The VIN says 250cui but its a 350cui?

[C-10stepsideBEEF]

Hi Guys.

I own a 1975 Stepside which I thought was original. I bought the truck in Ohio back in 07-08 and shipped it to Denmark where I live.
The truck has been sitting at the shop where I work for all that time and now finally I've had the time to restore it for inspection and import tax in Denmark. Yay!

Now suddently I have a problem, the tax man says its born with a 250 straight six, but the engine is a 350 v8 and this is a problem for the tax man.
In Denmark its okay to import original cars from America, but modified cars or costum cars is not whithout problems.

If the car is 35 or more years old and original the tax is minimal or free. and for the costum and modified cars, the tax is almost as expensive as the money I have already spent buying and repairing the truck. (In my case tax is 2500 dollars and that is what I have spent buying and repairing the truck so far.)
By the way, it is meant to be a daily driver and it is not a beauty, just a cool old truck, and we dont see them too often here in "Dangmark"

I wonder if you guys could help me?

Could it be possible that it has been built with a factory 350 even though the VIN says "Q" in the third letter?

Thanks in advance,
Michael

[VileZambonie]

The VIN# depicts what the original engine should be. So someone swapped the engine. Do you have visual inspections?

[75gmck25]

It probably came with a factory 6 cylinder.  The Chevrolet 6 cylinder is actually a very good engine, but since everyone loves the 350 it is not unusual that they swapped one into the truck.

In some car competitions they define original drivetrain as one that was available from the factory for that vehicle in that year.  Have you checked with local custom car folks to see if Denmark has any similar flexibility in its definition for licensing?  Or could you try to apply to correct the VIN number so that it shows the current engine.  My logic is although the vehicle has been modified from its factory configuration, the modification would still put it in the "classic" car category because it is using a stock drivetrain.

Its ironic that if it was an original 160 HP Y code 350, you could have modified it to be a 450 HP 383 stroker and your tax guys would still classify it as original if  the mods were not evident during visual inspection.

Bruce

[C-10stepsideBEEF]

Yes Bruce, you are right it probably came with a 6 cylinder. And yes the tax guys would not know weather it was a 350 or 383 stroker..

I can't correct the VIN because the truck is in the tax system whit my name attached.

And regarding  VileZambonies comment, the inspection is visual but not at the tax place, its another shop who inspect all the cars here in Denmark.
In Denmark there is a mandatory vehicle inspection every two years. The tax guy can, if he suspects somethings wrong call for a visual inspection at the tax place. I rather not go there. I have not converted the us lights to europe standarts. (yellow indicator lights and no red side markers in the back.)

Thanks guys for the help
Michael