Street Rod Registration Part II

VERIFICATION OF VEHICLE (REG. 343 FORM)
This form can be downloaded from the Internet or picked up at any DMV. The first thing you will notice is that this form isn't intended for you to fill out but rather an "authorized DMV representative, California licensed vehicle verifier, authorized auto club, or peace office who has been properly trained to perform vehicle verifications."

Any alteration or erasures to this form will cause it to be invalid and the California Highway Patrol also reserves the right to ask you to produce the car at their discretion. This form is primarily interested in the VIN, the number plate, its location, odometer reading, and engine numbers, and if they reflect the data the VIN indicates.

APPLICATION FOR TITLE OR REGISTRATION (REG. 343/31 COMBO FORM)
This form is also downloadable or can be picked up at a DMV, and is intended to gather owner information such as name, address, and the California driver's license number. The form also asks information to establish the legal title owner if other than the registered owner. Again, odometer readings are gathered as well as the purchase price. This is an application for title and/or registration and no guarantee you will receive one.

STATEMENT OF FACTS (REG. 25 FORM)
Another form that can be downloaded or picked up at a DMV, the purpose of this paperwork is to establish if the vehicle is exempt from tax or smog fees and verification. This form is also used to verify a car (like street rod projects) was not used on any street, highway, or off-highway.

STATEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION (REG. 5036 FORM)
This form is one of the two forms you will need for a specially constructed vehicle, or a "new" street rod such as an aftermarket frame and/or body and related components required to build a functioning car.

The form asks who built the car--you or an agent (shop)--and then asks for bills of sale (receipts) for the major components--engine, transmission, frame, and body. There's space on the form for you to explain if you can't provide bills of sale for these components. (Law enforcement is deeply concerned in finding components that are stolen, hence the effort that is put forth when this form is used.)

Next there are a series of lines that ask for specific values of the following items: purchase price of the unassembled kit (components); purchase price of the partially assembled vehicle (body/frame); purchase price of the completely assembled vehicle; purchase price of the new and/or used component parts; cost of the frame (if purchased separately); cost of the engine (if applicable); cost of installation of the transmission/engine (if applicable); value of parts not supported by bills of sale; and total value of the vehicle, which includes labor.

The backside of this form asks for specific information (name, address, phone number) of the company and responsible person who supplied the engine, transmission, frame, and body. Next up the form asks for the date, person, and location where you took possession of the car. As with all of the previous forms, you are asked to sign your name and swear all is true. Now is not the time to be unsure of any data you have supplied.

APPLICATION FOR ASSIGNED VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER PLATE (REG. 124 FORM)
This is the one form (triplicate, white/yellow/pink) you cannot download from a computer. In fact, you cannot get an Application for Assigned Vehicle Identification Number Plate (commonly referred to as a blue tag) until you have been to the DMV, paid fees, and had it signed off. From here you take the form with your information and that of the DMV to the CHP and they in turn inspect your vehicle.

In California it isn't uncommon for a county to have a single officer whose sole job is to verify a VIN (in Orange County, where STREET RODDER resides, it is Officer Scott Smith, VIN officer for the California Highway Patrol). As we found out, it makes sense to visit your local VIN officer, as he or she can direct you to what paperwork you need and how to go about getting it. He or she can also point out which DMVs are better equipped to deal with specially constructed vehicles.

This is the form of forms when it comes to registering a specially constructed vehicle (street rod). With this form filled out and signed off you will be issued two blue tags, each with the identical number--one to be affixed to the body and one to the frame. The number on the blue tag becomes the VIN, but it doesn't look like any VIN you may have seen before. Nevertheless, it is the number that will stay with the vehicle for the remainder of its life. In our dealings with Officer Smith, he was open to having the one for the body placed in a number of locations so as not to be conspicuous, but still visible. The one for the frame must be mounted in a position so another law enforcement officer can readily find and view it.

CONCLUSION
Within the next two months we will have taken our PPG / STREET RODDER Road Tour '34 Chevy all the way through the process and have our very own blue tags and a legally registered specially constructed vehicle. Stay tuned as we talk you through the process.