VIN Number on 53 Belair

[Guest lites33]

I have a 53 Belair and the vin Number is the engine Number. The plate on the door jamb with the serial number they did not use. now I am trying to get the DMV to use that number on the door plate. so i can put another engine in without having to go through more crap. The CHP is telling me that the engine number could be stamped somewhere else. I asked them if they found it somewhere else if they would tell me where it is. they said no, that is confidential.in another words they are no help. so, does anybody know if and or where that number may be besides the engine block? you know the DMV and the CHP. nothing is easy with them. thanks.

[Guest HOOIE]

If it has another number it`s probably somewhere on the frame. I`m not sure they even did that back then.

[rocketraider]

That was the big fallacy of using engine numbers as the car's official titling and registration ID number. Engines can be and often were changed. If the carmaker supplied a VIN number, why in blue blazes wouldn't some of these hardheaded state DMVs use it?

My guess is that on a 1953 Chevy, the CHP doesn't have a clue where the extra numbers are either and doesn't want to go thru the aggravation of researching where they are.

I wish I could offer you some help. Short of laundering the title thru another state that DOES use the manufacturer-issued VIN to ID the car, I don't know what you could do. I count myself lucky that, for all the stupidity they're capable of, Virginia DMV is still more sensible and accommodating than most.

[D Yaros]

On the '55 Cadillac (a GM product) the VIN (engine #) is stamped on the frame on the passenger side top rail, just below the exhaust manifold. As cars age, the number becomes progressively harder to discern, but it is there.

[Guest palosfv3]

The VIN number on the post is the one you want to use. I had a Facel that was titled with the engine number and it would not be accepted by the auction house for sale until the correction was made . Wound up taking the car to the SOS inspection lane with the proper paperwork and it was a fairly simple fix but this was in Arizona during the January auctions and I'm sure the auction houses had made arrangements for this, as it appears to be a common issue from time to time with old cars . .

[Guest HOOIE]

Here in Missouri that vintage of Chevys were titled from the engine number. I don`t know when they started using the serial number. I have a 50 Plymouth that`s titled from the engine number. The serial number is attatched to the door jamb with phillips head screws. I have a 53 Plymouth that`s titled from the serial number on the door jamb, but that tag is attatched with special rivets.

[Guest Commodore]

This document from the GM Heritage Center shows that the engine number was stamped only on the engine. See page 9 of document.

http://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-heritage-archive/docs/Chevrolet/1953-Chevrolet.pdf

[rocketraider]

Well, then- the next hurdle is getting CHP to accept a manufacturer's document as proof.