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"special construction" titles?

Chunkstyle

New member
hi guys --

can anyone please explain, in general, how "special construction" or "assembled vehicle" titles work? i'm sure they're probably different in different states, but am interested in the general process. i live in michigan, which currently has no smog testing.

from what i've seen, it seems like a lot of old sterling-family cars are titled as old vw's, which seems to be by far the simplest/cheapest way to go. someday, i'd like to end up with one with a home-fabbed tube frame (mustang II front end, custom vw-torsion rear), which would probably shoot the vw-ness of the car, since the vin plate is on the trans tunnel, which i'd be scrapping . i don't know how far you can modify a car before the government considers it something different than the title says. i'd imagine no one would know until you get in a wreck or something, or get stopped by an officer with eagle-eyes for details, but i'd hate to get sued over an accident or something, or have an insurance claim voided because the car was modded too much. how much is too much?

any idea whether such a frame swap would wreck the titling?

with assembled titles, i assume the DMV cranks out a vin number plate or sticker or something that they affix to the car after it's inspected for roadworthiness. do they take pics of the car & record details of its construction & keep them on file, so that they know exactly which body / frame / etc. originally went with that vin? would swapping out major parts of the car void the assembled title?

as an example, say i found one of those hideous excalibers with an assembled title -- preferably with an older model year to ease any potential emissions issues down the road. then i decided to change the body for a sterling, and upgrade the frame while i was at it. after all -- people swap out lots of things on their cars all the time -- wheels, engines, suspension parts, body panels, etc. (plus, i'd be doing society a civic service by getting one more excaliber off the road! :) ) any idea how that'd work, legality-wise?

basically, i'm wondering if an existing, older assembled title is like carte blance to do whatever you want to modify a car.

a while back, there was a guy on craigslist looking to buy a car with a kit car title, just for the title. i figure he was pondering the same stuff i am.

i just am unsure if it might actually be playing with fire, legally.

thanks!

drew j.
 
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letterman7

Honorary Admin
Of course, the place to start would be your own DMV. Here in PA, both "assembled vehicles" and "special construction" have to go through the same basic steps, with the exception that an "assembled vehicle" likely has a Certificate of Origin, or CoO. All that means is that the car was bought from a known registered company and that if there is anything wrong with it, the company is responsible. The special construction title, essentially, applies to any car that has been modified from it's original configuration. Leave it to the government to put a blanket statement down like that. Legally, if I wanted to put a different hood on my truck I would need to apply for a special construction title. Since most inspection stations realize that it's ridiculous they overlook the very obvious and stick to street rods, dune buggies and kit cars.
What we need to do here to apply for the special construction is to keep all the records and receipts associated with the build. We need to show that the chassis was bought somewhere, even if it doesn't have a title (and even if it was previously owned), all the associated parts are accounted for with receipts, etc, etc, because when we go to register the car all those receipts get tallied up and that's the sum you tax to pay to the state. The car is then taken to an "enhanced" inspection station - essentially a station that has paid extra to deal with the added paperwork - to see if the car passes the basic necessities of a road worthy vehicle - DOT glass, lights, horn, wipers, etc. The station passes the car and submits the paperwork to Harrisburg which in turn issues you a VIN plate to be fastened somewhere on the frame. The title contains that VIN.
On the plus side, if the frame gets wrecked we can always take the VIN plate back off since nobody would know the difference and transfer it to another chassis. My current car is special construction VIN'd, and the plate is screwed to the fiberglass next to the dashboard. If I wreck it, all I would need to do is recover the plate and put it on another car and nobody would know the difference. Now that I said that someone in Harrisburg is watching this thread and is going to flag my next registration.. *laugh*

Also in PA it is now illegal to have a dune buggy or kit car that is VW based registered and titled as a Volkswagen. I've heard of some horror stories of guys getting stopped in their buggies and having the car impounded until the title gets changed..
 
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