Please tell us all that this is happening BEFORE you have started working on the truck and investing any real $$$ in it.

 

Harley
The truck is already finished aside from small details. I have pics of it in my garage on this site. It was my fathers and when he passed, I inherited it.

 

I'd call the DMV guy back and claim stupidity, tell him you found the matching numbers and then take some time to figure out what to do. Being that this is being transferred from your dad's estate, it probably would not have caused any concern, however, you call to the DMV may have raised all sorts of red flags in your future.

 

By "take some time to figure out what to do." you mean forging plates? because that's the only thing I can think to do outside of hoping I get an inspector with common sense/reasonability. I'm welcome to any and all idea's guys, I'd just really like to get this on the road soon!

 

Ditto on the above. Then just have a repro tag stamped with the correct VIN from the title. You'll need the title to prove ownership.

Tags Backeast, Trim Tags Backeast, Data Plates, A.G.Backeast. We make tags for AMC, Buick, Cadillac, Camaro, Chevelle, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Corvette, Dodge, DeSoto, Edsel, Ford, Frazer, La Salle, Henry J, Kaiser, Lincoln, Mercury, Mustang, Oldsmobile

 

You said that the title starts with F10R, if that is correct, I don't believe that's a 54 serial number, as the R indicated a 239 Flathead 8. They didn't put Flathead's in 54's.

 

I'm pretty sure that's what it starts with. I'm at work so no way to verify right now. I'll update when I get home. However I did find this link
Classic Truck Shop - Ford F100 F-100 VIN Numbers
Dont know how reliable it is but they have R as a possibility, or maybe it's on there for the 53's?

 

Well, it probably is the 53, but they show only 2 engines when in fact there were 3.

I believe that F 100 Central may have more accurate data, here is their '54 data 54 F100 | 1954 Ford | Truck | F100 | Information | Parts

 

F10 = F100

V = 239 OHV V8.

5 = 1955

N = Norfolk VA Assembly Plant.

21047 = Numerical Sequence of Assembly, the trucks specific serial number.

F10R: There is no R engine code for 1954/55. The tag on the firewall is a "buck tag" not a Rating Plate, which on these trucks, is located on the inside of the glovebox door.

The codes on a "buck tag" are only used by assembly line workers to make sure the correct parts are installed on the vehicle...per the original order.

IMO, you should not have contacted the DMV. While this truck may have come from your dad's estate, how long has its history been known?

Peeps acquire vehicles without titles, the usual reason why is...the titles were lost.

But crooked peeps would steal a vehicle, them swap Rating/Warranty Plates around, usually acquired from a junkyard, or from a parts vehicle they legally owned, so they could register it.

If the polizei/DMV run the VIN, and find out it's stolen, you can kiss your investment good-bye, and then...you have to prove YOU didn't steal it!

A major 'old car' theft ring was broken up here in LA LA Land in the late 1970's. Two guys, who were well respected members of the Fabulous 50's Ford Club, were removing Rating/Warranty Plates from junkyard vehicles, then by using these Plates (and blue pencils they stole from the DMV, signing the vehicles off as inspected by 'Chief Dan Matthews' actor Broderick Crawford's character in the old TV show Highway Patrol), were registering vehicles that didn't exist. Then they would go out and steal a vehicle that matched their nefarious titles.

The ring was broken up thanks to the Happy Days TV Show. The two guys (one worked for a tow service) were renting these stolen vehicles to the studios. A woman had just had her 1953 Ford convertible stolen, was watching the show, and there it was! She ID'd it by its faded red paint and continental kit. She contacted the polizei, an investigation was conducted. When the guys were arrested, the polizei found shoeboxes full of titles with matching Rating/Warranty Plates, but next to no vehicles.

One of the guys turned "states evidence" to receive a lighter sentence. He told the polizei that over 200 stolen vehicles had been sold to unsuspecting peeps at car shows/swap meets. Thankfully, I wasn't one a them.

Just recently, the LA Times reported that a retired airline pilot got his 1955 Thunderbird back...it had been stolen 33 years before! An unsuspecting peep (another CA resident) had bought it at a 'classic car' auction in the midwest, then had the car trucked to CA. When he went to register it, the VIN came up as a stolen vehicle. So, the real owner got his car back, the unsuspecting peep sued the auction company to recover his money. What the outcome is/was, I dunno.

 

Number dummy
I just looked at my title and it does indeed say F10R*** 1954. As for the "buck tag" I did not find one of those, I located the VIN on the frame rail below the fire wall. Good history lesson though! As for not calling the dmv, what else should I do? Everyone has agreed that I shouldn't have, but no one has offered an alternative....

 

No 1954 or 1955 will have an R VIN engine code.

1948/53: R = 239 flathead V8.

1956: R = 272 OHV V8.

1954/55 VIN w/the 239 OHV V8 will begin: F10V.

If it were mine, I'd run the VIN thru Idaho's DMV, to see if the VIN/title is clear. Let's hope it is, otherwise...

If the DMV investigator finds a cloudy VIN/title, guess what happens next?

 

Call him toady, and don't delay. Thank him for 'helping' and explain that you were simply confused and read the wrong numbers.

I'm assuming that the title you have was in dad's name and is from Pennsylvania. I'm curious a to whether this may have been a '53 that was sold by the dealer new in 1954 and somehow it got registered and/or titled as a 54. In any case, it appears that your dad, or somebody did a bit of reconstruction job with parts from various vehicles. If he/they replaced the frame with another and failed to register it that way, you really have little choice. If the number on the frame should come back to a truck stolen 30-50 years ago, that person or their heirs could be getting themselves a real nice truck for free.
I would be involving the Idaho DMV as little as possible until you have this figured out and a plan to go forward with. Bringing them into it now will do nothing in your favor, and instead raise all the red flags against you.

 

Some states will actually issue a VIN (Arizona being one of them) when there is a question about origins AND you can produce bills of sale for major parts, can't hurt to look into it as what may be a last resort

 

Good point, and this very well could have happened. Something else to consider:

Back then, some states registered vehicles in the year they were first sold, not by the actual year model of the vehicle.

Since historically (since the 1930's), new vehicles are introduced in September of the previous year, a new vehicle sold prior to January 1st of the following year could have been registered as such.

 

First I would call the investigator off, then I would take note of all three VINs and run them separately through the DMV. Maybe as if I was looking to buy three different trucks. Could even get a couple of buddies to help with the other two checks and have different people asking about them.

Once you have all results, cross check your options and move from there.

Just my .02