• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.

    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Spridget cruelty

What's a "hog's head"? Also did you see in the questions area he said he has 25-30 more!? Crimey!
 
the Hog's Head is the Diffy... doncha speek Southern'?
 
Pythias said:
the Hog's Head is the Diffy... doncha speek Southern'?

Oh! Tho' I now live in upstate NY, I grew up in south Georgia. Never heard that one. Then again, I don't call the transmission a "tranny" after I googled that once by mistake! Ugggg!
 
Well, differential is kind of incorrect because that is just the gears that slip when you turn a curve. The whole thing is the final drive including the ring and pinion. Hogs head, third member, final drive, rearend, its all the same to some people. I need to find an absolute junker with a good cowling and vin plate and a good title, so I can build one good one out of two. The junker I have now with some good parts has no title.
 
Kim, I have a data plate. Nothing else if it will help.
 
you forgot "pumpkin"...
 
Kevin, you beat me to “pumpkin” as another slang for the differential assembly carrier.
But Transmission or trany? nay, gearbox.

"dug"
 
Sounds liker this guy has alot of old LBCs lying around and is ready to dump them. The ad says he has 25-30 Spridgets, sounds like a good palce to go get a $100 1275 parts car, I'm tempted, I going to the vintage races this weekend but I plan on calling this guy.
 
His name & number:

Butch McKenzie

336-229-1661

119 N. Cobb Ave.

Burlington, NC

I was going to try and go by there today on my way to Raleigh, take a quick inventory and report it here, but trip fell through. Good luck.
 
" Then again, I don't call the transmission a "tranny" after I googled that once by mistake! Ugggg! "

I had to try this myself. Sorry I did.....
 
jlaird said:
Kim, I have a data plate. Nothing else if it will help.
Nah, its got to be the whole piece to be legal. Not supposed to remove vin plates. That cowling is the main part of the car with the vin attached. Its what makes the car, you can replace everything else but that and it is still that car.
 
regularman said:
jlaird said:
Kim, I have a data plate. Nothing else if it will help.
Nah, its got to be the whole piece to be legal. Not supposed to remove vin plates. That cowling is the main part of the car with the vin attached. Its what makes the car, you can replace everything else but that and it is still that car.

SO, IF you somehow damage just the cowling BUT the rest of the car is intact, and then you replace just the cowling with a newly manufactured piece, what would it be then?

IMHO if you cobble together a car from 2 donor cars, I would have to say that you could use the VIN from either donor (preferably the one WITH a clear title). This might not agree with "the letter of the law" but as long as you legally acquired both cars what harm is being done? After all, you COULD always stamp matching ID numbers anywhere on the body that you desire (yes, I've seen it done...), thereby satisfying even the most diligent inspector!

I'd have NO PROBLEM sleeping at night, & I'd DEFY the DMV guys to determine that the car is not legal!

Besides... Don't most FULL Restorations involve removing the VIN Plate so that you can paint underneath??

(OK, I'll climb down off my soap box now...)

-Bear- :cheers:
 
I have been there over a dash VIN tag on "cuda" and again on a title work mishap

You can not belive how serious NCDMV officers can be. You don't want to go there, trust me on that one.
 
I agree with the above post. I almost ended up with a salvage title because I had removed the vin from my sprite to go get it titled. Figured it was easier to bring in the plate than the entire car. I had to leave the DMV and come back in hopes that I got someone different. Luckily I did.
 
BugEyeBear said:
regularman said:
jlaird said:
Kim, I have a data plate. Nothing else if it will help.
Nah, its got to be the whole piece to be legal. Not supposed to remove vin plates. That cowling is the main part of the car with the vin attached. Its what makes the car, you can replace everything else but that and it is still that car.

SO, IF you somehow damage just the cowling BUT the rest of the car is intact, and then you replace just the cowling with a newly manufactured piece, what would it be then?

IMHO if you cobble together a car from 2 donor cars, I would have to say that you could use the VIN from either donor (preferably the one WITH a clear title). This might not agree with "the letter of the law" but as long as you legally acquired both cars what harm is being done? After all, you COULD always stamp matching ID numbers anywhere on the body that you desire (yes, I've seen it done...), thereby satisfying even the most diligent inspector!

I'd have NO PROBLEM sleeping at night, & I'd DEFY the DMV guys to determine that the car is not legal!

Besides... Don't most FULL Restorations involve removing the VIN Plate so that you can paint underneath??
No, you are supposed to leave the area around the Vin untouched. If you were to replace the cowling with a new one, you have to get the DMV guy out to put the vin on the new one with his special rivets. Again, I just need a junker with a title and that vin and all still attached to the cowling so I can make two from one. Its a darn shame there is not a good way to get a title from a junked vehicle but its not worth all the trouble and expense of all that. I guess its for a reason but it sucks.
 
regularman said:
BugEyeBear said:
regularman said:
jlaird said:
Kim, I have a data plate. Nothing else if it will help.
Nah, its got to be the whole piece to be legal. Not supposed to remove vin plates. That cowling is the main part of the car with the vin attached. Its what makes the car, you can replace everything else but that and it is still that car.

SO, IF you somehow damage just the cowling BUT the rest of the car is intact, and then you replace just the cowling with a newly manufactured piece, what would it be then?

IMHO if you cobble together a car from 2 donor cars, I would have to say that you could use the VIN from either donor (preferably the one WITH a clear title). This might not agree with "the letter of the law" but as long as you legally acquired both cars what harm is being done? After all, you COULD always stamp matching ID numbers anywhere on the body that you desire (yes, I've seen it done...), thereby satisfying even the most diligent inspector!

I'd have NO PROBLEM sleeping at night, & I'd DEFY the DMV guys to determine that the car is not legal!

Besides... Don't most FULL Restorations involve removing the VIN Plate so that you can paint underneath??
No, you are supposed to leave the area around the Vin untouched. If you were to replace the cowling with a new one, you have to get the DMV guy out to put the vin on the new one with his special rivets. Again, I just need a junker with a title and that vin and all still attached to the cowling so I can make two from one. Its a darn shame there is not a good way to get a title from a junked vehicle but its not worth all the trouble and expense of all that. I guess its for a reason but it sucks. It is a felony to posses a vin from a car or the special rivets and in this state any vehicle with a vin removed is to be crushed by law.
 
Hi Kim,

<span style="font-weight: bold">WOW, those NC DMV guys sound REALLY strict, & tough!
Too bad, as you're not trying to do anything illegal or dishonest, you're just trying to restore an old car!</span> (They don't make it easy on us, do they...)

I've never looked that close, but isn't a Spridget VIN plate just held on with regular rivets? I've never noticed that they were anything special. I really can't imagine that it would be difficult to find rivets of similar type, shape, size...

Many years ago, I had an early 70's Datsun 510 that had some surface rust under & around the VIN plate. When this area was repaired/repainted we simply drilled out the rivets, did the repair, and then reriveted the plate back in place. Looked exactly like it did when it left the factory. Never had anyone question it.

Also, it is pretty common for the VIN or ID plate to be removed from a car before it gets media blasted, as the blasting can destroy these plates (or at least make them unreadable). I'd guess that most of these plates are reinstalled w/o DMV supervision.

<span style="font-weight: bold">I DO appreciate your desire to adhere to the letter of the law, and maybe this is advisable in NC as it sounds like the NC DMV guys are a rough bunch.</span>

I'd be willing to bet that SOMEONE in this forum has a junker w a valid title that they want to get rid of. Have you posted a thread to inquire? Is there a specific year or Mark that you are looking for?

-Bear- :cheers:
 
BugEyeBear said:
Hi Kim,

<span style="font-weight: bold">WOW, those NC DMV guys sound REALLY strict, & tough!
Too bad, as you're not trying to do anything illegal or dishonest, you're just trying to restore an old car!</span> (They don't make it easy on us, do they...)

I've never looked that close, but isn't a Spridget VIN plate just held on with regular rivets? I've never noticed that they were anything special. I really can't imagine that it would be difficult to find rivets of similar type, shape, size...

Many years ago, I had an early 70's Datsun 510 that had some surface rust under & around the VIN plate. When this area was repaired/repainted we simply drilled out the rivets, did the repair, and then reriveted the plate back in place. Looked exactly like it did when it left the factory. Never had anyone question it.

Also, it is pretty common for the VIN or ID plate to be removed from a car before it gets media blasted, as the blasting can destroy these plates (or at least make them unreadable). I'd guess that most of these plates are reinstalled w/o DMV supervision.

<span style="font-weight: bold">I DO appreciate your desire to adhere to the letter of the law, and maybe this is advisable in NC as it sounds like the NC DMV guys are a rough bunch.</span>

I'd be willing to bet that SOMEONE in this forum has a junker w a valid title that they want to get rid of. Have you posted a thread to inquire? Is there a specific year or Mark that you are looking for?

-Bear- :cheers:
Not really just one that is pre 1974 so It will be over 35 years old and not require inspection in this state. I would kind of like a sprite title so I could do up the Austin thing a bit, but this one is going to be much less original than my 71. Its going to be my experimental vehicle, I am not sure what will power it right now but it will not be the a series and probably not gasoline either. Just a play toy but I don't want to start on something that I don't have the proper paperwork for.
 
Back
Top