The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Title

I am sure you all have had a lot of questions like this,but I was wondering if I could get some info. on my Title? I bought a 53 1/2 ton truck and it seems the vin was the engine # but it now has the engine # of a 1955 235 I was just wanting to know if this causes any issues at any time?

Thanks

Does the engine # match what is on your title? If so then it should not be a problem but I would suggest checking with you motor vehicle dept. since each state has different regulations. You might want to put the VIN number on the title so that if you ever swap engines you don't run into problems--again each state has their own rules on this. In Ohio I had to take the truck to a state police inspection facility and get a form completed by them so I could title and register the truck using the VIN number.

I'm sure someone from Texas will come along and be of more help. Welcome to the board it is a great site.

Chris

Just to clarify for kennycj, DO NOT WRITE ON THE TITLE!, Have the Department of Motor Vehicles do this, any writing on the title could be considered an alteration and will get you in hot water.

No the engine # does not match the title.

Thanks

Hey fifty3...

You may not need to worry about it, at least not at first... as long as that is a Texas title you are talking about, and that you are wanting to transfer that title to your name, in Texas still...

If you have the Texas title from the previous owner, and a bill-of-sale, and a power-of-attorney in the name of the title holder giving you the authority to transfer the title, all you need is to get liability insurance and go to your county tax office. No physical inpsection of the vechicle and serial number is needed...

If you have the last registered license plates from the truck, take the plate numbers with you, too. Or any paperwork regarding license plate registration. You dont have to have that, though.

Take the paperwork you have to your county Tax office, and get in the line for vechicle title transfers/registrations. At the tax office, they can look up the title by the vin number on the title, or they can look it up by the license plate number.... If the records for that vin number/previous owner/license plate number, match each other, then all you need to do is fill out the title transfer application, and there should be no problem. Just use the vin number from the current title consistently on all the paperwork/forms, instead of the serial number on the actual truck. And, dont write on the title... That is what the "power of attorney" is for... so that any writing/signing of the title can be done right there in the county tax office, under the instructions/supervision of the clerk that is going to be entering the transfer into the computer, etc... The best thing, of course, is to have the current title holder there in the tax office with you, to sign the title at the right time... But that just isnt practical most of the time... So if you get the current tile holder to sign-over a power-of-attorney, that is the next best thing to having the legal owner actually there. Let me know if you need a power of attorney form... I can look up the link to the one I have used...



(If you have proof of liability insurance when you apply for the title on the truck, you will leave the tax office with license plate(s), and the reciept/temporary title... I suggest you ask for "classic truck" or "antique vehicle" plates/registration, instead of the normal annual plates... If you just want to apply for the title, but not plates/registration, you can do that without liability insurance, but there is an extra form to fill out... The antique vehicle plate/registration is good until 2013, so if your going to be ready to drive the truck anytime before then, you might as well do title and registration and plate all in one trip to the county tax office...)

If it were me, that is what I would do... Get the title transferred into my name as it currently is, without bringing up the question of possible mismatch between the physical markings on the truck vs the title.

Once the current title is in your name, that is when I would worry about the vin number on the title, if I was going to worry about it. I dont have any first-had experience with changing the vin number on the title, but kennycj's advice on that one sounds good... You may just want to wait until you own the title first, before confusing the issue. If the clerk at the county office feels uncomfortable about transfering the title and changing the vin number all at the same time, then they may send you to the regional titles office to fill out a "statement of fact" application, to determine if you are eligible for a simple title transfer that a county tax office can execute, or if you must go through a bonded title application. I think the chances are pretty high that they will send you through a bonded title process, if you raise the question of the vin number on title not being the official general motors serial number for the chasis/cab of the truck...

I've just completed the bonded title process for my 1953 3100.

I did not have the original title. The truck had passed through several succesive "possesions" without being re-titled, since the original owner died. But, they did look up the last title (based on the license plate number)... And the vin number on the title was an engine number, not the serial number, same as the case for you. When the clerk saw my serial number didnt match the vin on the previous title, she had to call over her supervisor. If I would not have already had the letter from the regional titles office that linked my name to the license plate number and the serial number, then they would not have taken my title application as a Texas title transfer, and I would have had to go through the additional process/paperwork for titling an untitled out of state vehicle...

Sorry for the confusion--Certainly don't write on the title. What I was trying to say was to go through the proper channels and have a new title with the VIN on it to save any hassle in the future if the engine is swapped. Again sorry for the confusion.

This is copied from the TXDOT Motor Vehicle Title Manual, chapter 25 Reconstructed Assembled Vehicles, page 10.

"MOTOR CHANGE
1. If a new or different motor has been installed in a motor vehicle which records the motor number as the identifying number (all 1955 and prior model motor vehicles, except Ford vehicles manufactured since March 31, 1932), a corrected title application must be filed...

...Other requirements are as follows:
A. The application for the corrected title must be supported by evidence of ownership (title) to the vehicle, a bill of sale to the applicant for the motor installed, and a pencil tracing of the motor number."

You haven't stated whether the title is transferred already or not but I see no problems.

Thanks for all the info. I appreciate it.