Frame and body Swap

[LTZ C20]

Hey guys. I have a 79 chevy 3/4 2wd long bed. The bed is bent pretty bad and the frame is kinda tweaked too. Its been a great truck the 3 years that I've had it. A couple months ago I picked up a 73 chevy 3/4 2wd long bed. the only thing i have on this 73 is a chassis, bed, and stripped cab, NO drivetrain at all. My plan is to put the straight cab and front end, along with my power train and suspension from my 79 on my 73. The 73 frame is straight and so it the bed so I will be useing that bed. This is where I need some help. As long as when I do the swap i transfer the vin plate from the 73 onto the 79 cab, when I put the 79 cab on the 73 frame, I should be ok legally. The cab on the 73 is to garabage and not worth repairing. I plan to make one straight truck out of the good peices of two trucks.

[Jason S]

This is just a suggestion and you should contact your motor vehicle department to verify. Sometimes it depends upon who you speak with as to whether or not you get the answer you want... This is in not intended to be any form of legal advise...

That being said; Just to be on the safe side, keep a paper trail to prove what you did was legitimate, legal and you were not trying to circumvent any applicable laws (e.g., safety or emission standards). It may never come of anything, but in case you have an issue you should be able to prove that you properly owned the vehicles in question. This includes: copies, scans or photos of titles and VIN plates and VIN stampings (i.e., on frame and engine), sales receipts, Bill of Sale for each vehicle, receipts for parts and any other documentation that will prove that you were the rightful owner of said vehicles. If you scrap the out the rest of the body parts, document it somehow such as photos of the scrapped cab and receipts from a scrapyard. Dependent upon how stringent the state is upon such matters, you may need to retain emissions and safety equipment for the '79 truck (i.e., EGR, fuel vents, shoulder belts, etc.)

As long as when I do the swap i transfer the vin plate from the 73 onto the 79 cab, when I put the 79 cab on the 73 frame, I should be ok legally.

  I would suggest that you do not remove any VIN rivets.  If anyone were to "dig" into the vehicle, replaced rivets would be a signal.  If you are swapping the '79 cab to the '73 frame, then keep a paper trail (as stated above).  Make copies, take lots of photographs, etc. to have proof that your work was legitimate.  For whatever reason, if you have to prove what you did was legitimate, just ensure that you have the documentation. 

Just remember that with most government agencies: If you didn't document it then it didn't happen...  So as long as everything is legitimate, just make sure to keep records of everything that happened.  For the swap you intend to do, these records should be maintained for at least as long as you own the vehicle. If you were to sell the truck it would be wise to keep everything recorded someplace safe for many years after the sale was made as you never know...

[bake74]

     Cheyenne Camper 20.
     Since you live in California, I have done this about 6 years ago.  If they have not changed the rules I will tell you what I had to do.
     First I will say this, I hope both trucks are registered or on non-op.  Otherwise there will be additional steps.
     If you can prove ownership of both vehicles and both are in the DMV system ( registered or non-op ), you will need to go to your local DMV office, ( without going into a book worth of information here ), you will need to tell them you have 2 trucks that you want to make into 1 truck.  You will have to fill out forms on all the pieces you plan on using along with the original vin numbers to make 1 truck.  This has to be verified both by the DMV computers and visually by the CHP.
     If all of this checks out then they will issue you a new Vin number that corresponds to the parts you used that is now in their system.  This way down the line, any part you have on your truck with a partial vin number or ID number ( mainly the frame here ) will correspond to the new Vin number.
     This is to be 100% legal.  A lot of guys swap cabs, frames, beds, etc and never go through this process.  If there vehicles were ever to get inspected for proper ID or partial Vin numbers, this would make it to where they would not be able to sell said vehicle.  But since California only checks the door Vin numbers a lot of people just don't go through the steps.
     1 thing I forgot to mention, they will absolutely not allow you to make it into a 73.  They will require the truck to be registered with the highest numerical part you have.  So you need to keep all the 79 smog equipment, it will be registered as a 79 even if you use the frame and cab from the 73 truck.  As long as you tell them you have a 79 truck for parts.
      I think that is why a lot of people use newer stuff ( 79 cab to replace a 73 rusted cab ) and never tell the DMV.