Dash Swap

[mattinwyo]

I have a 1969 Dart and the dashboard is badly rusted due to animals inhabiting under the dash and filling it with nice, moist nest material. Anyway....I found a replacement dash, but need to properly address the fact that the VIN Plate on these cars is attached to the dash...which is fairly easy to remove. Is this a State by State issue or is their some Federal rule to protect from VIN tampering, etc.? I have not yet looked on the chassis to see if there's any other VIN stamps, but the VIN is stamped on a "tag" and riveted to the dash. Can I just replace the rivets and move on or should I save everything as is for when the "inspector" pays a visit to get it titled here?

 

[DionR]

I am going to swap a Ralley dash into my '73 at some point and bought these so I could swap the VIN tag when I do.

1968-74 Mopar: Factory Exact VIN Plate Rivets (NOS)

And yes, there are VIN numbers stamped into other locations on the body.

 

[Professor Fate]

Yup, you need the correct rosette-head VIN rivets, or it won't pass inspection and could lead to a bunch of headaches for VIN-swapping.
What I did was contact the Highway Patrol (who does the inspections in my state) ahead of time and he documented what I was doing and gave me the go-ahead. They even gave me the rivets! This way there will never be any issue with the car's legitimacy in the future.

 

[Dana67Dart]

Assuming the vin and the hidden body numbers are in line with each other I personally would not have any issues swapping the vin from dash to dash.

There are others that will try to turn you in for vin tampering but I think their efforts are misguided.

You are not trying to re-body a high dollar car. Or make a high dollar car you are split replacing a removable part of the car.

The VIN should never have been attached to a removable part of the car in the first place.

67 and older it was riveted or welded to the A piller, modern cars it's not attached to the dash but the chassis at the dash level.

BUT....

Before you go any further, fine the other vin numbers on the car and be sure they match.

If the engine and trans are original to the car they (in 69 and up iirc) should have the full or partial vin.

The core support on the battery side of the car under the radiator sticker is another place to look, the drivers side trunk rail under the seal is another.

I think some years had the number stamped on the x member between the trunk and back seat or on the package tray behind the rear seat.

 

['Cuda_ragtop]

Be careful when you drill the original rivets out.
Safest to do it from the back side so you don't damage the VIN Tag.

 

[WymanV]

I was going to say the same. I hit the rivets where they stick out under the dash with a grinder until they're flush and the tag falls off. If you try to drill them from the top the rivet head will catch in the drill bit and spin, tearing up the tag.

 

[Super-Cuda]

I have a 1969 Dart and the dashboard is badly rusted due to animals inhabiting under the dash and filling it with nice, moist nest material. Anyway....I found a replacement dash, but need to properly address the fact that the VIN Plate on these cars is attached to the dash...which is fairly easy to remove. Is this a State by State issue or is their some Federal rule to protect from VIN tampering, etc.? I have not yet looked on the chassis to see if there's any other VIN stamps, but the VIN is stamped on a "tag" and riveted to the dash. Can I just replace the rivets and move on or should I save everything as is for when the "inspector" pays a visit to get it titled here?

I found this on-line.

Says right in there that there are exceptions, one being making repairs which you are doing by replacing the rusted dash frame.

Not sure if it applies to your state though as this is a California Law Firm.


Is it illegal to remove a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)?