is there a state police or DMV office nearby where you live, they should be able to tell you right from wrong. how to , there's more than removing the dash transfering the dash tag using the proper rivets , there's the door jamb tag that jersey issued a replacement for in my case and 2 or 3 hidden vin stampings. they stamped void over
would i do it again? NOPE, don't want to do a cobra again also,

 

In PA, the cab swap would require the truck to pass an "enhanced" inspection, requiring receipts for all parts used, and result in an "R" title.

That said, in the early 80s I may have swapped cabs on on my '75 W200, which I had purchased wrecked in the late 70s. I used a rust free D100 cab that came from Georgia. I got stopped about a mile away the house by the state popo, on my way home from the paint shop. No bed on the truck, temporary mud flaps and tail lights, PA annual inspection sticker cut out of the old cab's windshield and propped against the new cab's windshield in it's proper location. The whole front clip, fenders and doors had come from various donor trucks. The VIN from the original cab may have migrated to a new home on the dash of the donor cab. Nowadays, I would never attempt to repeat any of this.
I drove that truck, inspected annually, until '87 when i sold it and bought my first new truck, an '87 Dodge W250.

 

I have rebuilt numerous salvage vehicles as a hobby. Note a salvage title and a rebuilt title are two very different things.

I am going to use my experiences in the state of Washington in this thread. The state of Washington does not issue salvage titles, only bill of sales, which can be converted to a rebuilt title after the Washington State police formally and thoroughly inspect the vehicle.

The WSP inspection process centers on two things, neither of which are the quality of the rebuild. WSP centers in VIN numbers, and parts with VINs that are in the rebuilt vehicle. For example, I purchased a hood from a salvage yard in Minnesota and had the hood shipped to Washington state. WSP went to the hood in the rebuilt vehicle, and pulled the vin sticker on the hood. Next, WSP cross referenced the hood vin with the vin listed on the receipt from the MN salvage yard (the salvage yard must include the vin on the sales receipt for WSP to process the inspection). Finally, WSP does a VIN check on the hood to make sure it came from the MN salvage yard, a lot of work.

My concern of all things for you is in case of an accident, how will your insurance company view this- to me that is your key risk. To mitigate this, I would document and capture with pictures all the actions you are doing, and have these documents notarized before putting the truck on the road. This would give you some cover if their is ever a legal issue or insurance issue. May not solve the problem, but gives you some way to explain to a DMV, LEO, judge, or insurance company.

 

Can with a clean and clear title can be swapped to any frame. VIN follows the cab. Illegal to remove the vin and attach to another cab. Find where your “ new” cab was last titled and apply for a new/copy of title then retitle in your name. Any other route is a can o worms.

 

Ok so turns out in NY I fill out an Application For Vehicle Identification Number due to replacing a cab and they will actually put the vin number on for me they just won’t let you do it yourself ! Phew !

 

Oh for crying out loud! You finally mentioned it's a salvage vehicle! Yeah you big doofus, it needs to pass inspection, so you have to go to the DMV and do everything legitimately. How do you feel about spending tens of thousands of dollars on attorney fees and being locked up? Five years of supervised probation at your expense on top of that. What a freaking idiot!