Topic: Registering A Lemon in CT
Hey,
My team is thinking about building a new car and we want to register it so we can road test it. Normally this wouldn't be too bad except for the following hurdles
1. No title for the car(77' Fiat X1/9)
2. Car is gutted and non of the electrics work
3. We want to engine swap it with one from a 93 Escort GT
4. No title for the Escort
5. Swapped the transmission on the Escort a few months ago(have a receipt and maybe a VIN but no title for the tranny)
Now many of these problems are solvable like 1 and 2. I might be able to get a title for it and I wan wire it up with lights and make it complaint. My problem is how to register it. In CT I can register as a composite vehicle but that would require a detailed inspection and proof of ownership of "major components" ie, engine, transmission ect. If you look at this and this, you can see the requirements of the inspection and some of the paperwork. I can pass most or all of the hardware stuff but the paper trail side is where I come up short.
Here what I am asking.
Do I go through the effort of tracking down and getting all the paperwork I do not have(possibly a futile effort). And then register the car super legitimately as a composite vehicle.
Or
Do it just get the title for the Fiat and register it as a stock Fiat. The DMV would never have to look at it because it does not need emission or safety inspection.
Or
Just ignore the whole endeavor, and shell out for towing and track days ect
Also on a side note what do people with road legal Lemons do around the seat and seat-belt situation. Do you put the stock seats back in? Do you keep the stock belts in as a show piece? Do you just run with the belts and race seat? Do inspectors get freaked out about the cage/ lack of dash/ homemade control panels/ fuel cells?
I know not getting the title was stupid (I will in the future, tbh the Fiat is a almost 40 year old car that was a pile of rust and had no wheels), but whats done is done. Finally, I am aware of the potential for giving Lemons a bad name by driving improperly registered cars like an idiot on the road. I do not plan on doing that and I keep my sprited driving for the track.
I would love any input from people with road legal cars, definitely if you have extensive modifications or are from CT, thanks.