Ok, just bored and thinking about a conversation I had at a car show the other day with an old timer like me. I’ve personally talked to a Texas state Trooper about restoration of an e body dash pad and specifically the problem of restoring the dash pad on an ebody. And I quote” you cannot remove the tag from the dash under any circumstances. You must cover the pad with material and leave the tag intact on the pad”. Now. I know what all these restoration shops do on tv and every state is different. I’ve heard some states are not that picky. I’ve even seen Dan on Phantom works ON TV, state what he had to do on a rot box 57 Chevy. He had one that he bought one of the newer reproduction body complete. The state of Virginia said he could cut the vin out of the old body and install it in a new body “ as long as he did not disturb the numbers! Hmmm.
What happened when a collision damaged dash or cracked dash was replaced( not repaired) at the dealership. I know you could buy dash pads because I bought one from the dealer in 78. I’ve still got it unused in the box. Did they have special permission to change the vin tag? Did a LEO have to watch the process? Did they have access to the proper rivets at the time? Anyone work at a dealer back in the day that has personal knowledge. Cars now days have the vin affixed to the frame so t’s not relevant today.

I wonder if anyone has ever seen a car seize because it had regular pop rivets in the tag instead of the original rosette ones. The conversation that got me to thinking was involving a car tagged by the local police in CA many years ago because it was inoperable an on a public street. He had the dash off and the car and he was asked to bring the title and vin tag to the police station. He had the vin tag off the dash. He produced the vin tag and they politely took it and cut it up in front of his eyes and said “ thank you” he had to get a state applied vin for his 440-6 Cuda!

With the value of these old cars now, I just wonder if they will get more interested in stuff like this. I’ve known Troopers that would give their own mother a ticket like it was a bag of honor.