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Old 09-09-2020, 04:42 PM   #36
JRrev
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Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Frenchtown Township, MI
Posts: 956
Default Re: Title goes with Frame or Engine?

I had a 1931 A that had a 1929 engine. Sometime over the years the title had 1931 and the '29 engine number. When I bought the A I also got a copy of the original title with the 1931 engine number which was stamped on the frame. Trying to get things straightened out I had the title corrected. I restored the A for fine point. About a year later I get nerve-racking call from the Secretary of State enforcement division saying they have a problem with my A. The officer says that 1931 number was previously registered. Thought maybe it's far away and took a year to connect. While the A was from southern Indiana, turns out the registered number was only thirty miles away! He wants to check the A so he says I have two choices, a manufactured title for the current year and an orange sticker on the firewall or door jamb, or find an engine with a 1931 number and install that! Now my engine is rebuilt, detailed correctly, etc. so I plead with him while trying to make him my next best friend. Tells me I have 24 hours to make my decision. There is a God, as the next day he said I could keep the number. Of course I never knew "the rest of the story" with the guy who had my original engine.

So by virtue of all of this, the engine determines the title here. As an aside the officer wanted to know who stamped the rebuilt engine (was out of state). Had it been in-state he was going to pursue them. He wanted to know if all the parts were original to the car. Seeing where he was headed, of course they are. All stemming from the chop-shop laws.

Last edited by JRrev; 09-10-2020 at 02:05 PM.
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