Salutations and VIN mismatch

[XplosiveLugnut]

Hello! I've had my 240 for 6 months now and am just now getting around to posting.

First, the car. A '71 Series I that was originally silver and is now blue. All it needed was an alternator and rear shocks.(no, I didn't pull the pins. I don't wanna pull the pins.) It's been reliable ever since. It has dealer AC that I've not bothered to put a belt on; its got the fried parking light circuit fuse which has been temporarily fixed (yes, it's fused and even relayed, but there's still a toggle dangling out the side of the console); and it doesn't idle. The choke must be used to manually control the idle. This doesn't cause any issues. Drives great, to me at least; I don't know any better.

The pics.

So, the VIN oddity.

The B-pillar plate, the firewall stamping and this Texas VIN reassignment plate all read 16512.

The dash VIN reads 134962.

More pics.

So the dash VIN is from a Series IV car. What's up with that?

The Texas plate thing is from it being stolen and recovered in Texas in the 70's. Maybe the thieves changed the dash VIN and didn't bother with the others?

Anyway, when we went to get it titled, the gal at the courthouse titled it with the VIN she saw through the windshield and did no further inspection. It bugs me a bit, but I wasn't about to bring up this kind of discrepancy and have the Z impounded or something crazy they might do.

Also, of all things, it's numbers matching. (besides that VIN of course )

Thanks!

Edited June 27, 2014 by XplosiveLugnut

[djwarner]

The dash has definitely been replaced at some time in the past. The oil pressure gauge is not a Series I gauge. The dash vin plate comes out with the dash. As for any legal problems, don't know how these things are handled in your state. But I would not wait to resolve it. You wouldn't want to ruin a future sale because someone caught it. OR... getting stopped by a nosey cop and getting your car impounded.

Your situation in not "an oddity", it is a future legal problem you bought along with the Z. At the very least, I would be banging on the seller's door wanting some consideration for the troubles he has inflicted upon you.

[siteunseen]

There's a lot of stolen '75 and older cars in Alabama. All you need to get a title is a hand written bill of sale. Our DMV didn't communicate with other states computer systems, that's the way it was explained to me when I bought my 1st '72.

I see it came from an auction. I googled the newer vin#, VIN HLS30134962 - the Full Information on the Vehicle

Maybe it was a rebuild?

Edited June 27, 2014 by siteunseen

[Darrel]

what is the real vin number stamped on the driver side firewall?

[djwarner]

SN 16512 would have been a 12/70 date of manufacture. All the other Series I identifiers show in your pictures. The Texas Tag on the B pillar apparently is used to correct the erroneous dash tag. Check with the Texas DMV.

At any rate, what did your bill of sale or previous title say? If the previous owner wrote down the higher number, you may have a problem straightening it out. If it was the DMV clerk's fault, you should be able to get a corrected title.

I bought my car in Ohio and had an odometer reading entered on the title as 65xxx miles when it should have been 62xxx (blame it on dyslexia). When the Florida clerk examined the car and found the odometer reading 64yyy, she said she couldn't enter a lower number than the previous title. After I explained it was really 164yyy miles, she just entered "unverified" on the title.

Edited June 27, 2014 by djwarner

[Carl Beck]

djwarner:

I checked the law here in Florida about 12 years ago - the law requires that you have a Police Officer or FL HWP Officer present when you remove a dash with the VIN attached - in order to replace the dash. Then they have to be present as you transfer the VIN tag and reinstall the replacement dash. No one actually does that of course - but it is the law here.

If Florida issues a Rebuilt Title - they too use the serial or chassis number of the car {Not the entire VIN} - then they create a new VIN Tag to be affixed to the car - it will Begin with FLA- followed by the numbers.

Just FYI

Carl

[XplosiveLugnut]

At any rate, what did your bill of sale or previous title say? If the previous owner wrote down the higher number, you may have a problem straightening it out.

Those have to be retrieved from a safe deposit box. I'll have that info in the next couple days or so.

The dash has definitely been replaced at some time in the past. The oil pressure gauge is not a Series I gauge. The dash vin plate comes out with the dash.

What are the oil gauge differences? The only thing I looked at was the speedo. It starts at 20 mph. That's a Series I speedo right? Are there other "Series n" identifiers on the dash I could check?

[bartsscooterservice]

Looking at the pics I think HLS30 16512 12/70 date of manufacture is correct. So Series 1..

The steering wheel also has the closed spokes from a series 1. They could have replaced the dash and the meters..

Also the rear hatch has the series 1 vents, and the 240z logo on the side pillars.

[djwarner]

The Series I oil pressure gauge read up to 140 psig. As Bart said, the steering wheel is also a Series I. The other significant interior change has to do with the jack and tool kit location. In a Series I these are located behind the seat and have a flimsy plastic cover. In the Series II and later, these are stored in pockets under the rear floor.

[XplosiveLugnut]

I've hypothesized a bit. I think the whole dash is a Series II except the speedo which was swapped over because of the odometer. A shame they didn't remember to swap the VINs. Did Series II's have the Jeco mechanical clock?

Anyway, here's an excerpt from the bill of sale.

Ha! automatic. And of course, wrong VIN. And in looking for the title, I've realized I've yet to lay eyes on it. I don't think I've received it yet. Hmm...

[siteunseen]

Both my 72s have the Jeco clock, '77 does not.

It took about a month to get mine, I'm in Etowah county.

Edited June 30, 2014 by siteunseen