It's a thin piece of steel. A piece of steel which has a numerical number with the last 6 digits matching stampings on the body. As long as said numbers match, even if a Federal agent does just happened to spot a "fake" rivet, he would still be faced with the fact that the VIN tag actually GOES WITH THAT CAR. WHO CARES, as long as the car isn't being sold fraudulently! Grey areas in the law are what keep people paranoid. Mine is all pretty and restored, with new rivets. The numbers match the body numbers. And now there is no rust under it. Go for it Chickmaggot!