill link it

Hang tight

Gentlemen, be very careful here. The discussion of altering VIN plates or VIN is not approved by Stovebolt.com. If you will answer the OP’s question as posted I will leave the thread up. Should you choose to ignore the rules I will take it down.

Good info Tim




These things can be a bear to title even with the correct paper work
I had title, regestration all with the number on my data plate and the dmv guy still gave me a hard time

“That can be changed”

Had to call a supervisor out , almost a bad day


Shaanix
Hopefully some one from your area will chime in with florida info

Seems the FL DMV just wants to ensure that it isn't stolen somehow, and figure out what that last digit is. They are pond water slow, and I'm just trying to figure out how to 'help them'.

Yeah, your in a pickel
Even if you determine the number or find in on the import papers ,then what?


Florida must have a process for this
Some states will assign a vin and place it on the vehicle.

Exactly

I had excellent documentation on my trucks, but I had removed the body Suburban's ID plate and used new rivets for attachment of a reproduction plate (carrying the original plate in the glove box). That was OK in New York, but it is a "no no" in NC. Reason: how do they know that my nice new ID plate is original-code for my body/truck?

I had to get a bonded title (but, they have totally denied me any options, if I had not had my documentation). They bonded the title based on depreciated original cost of the truck (they could have required a bond on the present appraised value of the truck). They placed a new VIN tag on my door frame.

Here's your serial number break down, which you probably already know...

H53S01703

H = 3100
53 = year
S = St Louis
01703_ = unit number

The unit numbers started at 001001, so you are defiantly missing a number. If the DMV looked up each of the 10 possible ending numbers they could see if the other 9 were still in use and rule them out... Without doing that there's no way to ever really know what the missing number is/was.

Maybe Missouri would tell you who had the truck before their last known guy so you could work backwards in hopes of finding the whole number from a past owner?

Grabbing straws here...good luck!

Mike B

I'm a newb here but I thought I saw a post somewhere that someone said the VIN was stamped into the frame somewhere?
Maybe that post related to a different model than u have but I wanted to throw that idea out there.

No frame stamped numbers on A-D trucks. Sorry.

Wow. Horror stories. Well, it took 8 months and 3000 Euro in Italy......hard to believe that it's worse here in the good ol' US of A. Disgusting.

Tell that to the NC DMV.
Their information is that there was a secret frame ID code.

I showed them a bare frame.

The "secret frame number" started with the normal frame number that everyone knows about in 1955...the frame was double stamped with the second serial number 3' behind the first number putting it under the cab. Note, the frame number does not include the "series" type...it just has the year, plant and unit number.

Mike B

That's the one. Mike

Not to be found on my 1954 trucks.