Good afternoon everyone. I am new to the forum, but I've been browsing around for some time now. Awesome information you guys have. I figure now is the best time for my first post.

I have a couple of questions that hopefully someone can answer. I've searched but came up with nothing.

Here's some background...
A few months ago I purchased a 1975 F100 2wd SCLB with a 302/C6 (not the original motor) for a couple hundred bucks. The motor started right up and sounds good, but transmission only runs in reverse. The frame is straight, but the body has some rust in the typical places; floor pans, lower inner doors, etc. The bed though is from an 80's model truck (the original owner was a welder and had a flat bed on it for years). The truck has a clear title as well. So me not being one to back down from a little work, I towed it home.

Fast forward to this past weekend. A buddy of mine in Mississippi had a 73 F100 2wd SCLB with a swapped 429/C6 that is in good working order. He said the truck was in rough shape, but the motor/transmission and bed were decent. Truck originally belonged to one of his family members that passed away quite some time ago so he would only sale it as a parts truck with no title. Fine with me as I just want the motor and bed for the 75. So we worked out a trade and we met up in Jackson, MS to make the swap (I live in south Louisiana and he lives in north MS). When I finally saw the truck I was a little shocked. Aside from the motor/tranny swap the truck was completely original. The body and frame are straight. Typical surface rust on the body panels, but no rot like the 75. Plus the interior is completely in tacked. So this got me thinking about trying to get a title and put it back on the road and part out the 75. I could get my money back on the motor and rear end alone.

So here is my conundrum. In a perfect world I would be able to get a bonded title if I lived in MS, but sense LA DMV is a pain and will not recognize a MS bonded title. It's a shame really, as the 73 could have many many more years left on it. If anyone has a better idea on how to obtain a title in this situation, that would be great!

So the question is... would it be legal to use the 73 cab on the 75 frame, and retain the driver door from the 75 with the VIN tag to match the clear title? I know it is a long post for a simple question, but I couldn't find anything when I searched on this.

If you've made it this far through... Thanks for the patience.
Jordan

 

Welcome to FTE, lots of good knowledgeable people here but not much legal advice, only opinion.
Your best bet is to contact the DMV and ask them, anything you see here is just opinion.
That being said, I'll put in my two cents.
No, in most states the VIN has to be permanently attached to the vehicle. The 'VIN' plate on Fords is on the door, too easy to change out. In fact Ford doesn't call it a VIN plate, they call it a warranty plate.
On Fords, the permanent VIN is stamped on the top passenger side frame rail in two places, one in the engine compartment, usually about inline with the alternator. The other under the cab about a foot behind the front cab mount.
The frame VIN is the number most states require for title purposes.
EDIT: I think I misread your post. You want to swap cabs and keep the title that matches the frame VIN correct? That should be okay. It's just a cab swap. If you want, Kevin Marti makes reproduction warranty plates and also has the paper federal cert stickers for the door jam.

 

Thanks for the response mike. Your edit is correct. I'd like to swap the good cab onto the clear titled frame. This makes me fill a little better. Especially knowing I can get a new warranty tag so everything matches. Once I get my shop in order and the trucks pulled in I'll be sure to start a build thread.

Thanks again!

 

In most states a cab swap is okay, it's important that the VIN on the title match the permanent VIN.
There are a lot of these trucks running around with replacement cabs. In fact back in the day you could walk into any Ford dealer's parts department and armed with P/N D9TZ-1000000-B and a handful of cash and walk out with a brand new complete replacement supercab cab.
Usually where you run into problems is when the title VIN matches the door but doesn't match the frame.

 

Here are a couple of examples of Marti's work. He also has the special rivets.
Marti Auto Works - Concourse Quality, Hobbyist Price

 

That's the way I understand it also.

 

Hey Marc, quit cruisin' FTE and get back to work on your brakes .

 

You'll have to check your state's laws on how a VIN is verified.. some will go by a frame stamp, some by the door tag, and some will verify both. FTE is the last place to get legal advice so ya gotta do your own homework.

In CA, the DMV is swamped so they never verify VINs unless the vehicle is being revived with a "Salvage" title, imported, specially constructed (like a kit car) or if there is something that looks spooky in the vehicle's documentation. For example, my 73 decodes as a 2wd with a 302 but the frame and bed is 4WD and a 390... I'm pretty sure it's a 74 since it has a Duraspark system among other clues. It's a clean title that matches the door tag so there are no questions asked from anyone and all they want is the registration fees.

For future reference should you ever decide to sell it, documentation and pictures on what you do will carry weight in substantiating that the vehicle is on the up and up. Be up front and honest with the potential buyer lest the vehicle end up a zombie or stuck in legal purgatory.

 

Wish I could, this work thing is always getting in my way.
Did I say work?
Exactly right.

 

Thanks for the warm welcome guys. I've verified that the stamped number on the frame of the 75 matches the title, warranty plate, and cert tag on the cab. So based off of what I know now I will verify this with the DMV, I am going to swap the cab and replace the warranty tag and cert paper tag to keep everything the same. I will also document everything like HIO has mentioned. I'm sure I will have a ton of questions for you guys later on. Until then...

Much appreciated,

 

Westmoreland, first welcome to FTE, new user myself and you are going to love these guys... Good People.

I can tell you I am in a similar case to HIO with my truck. My frame and running gear is a 76 F250, but the cab is a 1970 F-100. The title from the previous owner is on the Cab as that is the VIN location that the DMV went off of. I guess it is opposite in your case, but same idea. The PO had owned the truck since 96' and never had an issue. When I went for title change a few weeks ago it was clean, and as HIO said, no questions asked.

Now as far as the legality of the whole thing goes I can not comment whether this is correct or if it should be titled as a 76' based off of the frame and permanent ID. But, just wanted to let you know there are others out there driving and being loved with a little paperwork fuzziness (well at least in CA.)