Title for car where engines are swapped

[gdmn852]

Hello again, in that era engine changes were common, even Sears had rebuilt engines a rebuilder here in town was an authorized Ford rebuilder , they would grind off old number and restamp if they knew what car it was going in . Pennsylvania at that time, it was illegal to have no number at all , and we had inspection every 6 months then,so may have been checked.

[2speed]

What if your engine number has a star? Do you put that on the title?

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by 2speed

What if your engine number has a star? Do you put that on the title?

The titles I’ve seen in California omit the star front and back. Only letters and numbers.

And BTW, your engine number better have stars front and back. If it doesn’t that’s a 100% sure restamp. I looked at a car that the seller was advertising as “100% original” but the engine number didn’t have stars (and was the wrong font in addition). It was a restamp by a commercial production rebuilder.

[Gene F]

Originally Posted by David in San Antonio

The auto theft special deputy sheriff of the seller’s county inspected The Wretched Roadster because the title number did not match the engine number. With the seller, the floor mat and floor boards were removed and he crawled all over searching for a number in the frame, to no avail. Finally, he looked up the title number and the engine number and found neither corresponded to a stolen vehicle. That, plus the thick folder of old receipts and photographs, and the seller’s anecdotes was enough. No metal tag was issued. Instead the Sheriff’s Department signed an official document allowing the old out of state title number to be used for a new, Texas title.
Back at the motor vehicle bureau for the third time, there was some discussion about the old title having the name of the seller’s long-deceased brother on it. We also had to go to a truck stop to use the state-inspected scale and pay $14 for an official document stating the weight. There was at least one other wild goose chase item but I don’t recollect just what it was. Finally I had my temporary tag in hand and returned to the Wretched Roadster in the parking lot to find someone had scratched the paint on the driver’s door with (presumably) a key. And unlike all those Teslas running around, the 1930 Ford did not have 360 degree video recording triggered by vandalism.

The key thing really ticks me off. And trust me that is the nice version.

[gdmn852]

Hello, the star was to prevent some one adding more numbers slightly more difficult for car thieves, and stars are not on title in Pa .

[denis4x4]

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I built my Model A powered roadster in 1998 and opted for a Colorado bonded title with a tag installed on the body by the CHP. It was titled as a 1998 home built. Sold it last year to a guy in New Jersey and he had no issues with registering it there. I've had the CHP come to the shop ($25 trip charge) and verify an A chassis number during the building process.

[sunnyorm]

According to Ford; the number on the frame is the vin number, not the engine number.

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by sunnyorm

According to Ford; the number on the frame is the vin number, not the engine number.

I believe that if you look in the owners manual you will find the converse - the engine number is the vehicle number, and the frame was stamped (or not stamped) to match the engine during assembly. BTW, VIN did not come into use as a standard until (I believe) the 1950's. Originally Model As did not have VIN as VIN did not exist.