It looks to me like if a serial number is present, the process is neither overwhelming nor expensive. There is a 3 year limit anyone can claim the panel belongs to them, and they will have to prove that it belongs to them. If no claims have been made within the 3 years, the new paper work is binding.
Id start out with having the serial number/vin search done. If that comes up clean, buy the truck ($5,000 is a lot of money for something without a title and has stuff missing), and start the process. once the paper work process has been started, start on the build, it will probably take almost 3 years to build the thing. Register the thing after it is road worthy, and as soon as the time limitation has been met, get the branding off the title. 3 years goes by quicker then you think. Gene