FJ45 imported from costa rica no papers...

[SuperBuickGuy]

You're not hearing what I'm saying.... I'm not repeating - you'd think that people would know better then to push the law; but some don't. When you play stupid games you win stupid prizes. Please continue to do so, people like you continue to fund my builds.

 

[Pin_Head]

The law may be different in different states.

 

[Redgrrr]

It's a unfortunate situation to waste what apears to be a solid cab on that 45..

 

[cult45]

It's a HJ45.

 

[Landpimp]

I did a stupid thing years ago with my 67 fj45, I kinda spaced out and didn't realize there was not a firewall vin, then I put a shackle reversal on it, welded it to be safe......you got it, right over the frame VIN. It was about 10 years latter I realized what I did. But I have the title with correct VIN, if I needed I could cut out around the plate to get to the VIN, I also have a reproduction VIN plate which I am thinking I will fill out and attach. Not that it really matters, I aint selling it and I think for most buyers my work would be pretty good.....and they matching WA State title(and the old owner is still around)

lots of WA State LE here today if your agency has a full auto(MP5 or the like) or any HK's, it probably came from me, or at least some of your gear, if you used DefTech, really high chance it came come from me at some point

 

[phillyFJ40]

I moved my FJ40 from Pennsylvania to California. I had originally bought it in New Jersey. Pennsylvania doesn't examine the vehicle, you just get the paperwork notorized send it in and receive a title. California does an examination, if it can't be easily determined by matching the VIN plates and title you need to go to the State Police for an inspection. There was a typo on my PA title. It read 3FJ40... instead of FJ40... that wasn't a problem since the rest matched the body tag, but a PO had welded a piece of angle over the frame VIN. I had to wait for a nationwide search for theft reports on the body VIN, but in the end the officer let me title and register it. Miraculous! I was unaware of anything related to VINs until this interaction and I'm terrified to look under that piece of angle. Guess I'm keeping it!

 

[davegonz]

So, how much? Let me know if you pass on it.

 

[toomanytoyzz]

You brought up frame swapping, yes - there is a process called consolidation (or ownership-in-dispute in Washington) where you can make all the numbers gel on one title. To do this, you must have titles to all the cars you are consolidating. The US required VINs to be stamped on frame starting in 1948.... so unless this is a special FJ45, it has VIN on the frame, the body, and at least a partial on the motor.

So if I buy a cruiser that needs fenders, and I find a set of fenders on this site I need to do a "ownership in-dispute" or whatever you would call it in my neck of the woods? If so, I'm probably gonna get hauled off to jail for the rest of my life considering the amount of times I've used parts from one vehicle on another.

I have NEVER heard that in the twenty five years I've been wrenching on cars.

Like someone stated earlier in the thread, you may be referring to the rules in your state. In regards to parts with no VIN #'s it's hunting season at the junkyards around me. Never had to fill out a form in the 15 years I did bodywork and had pallets upon pallets of used parts dropped off from countless salvage yards.

 

[lostmarbles]

Took me a year to get my NZ 45 titled in OR and I literally had every piece of import paper needed.
The hold up was that there are no titles/or registrations (as far as I can tell) in NZ and therefore no transfer of ownership from the gentleman I bought it from and who imported it and the original owners that purchased it new in NZ.

Hi Jestlurnin

There are most certainly titles and registrations here in New Zealand but the system is very strict here.

Your vehicle must be kept in roadworthy condition and this must be verified every 6 months through Warrant of Fitness checks by authorized mechanics/inspectors.

Your vehicle can't be driven on the road (legally) or receive a Warrant of Fitness sticker if its registration fees are not current/paid-up.

If your registration remains unpaid for 12 months or more your vehicle automatically gets de-registered (removed from the NZTA vehicle registration database).

It is these vehicles ie. "those removed from the database" that are commonly exported. So what I'm saying is - "They've become difficult to trace and "obtain papers for" only because the NZ Transport Agency considers them "dead" and has purged them from its database.

PS. Amongst these exports are bound to be a few that would have been hard to put back on the road here such as stolen vehicles and vehicles that have been written off by insurance companies and then "repaired" without going through the proper/costly/lengthy official re-registration process.

Just thought I'd clarify this.

 

[Landpimp]

I think if you are a legit wrecking yard, you do need to ID parts to the VIN it came off.

 

[Aaron Womack]

In Texas, they throw people in jail for that .... do a google search on Classic Restorations.

I am an attorney who does importing and exporting of vehicles. This is not a treatise on how to get a car into the US - merely a few of the high points/low points.

That Texas sticker is likely just something that Border patrol likely forced the driver to get to drive it in Texas. Basically it's a "you won't kill us with an unsafe vehicle" sticker. We get these all the time in the north - person thinks "oh, if I get it across the border, it'll be fine." No.... simply no.

Your first step should be Texas licensing, followed by a quick trip to the Rangers. If there isn't a theft record, find out what country it came from and see if its reported stolen there. IF that checks out, you can buy the vehicle and not be in possession of stolen property.

Put the vehicle on your trailer and haul it home. Then take it all apart. Check the vin number matches the frame, cab, and motor. If it doesn't. Seriously, scrap it - by the time you pay me 10k to get the car legally in the US, you'll say "I could buy a licensed one for half..." well, duh. But let's say you won the lottery and wonder how to make it a US vehicle.

Fortunately, it's likely that some or all of it is more then 25 years old. My first step would be to bond the vehicle against any claims against the vehicle. I'd then contact customs to legally import the vehicle while it's in place at your house. They may demand it be put in a bonded warehouse for the pendency of the application. That costs about $10/day and the process takes a minimum of 90 days and can take years (I know of one car that's been in bonding for 15 years and will likely never leave except as scrap.

Once Customs has us all protected (sarcasm intended) from that terrible FJ45, they send a request to whatever 3rd world country the vehicle came from (yeah, again) and asks if it's stolen. Depending on the lateness of the day and the sobriety of the customs official in the foreign country that may turn out okay (remember 15 years?). But let's say he's feeling gracious (FCO) and he says "it's all bueno"... excellent, now you need an export certificate from that country to ours. Another round of letters are sent to the official in charge of export certificates, bribes paid (errr, taxes), and you're good to go. At this point the bleeding is about 5k to 10k. Then you get another inspection here. Oh wait, a number isn't reading right on motor or it "looks" tampered with. So we go to exceptions. Remember, it's costing you 10/day until you give up.
But let's say all is fine and finally you get US customs clearing (and I've jumped a few steps) - and you now have it home, hopefully with all the parts still attached. Now you get to fight with Texas and their rules.

Seriously, part it out and whatever you do, unless you have a damn good criminal attorney - don't vin swap. Our border patrol is pretty poor at one part of their job, but oh my goodness are they thorough on keeping those terrible imports out of our country... they will x-ray your frame if they even have a hint that it's swapped - not only that but they go online and see if they can catch those smart people who think they can outsmart the cops....

You're referring to Unique Performance. I know someone that worked there until about a month before the bottom fell out. There was a lot more going on there besides title washing...

 

[toyotaspeed90]

Pinhead - that is VIN swapping. Do not EVER do this. I can't stress this enough, you do not need the stress.

You brought up frame swapping, yes - there is a process called consolidation (or ownership-in-dispute in Washington) where you can make all the numbers gel on one title. To do this, you must have titles to all the cars you are consolidating. The US required VINs to be stamped on frame starting in 1948.... so unless this is a special FJ45, it has VIN on the frame, the body, and at least a partial on the motor.

My 71 FJ40 had a WA title but last registered in CA in 1983. WA had to repull the data for the vehicle and enter all as new info. Title matched and was not altered from the frame.

No doors. No body vin. Chevy V8. No problems.

WA probably has similar situations as Texas where it's easy to bring non US vehicles over the border. Each state will have different rules.

Call the DMV and if it wasn't ever registered, call the border patrol to see what could be done or what they would need to make it legal.

Most states have a provision of after X amount of years, as long as you can prove ownership transfers (and pay whatever fees) you can title and register the vehicle under collector status. See it all over here, as I'm all of 30 miles of the Can border and Canada allows Japanese import vehicles way before we do.

 

[65swb45]

I think if you are a legit wrecking yard, you do need to ID parts to the VIN it came off.

John

I have held a Dismantler's License in the State of California for the entire time I have been in business. I ID all my parts, but no one has ever asked to check them...ever.

 

[lostmarbles]

John

I have held a Dismantler's License in the State of California for the entire time I have been in business. I ID all my parts, but no one has ever asked to check them...ever.

Sad fact of life is that authorities everywhere have little interest in catching vehicle thieves.

Our NZTA database, if it wasn't so quickly purged of non-road-legal vehicles, and if it allowed anyone to search on such things as "engine numbers" and "chassis numbers", could be a massive aid in catching in these criminals and hindering their operations.

 

[geohaskett]

Swapping the frame part with the VIN and title used to be legal in California. I know people that did this to make their 40 smog exempt and it was OK with the DMV.

Can you explain this process more. I bought a project FJ45, however it came with an FJ40 VIN. It appears that one of the previous owners was in the middle of the process of doing something similar to what you were talking about, however they used an FJ40 VIN instead of an FJ45. He wanted to updated it to a newer model, etc.

What steps did you need to follow and what documentation did you need to do this in Cali?

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

You're referring to Unique Performance. I know someone that worked there until about a month before the bottom fell out. There was a lot more going on there besides title washing...

Like Al Capone - sure he did more, but in the end it was the taxes that get ya.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

So if I buy a cruiser that needs fenders, and I find a set of fenders on this site I need to do a "ownership in-dispute" or whatever you would call it in my neck of the woods? If so, I'm probably gonna get hauled off to jail for the rest of my life considering the amount of times I've used parts from one vehicle on another.

I have NEVER heard that in the twenty five years I've been wrenching on cars.

Like someone stated earlier in the thread, you may be referring to the rules in your state. In regards to parts with no VIN #'s it's hunting season at the junkyards around me. Never had to fill out a form in the 15 years I did bodywork and had pallets upon pallets of used parts dropped off from countless salvage yards.

I'll let the licensing Department in Washington know that you think they're idiots. Of course, the first thing you'd probably want to do is read what I wrote before. I said nothing about fenders - I said places where the VIN is attached.

What makes me laugh about all of this - and you illustrate it so nicely - is that you tell us what your little state says but then you generalize it to the rest of the world. Of course, you throw in the personal attack, which is a nice touch.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

My 71 FJ40 had a WA title but last registered in CA in 1983. WA had to repull the data for the vehicle and enter all as new info. Title matched and was not altered from the frame.

No doors. No body vin. Chevy V8. No problems.

WA probably has similar situations as Texas where it's easy to bring non US vehicles over the border. Each state will have different rules.

Call the DMV and if it wasn't ever registered, call the border patrol to see what could be done or what they would need to make it legal.

Most states have a provision of after X amount of years, as long as you can prove ownership transfers (and pay whatever fees) you can title and register the vehicle under collector status. See it all over here, as I'm all of 30 miles of the Can border and Canada allows Japanese import vehicles way before we do.

okay, why don't you point me to the RCW which says that. Here, let me help get you to the right section
Title 46 RCW: MOTOR VEHICLES

It'd be really helpful for the Buick I'm building if you could educate me about this.... so show me all of your knowledge....

You're welcome to spend time there - but before you do, all those stories about how people lost their Corvettes, Mustangs, etc in the 60s, 70s, and 80s but got them back? how they got them back is through VIN inspections when the current owner either moves the car to another state or tries to export the vehicle from the US.

But really, do show me all of your knowledge - I can't wait to hear it.

 

[47coeman]

Swapping the frame part with the VIN and title used to be legal in California. I know people that did this to make their 40 smog exempt and it was OK with the DMV.

Not ok in Cali now it is a felony and you will do big jail time

 

[Pin_Head]

Can you explain this process more.
What steps did you need to follow and what documentation did you need to do this in Cali?

In CA, pre 75 JF40s and other vehicles are smog exempt, so there are no rules as to the engine and transmission types that are legal in these vehicles. You buy a legally titled pre75 vehicle and then you put the running gear from the newer FJ40 in the old one. The only thing that has to match the title is the frame or the part of the fram that has the original serial number. One guy in my club welded the passenger frame horn onto his '78 after consulting with the CA DMV. Other club members kept more of the original equipment. Ask the DMV as rules may have changed in the past 10 years. I haven't kept up on it since I sold my 40.
It isn't swapping the frame because it is the same frame that has always matched the title. His 78 became a legal 73 and his 78 ceased to exist.