so for the scrATCH BUILT, or near nothing made into something artisticly functional what's the approach on title tag and stuff? I thought any "new retro stuff" had to meet current emissions and safety crap. I got all kinds of ideas but building it to sit and tow to shows only would blow.
You have a couple of options, none of which are real cheap (except the one that's illegal). The frame and tub that I have has a VIN tag that most recently was titled in Virginia. I have spoken with the DMV about it and I can apply for a bonded title if I have a notorized bill of sale from the guy I got it from and he has a bill of sale from the guy he got it from (it changed hands a lot since the title was issued). It would be a WHOLE lot easier if they would just tell me the name of the person in VA who had it titled last, but they won't. I'll also have to have an insurance bond for 1.5 times the value of the vehicle. (they only listd that as $300 - so $450 worth of insurance probably won't cost all that much). Since mine is a 1987 frame, I'll have to run emissions stuff on my motor (not very rat-like, but hey).
Your best bet is to find a pre-1977 vehicle to use as your frame. The reason for pre-1977 is that they don't require a safety inspection. Find where the vin tag is located and build around it. If it's located on the dash/cowl, build from it and attach vintage metal to it. This keeps it legal since you didn't swap the body, you cut it off and welded "new" pieces to it. There is a process you can follow to swap a vin tag to a different body, but usually the people that inspect for it want it to be a similar body.
There is also a process you can follow to build a "replica car". This is a LOT more in-depth, but you will eventually have a vehicle that is titled as a "32 Ford Coupe Replica" or whatever. Depending on how much vintage iron you can get your hands on, it can be done. They scrutinize EVERYTHING, so keep every receipt.
The less than legal way is to buy a title and vin from someone and swap it onto your junk. VERY risky and I wouldn't recommend it. I thought about having my brother do this with mine since he lives in Michigan and their title process is a lot easier. I'd then "buy" the car from him and have NC issue a title for it. I'm just not a very good criminal mind because I kept thinking of everything that could go wrong in the process.
This is what I came back to:
