The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Vin #

Does anyone know of a national website to look up 70 year old vin numbers? The Florida DMV is no help.

Thanks Red

Red what information are you trying to lookup? who made it where and when ---- or stolen not stolen or ---- registered in someone else's name, ---- RPO code lookup by VIN?

We have lots of options to point you in but need more info to send you down the right path.

Actual modern 17 digit VIN's didn't exist till the late 50s or early 60's (IIRC) 1981, so any online VIN decoder won't work. Like hcb3200 says, we need more info on what you're looking for. If you're looking to decode the serial number plate on your 1950 truck, check the attached info from the GM Heritage site. It'll give you plant location, year and month built, and sequence off the assembly line.

I am getting differing opinions oh how GM titled the early trucks 1950 thru 1953. Did they use the the door plate or the engine for identifications? How does the title match up with the truck? Florida wants to inspect the truck before issuing a title in my name.

Red

GM never did any titling, they just stamped the serial number on the data plate and and a different number on the engine. It depends on the state which was used on the title. Some use the serial number on the data plate and some used engine number.

RED what matters is what does Florida want.

Want Florida wants is a complete correctly connected paper trail (at least as long as the computer that someone is looking says its connected)
Florida could care less about HOW something was done in the past.

So I will say it time and time again. VIN/Serial/Stamp only matters if it is part of a complete paper trail.

Yes in the 50's and 60s and even some 70s they used engine stamps as well as door stamps. But this is not the 50s, 60s or 70s. they want the complete package paper trail from previous owner to current buyer.

Therefore if Florida wants to inspect they are going to look at that Door / Serial number plate and not the engine. Because that is what they look at in modern times. Then they are going to look at your bill of sale. Then the title and as long as all those numbers match to what the inspector sees on the vehicle stamp. Then they will sign and move you along to the next step. And that person at the title office is going to take all your paperwork and the paperwork from inspector and make sure the computer says its all lines up.

So as long as your title has the same number as the Body(door or in engine bay --not engine some tags for body where in the bay) serial number matches your title and you have a clean title flow from seller to you via bill of sale as well. And the computer says the trail lines up you are good to go. They are not going to look at that engine UNLESS for some reason your title has some other ID and not the body stamp serial number. And that is a whole other discussion.

if for some reason your door/body stamp does not have a number that the inspector likes will be a other thread discussion. With all the options for the great state of florida issuing a new vin.

But they guys here will be glad to assist you in getting thru the process and even telling you where your truck was born and on what day and what number off the plant and shift it was.

Just wait till you get to the counter and the person goes. "Hey there are not enough digits here" and you say " you should have someone help you because it never had that many digits in 195X "

How do I run the the title or door serial numbers to mate sure nothing nefarious is attached to them.

Red

Do you have some reason to suspect that the Florida DMV is going to question your ownership or title authenticity?

What paperwork do you have when you bought it?

ask any local officer of the law to run the serial numbers for you.

Here is how I have done it before.


Hey johnny how are you doing. good and you. everything quite on the street today. Yep hope it stays that way.
Got a favor to ask. I'll buy you dinner for it. Can you run these numbers for me and see if they are stolen or wanted for a bank robbery. (handing him a piece of paper with make model and serial numbers on them)

He laughs and say give me a minute. pulls up the ole computer or his phone and types them in or makes a call. 1 minute later you have your answer.

Helps if you know one but I have not heard of one yet that if not busy would not check them in their system.

In my neck of the woods the police need a reason to query something as there badge number goes along with the query and they can be questioned about it later if something was to surface.Having said that to check to see if something may be stolen would be a good reason.

usually is. The Florida inspector is going to run them anyway when he looks at the vin plate to validate before he signs off on the paperwork. it is part of their checklist.

The truck showed up with a 1952 title and a 1953 door post serial number. I checked GM Heritage and the format for both is correct. Just learned that the DMV in Fl. no longer requires that the title or bill of sale be notarized, which would be no problem. Now they just send the local Sheriffs out to inspect vehicles over 50 years old. I had the truck shipped from NE OK. My wife will kill me if I wind up with a very expensive lawn ornament. I know Jim Carter sells the replacement door plates but I don't feel right about that. The truck is a 53 with a 48 frame and a 1959 235 with a cracked head. And it needs a lot of work after sitting in the Oklahoma fields. I would like to verify if the 53 truck or the 52 title have never been reported stolen or any other problems attached to them before I request an Inspection from my local Sheriffs office. My friend down the street works for the Sheriffs office he and confirmed that have been inspecting 50 year old out of state vehicles for quite some time. If any one has experience with this type of mess, or advice please chime in. There is no sending this thing back. I am heading to the mountains for a couple of weeks, I need to get away from MY mess.

Your Friend
Red

Will your LEO friend run a check for you on the sly?

You're right not to put the "reproduction" VIN plate on the truck. That's a big red flag and is illegal in some states.

I feel lucky here in Georgia. They don't check anything or do any inspections here unless you have a car with NO paperwork whatsoever. Bill of sale is all you need. If the ID number you're using on the BoS doesn't come up stolen, you're in like Flynn.

I will have it inspected when I get back
Red

Red most states have the way to fix what I call paperwork issues. engine number instead of door tag. Wrong year but right everything else on the title is handled like a typo with a little more effort.
Clerical errors happen. Most states have a way to correct those. And if all else fails every state that I know of has a way to issue a VIN to a "pile of parts" known a custom build. And from your post above it sounds like yours is a pile of years all put together. Just may take a little more effort but doable. There is nothing wrong when restoring to putting on replacement plates with the most importantly the NUMBER ASSIGNED ON YOUR approved title. Restoration guys do it all the time. Like I said as long as the paperwork, approvals and numbers all line up there is nothing to worry about. Most guys turn things into lawn ornaments not from having a path to the end. But more of not wanting to put the effort to go down the path. But what you never want to do it try and "fix" it without following proper procedures. That is where most folks get themselves into trouble. Trying to "fix" someone else mess by going around the system.

Florida even has a standard form to fill out if you change out the motor for years 1955 and earlier because so many used the engine serial number on the title. Who would have thought an actual form with number.

Form 82103: Affidavit for Change of Motor (MV manufactured prior to 1955)*

Is your 1952 title using a door post (body) serial number or an engine serial number (the format is different between them)?

Looking at your numbers on both the truck and the title you should be able to figure out approximately when it was built using the GM Heritage web site. So, was it built in '52?

If your truck was built as a 1953 in late 1952 could the original titling State have used the calendar year instead of the model year on the title?

Frames won't matter as there are no serial numbers stamped on them until 1955.

The only numbers that could be in any data bases are the engine or body, but not both. If you truck was originally titled using the engine numbers then the body number was never put into ANY data base.

As a side note, Chevrolet stopped putting serial numbers on their engines at the end of the 1956 model year...after that they just got engine codes which included (plant, date and designation).

Mike B

After sleeping on this, we decided to use the bill of sale that matches the truck and engine. Will report back after DMV inspection.
Thanks for the advice
Red