California DMV ripped me out of my parts.
I need to read this law but from what I have seen of it if you buy a parts car for your project there is nothing illegal about that.
That being said, selling off what you don't need may be a different issue. Discard the carcass first or draw and quarter it first, so all you have are parts, (nothing with a VIN). Again this was designed to go after chop-shops (I think), where on most newer cars everything has a VIN.
Like I said, I need to read up on this, not that I am taking on another project but it would be nice to know.
Alan