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Hello everyone!

Cuestick

Member
Hello everyone, I've been reading here for a few months but just decided to register as I have a question that I could use help with. I hope that me posting it in this section is OK as it is sort of about the frame....sort of.

I'll try to keep this brief. I always wanted to build a T bucket so a few months ago I thought that I would get started and try to knock it out this winter. I started watching the classifieds and Craigs List for something to start with. I eventually discovered an ad that had a guy selling what looked to be an old Speedway frame and some assorted parts at a pretty good price. He had bought it off of someone else in the 90's and was going to build the car but apperently never got around to it. It sat in his garage for 15 years and finally he decided to to sell it. Enter me.

I purchased the frame, rearend, and some misc. parts with a notorized bill of sale. I started on the project and kept every receipt for everything that I bought for it. Since the car is almost done, I thought that I would start checking on requirements for a title. Everything that the car needs is OK once I add a windshield wiper and a few small details. The problem is that they said that I need a Manufacturers Certificate of Origin (MCO) for the frame. I tried to explain things to them but got nowhere. After contacting the guy that I bought it off of, he informed me that he didn't even remember the name of the guy that he bought it off of and has no records that even get close to that long ago. I am at a standstill and really don't know what I should do. Any help that can be offered would be appreciated. Oh, I am in Ohio if that matters.

Thanks for your help, Cuestick
 
Contact the Titling Support & Dealer Licensing Section at 614-752-7671. I got that number off the Ohio DMV website, so there's a 50/50 chance it will work.

The easy way to do this was to just buy a title from some place, usually in NY or NJ, that kept them when cars were junked. There were ads in the back of hot rod mags. Then exchange that title for one in your state. I don't know if this is still possible. This is not the way the DMV will tell you. They usually want proof of cost of major components (engine, frame, body) and then make you get a VIN, etc. And the clerks at the DMV vary in their knowledge, so you may have to try several times. It's a pain.

You might try telling them you built the frame, so there is no MCO. That might shut them up.
 
Welcome to the site Cuestick,
The DMV may require a receipt or bill of sale for the steel that was used to make the frame since it's a major component. The buying of a title from Ebay or elsewhere is probably frowned upon and some pretty big names got themselves into hot water over such.
 
Tell the DMV that the frame was built by the guy you got the notorized paperwork from. If not, get an old reciept from someone that purchased steel so you can say you built the frame by Speedways plans. Simple, but works.
 
Or just get creative and make a receipt for the steel.....Some of the requirements are as stupid as the rest of government. Not only do they want the tax they also want to make sure the parts on your car were not stolen. While that is not a bad idea they need to have some common sense when it comes to things that you build at home like a 2x3 frame.
 
Yeah, it is all a devious plot. Steal a rectangle of 2x3 tubing and then buy $6000 worth of parts to put on the hot frame.
 
If all else fails go to your local steel warehouse and buy a stick of the same size steel used in the frame get a good receipt and tell the dot you built it your self. Then you can sell or use the steel for something that does not require a title
.
 
I am in the process of learning about the registration process here in NY, and they told me that a notarized receipt for the parts or the car should suffice. Also, a copy of the seller's driver's licence would be helpful in case any of the parts come up stolen.
 
Also, a copy of the seller's driver's licence would be helpful in case any of the parts come up stolen.

Good luck with that!
 
Hahaha....just get yourself a 4 1/2 flapwheel on your grinder, go over the frame and see if its got any numbers on it. If it doesn't, well, you'll probably have to find someone with some common sense at the DMV, which seems in short supply these days. Every State is different....
Built a 2.3 for a Gazelle, really neat cool car. While it was in the shop, was going to get the papers. hahaha.....ran into the same problem. Seriel #'s on a 2.3 Pinto motor....not....numbers on a Gazelle frame, NOT, after they found out that the universe would not conform to their world, they finally had to acknowdlege that the Manufacturer, which, I had to call the AS-Holes, decided, that the frame had no numbers on it.
I finally told the AS-Holes to give me a freaking number and I would put it on the frame. I then put a number on the block also....

This took 6 months, and 4 visites to the DMV with the Highway patrol climbing all over this thing for a car built back in the 80's with a 70's pinto motor in it, trying to find non-existant numbers. The owner had all the receipts for the parts and the kit.
The intelligence of some of these folks is really amazing!
1. For them to Graduate from High School in the first place.
2. For them to be hired by the State
3. For them to be allowed control over other people and to wear a firearm....(Highway Patrol).

I had to do their job for them, so, they won't try and screw the next person that builds a custom car in the area.
 
Highway Patrol, in most places, is there for revenue enhancement only as in speeding tickets, etc. IMHO

Jim
 

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