The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Title question 1954 3100

What is one supposed to do if you have original title but serial number is long lost.

What year? Task Force and later trucks have the serial number stamped on the frame.

FYI: Different states have their own laws regarding vehicle titles. You may have to contact your local DMV.

John

Your State has a legal process for dealing with such situations. Contact your State vehicle registration authority for guidance. Stamping new numbers or swapping number plates unless done at the States direction is illegal and Stovebolt.com does not support illegal practices.

Talk to your local DMV. I had to have a new number assigned to my '37, very much like a new trailer build. The highway patrol verified no stollen parts, then the DMV assigned the number. It was a pain, but the only way Missouri would let me move forward. Get it done before dumping a lot money into the project.

I encountered the opposite situation when I shipped a vehicle back to the USA from Okinawa. The M-151 Jeep I had purchased surplus and rebuilt while stationed there with the USAF arrived, but the paperwork got lost in transit. California issued a "bonded title"- - - -basically I was required to purchase an insurance policy equal to the appraised value of the vehicle and keep it in force for 3 years before getting a permanent title. As with almost all dealings with a government agency, it was a royal pain in the butt!
Jerry

Jerry, I'm surprised California even let you register an M-151. It's a second cousin to the "unsafe at any speed" Corvair that Ralph Nader went on about with the independent front and rear suspension. The Army said that you weren't supposed to make any turn over 20 MPH in one of those. The bonded title up here in Alaska won't work for titling a project vehicle. It has to be completely road legal before they'll even consider it. And there's maybe 1 or 2 Appraisers that the State will accept.

The old car council in CO got the state to eliminate the Bonded Title issue for older than 25 years, just need a notarized bill of sale here plus more paperwork.

Ed

The Army issued a memo in the early 70's requiring all maintenance facilities like the one I worked for to cut the "frame" in 4 places on M151's that were deemed unrepairable prior to being sent to disposal. Some got released to the public earlier and some agencies likely didn't get the memo. Most of the ones I see around here are former Marine vehicles. There were not a lot of M151's sold to the public.
Fred

Drivers were taught "Sudden Turns Mean Sudden Death".

The only time I drove 151's, was in Honduras in '86. Handy little vehicles.

-Kevin

Does anybody believe the bureaucrats in the California DMV had enough intelligence to know what an M-151 was? The instability in turns problem was easy to fix- - - -I put some 14" wheels from a 57 Chrysler Imperial on it that lowered the center of gravity a little and widened the track width by 4 inches, and extended the fenders to cover the tires. It handled great after that!
Jerry

Flattop49, sorry about these yahoos hijacking your thread. Sometimes it happens around here.