Can someone help me detirmine what year/options this has?-

[perce111]

If you want the car I would pick up the phone and call the state DMV and tell them the circumstances, and ask them for assistance in straightening it out.
You don't have to give them names unless you want to.
Simply tell them you have found a car that has 2 VIN #s. And that you want to know how you would go about straightening out the title if you purchased the vehicle.
Depends how bad you want the car.

Later

 

[Dano78]

Just look at the title and make sure it jives with the numbers on the car. In some cases the state of origin in case of vehicular theft, will re-assign a VIN to the car as was done to a 78 Cobra II I had. In my case the vin was exact as original but had "OR" added to the end representing "Oregon", the state it was recovered and re-registered in. Luckily the retards never removed the buck tag and i was able to ID the car as a Cobra still.

I agree, I highly doubt that anyone would have taken the time to graft in T-Tops, but is still possible. Look at the gas cap location as well as where the wiper switch is located. If the wiper controls are in the dash, it's a '74-'75 car. Definately a '74 of the gas cap is below the quarter panel bodyline. It's real easy to swap on a '75-'78 front clip, seen it done on a few cars.

But if the numbers DO jive, and the title checks out (your state patrol will be glad to run the VIN for you to make sure it's legit) there's nothing wrong with it being a '74, even though it more likely is a '77 or '78. Chances are you may benefit from the older age in waivers and exemptions.

Heck my Model T C-Cab, it's actually licensed in the state of Oregon as a 1983 Homemade, but it won't be for long. I picked up a title for a '26 Roadster and will have it re-titled in Washington as such. I just want to see '26 on the title somewhere, that and I'll be emissions exempt again.

 

[Mean67302]

83 Homemade?Never heard of that.Anyway I am almost positive that the vin in the windshield matches the title.So I will probally end up trading.

 

[Mean67302]

Well...Just got back from the place a while ago.It DID have the lights pull on the dash but the gas cap IS above the line.The title matches the v.i.n. on the windshield though.What do you think?

 

[Dano78]

Not the lights! The WIPER CONTROLS! In '74-'75 the wiper controls are on the dash. From '76-'78 they are on the turn signal lever. On all years the lights were on the dash.

Since the fill is above the line, the body is NOT a '74.

Hmmmm... I'd be a bit leary. Too easy to swap out the window VIN and toss in a title. I'd go a bit further. I's say the VIN in the car's door jamb area is probably or at least more likely the real VIN. IMO I'd be looking for that chassis VIN (under the fenders) If you have to see if you can get her to have your state patrol verify the VIN on the vehicle. If they give you the green light, then you have absolutely no worries. Otherwise, turn around a walk away, sounds like a clash of titleship and could be a liability. (possible stolen car with shoddy VIN transfer) or could be a simple case of mistaken VIN identity.

No real pun intended... but you Aunt isn't one of those "Shady Characters" you see dealing car every now and again , is she?

The whole thing smells like trouble to me. Unless this is a killer machine and you'd be comming out WAY on top with the trade, might be best to not waste your time and turn around and walk away. Just my .02 from my past history of dealing with a multitude of cars in numerous situations.

 

[Dano78]

Maybe someone just grafted the t tops onto the roof.The previous owner probally found a parts car for the roof,doors,hood,front etc.The vin does look like it belongs though and I think where I found some slight bubbling and a hairline crack on the a pillar/hatch area pretty much confirms this car is made from a donor.

This could be the factory lead seam doing this. Mine and a few other cars, I have seen this very same thing, especially on the Fastback V8 cars. Is a stressful point on the car.

 

[perce111]

dano
did you ever get the tunnelram carburation sorted out so you can drive it easily....like in town when it has to idle and be more versitle than an on/off switch?
Later

 

[Mean67302]

I forgot it was the windshield wipers.Doh!So I would have to take off the front fender to really know?Does anyone know how long it would take to take off and put on a fender?There isn't a way to see it with the fender off?

About my aunt being a "Shady Character" no she isnt.I have never seen her sell a car in my life let alone mess with them.I forgot to mension that she kinda owned the car because she bought it and everything but gave it to her grandson and he left it at her house.It was her grandson that wants to trade me for my 1967 Mustang that doesnt have a motor.My aunt is the one with the title right now though.One thing I do know is that the grandson would never register something that had a fake V.I.N. He was in that situation once for a good condition truck and he turned it down.(And the truck was free)

So basically I am leaning towards saying it was a car that had its dash replaced.Would you have to show the DMV the part on the body hull that said the 1978 v.i.n. number to have it registered as a 1978?If not what else is there?

Ron

 

[Mstng2]

Ron,
It's obvious the dash AND title from a 74 were used to register this car. It may be a Salvage car, it may be a theft car, whatever the reason what you need to do is take the VIN from the door and have the DMV do a search on it and see what it comes back as. If theft there is a problem as the original owner may want it back. If Salvage you may have a hard time getting title/registration. If nothing or clear wooohooo! You just apply for a new title under lost, or abandoned. Some states make you locate the last known owner. So there you have it. Go to it! Best of luck.

 

[Mean67302]

Ok.First off I am sorry that I wasted some of you guys time by saying that the title matched the V.I.N.I just went up to the car and got back about 10 minutes ago.My aunt showed me the title and it matched the door and I did end up finding the bucktag and the sequence number from the door vin and the title matched that.

It must of been a case of a changed dash after all.My aunt said she didnt know what I was talking about at first when I was telling her the vin didnt match.She took out the title and it said 1978 on it.It was licenced like that once!

She sold the car before and signed it over before she got all the money.The people she sold it to licenced it and then gave it back since they couldent pay for it.So it was licenced once with the dash and title vin not matching!

The windshield wiper switch was on the column switch.How would I go about making the vin on the window read the vin on the door and title?

Thanks,
Ron

 

[Mean67302]

Oh BTW the stuff that could be decoded from the buck tag said:

69F-2+2 Model
2R-Red Exterior
D-Red Interior
ST-Stereo,Tape
QM-Quarter Molding
TRF-T-Top Roof
DRM-Dual Remote Mirriors
FDS-Fold Down Rear Seat

Ron

 

[Dano78]

dano
did you ever get the tunnelram carburation sorted out so you can drive it easily....like in town when it has to idle and be more versitle than an on/off switch?
Later

Errr Well yeah I was making headway till I burned up the tranny. I used a Pinto valvebodied C4 (out of a 77 V8 CBII if you can believe that) and the shift kit, when installed screwed everything up. I have a '79 C4 I need to swap in and put my 2800 stall back in aswell. I don't think I had enough stall with the other converter and I think that was one of the major problems. After that there's a couple more tricks to try. i did have it pretty close but it still had a bad lean condition just out of acceleration from a start. Not sure what that was all about. Also switched out to a Holley Black pump to make sure those hungry buggars were gettin fed. Surprisingly the Black pump is MUCH quieter than the Holley Red that I had in it. Right now I'm also running points too, so that's another ball-o-wax. (needed to clear the Ram) so I'm leaning to an Accel breakerless ign. distributor. But I've kinda put a stop work on everything for now as I have my house up on the market looking for an even bigger place while the rates are rock bottom. I think after the Elections, rates will start climbing quickly.

OK DANGIT.... BACK TO THE TOPIC~!

 

[Dano78]

Ok.First off I am sorry that I wasted some of you guys time by saying that the title matched the V.I.N.I just went up to the car and got back about 10 minutes ago.My aunt showed me the title and it matched the door and I did end up finding the bucktag and the sequence number from the door vin and the title matched that.

It must of been a case of a changed dash after all.My aunt said she didnt know what I was talking about at first when I was telling her the vin didnt match.She took out the title and it said 1978 on it.It was licenced like that once!

She sold the car before and signed it over before she got all the money.The people she sold it to licenced it and then gave it back since they couldent pay for it.So it was licenced once with the dash and title vin not matching!

The windshield wiper switch was on the column switch.How would I go about making the vin on the window read the vin on the door and title?

Thanks,
Ron

Oh heck, don't worry about it. You didn't waste anybody's time. If it makes you feel better, i enjoyed the 3-4 beers while I was sittin here. Nevertheless, I bet this thread make other members more aware of this type of situation when they look to purchase a II or any other car for that matter. And that right there makes it a great thread to have explored.

Don't worry about making the dash vin match, appearantly the police already know about it and I bet it's noted on it's paperwork. To fix the VIN on the dash will require you to find the original plade and re-rivet it onto the existing dash piece. I don't believe that is anyone makeing re-pop plates for the II's.

OTOH, I'm glad to hear the title does jive with the car though. I was hoping it was just a mistake. Good luck with your decision.

 

[77sleeper]

keep your dizzy dano and use a pertronix unit

 

[Dano78]

Yeah I thought about that. I had a pertronix in the distributor in the old 302 and I have them in just about everything else I own. Great units. Only problem is I wasn to run a Really hot coil eventually, say 50,000 to 60,000 volts and it says not to use above 45,000 volts. Before, I ran the one in the old 302 with a Mallory Promaster Coil and it worked great.