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.

Moot Point Racing - 1991 Volvo 240 - #496

Re: Registering A Lemon in CT

I don't know about CT specifically, but I would highly recommend just registering it as a Fiat and leaving it at that. Generally, the state only cares about the VIN on the chassis. If it doesn't have to pass emissions or any kind of OBD scan, then the government couldn't care less what pile of metal is under the hood.

On the subject of how to handle seat belts, I can't help there. My car passed inspection when it still had the stock seats, and it's old enough that belts were optional. Since then my inspection has lapsed, but I assume if I ever get around to fixing the turn signal and getting it inspected again that the inspectors in Texas won't care as long as it has a seat and belt of some kind.

Re: Registering A Lemon in CT

mully006 wrote:

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?.

We do not have safety inspections in In or IL but since we drive a van with a GIANT 666 on side and one of many invasive themes, we wanted to truly be legal.  We left the standard shoulder belt assembly in and when we street drive, it is what we use.

For the 1948 Plymouth we are building, it will be street driven for months before it gets a race seat.  We are mounting a Sebring convertible seat in it which has shoulder and lap belt fully integrated in the seat.  Plan is to mount it to a baseplate and mount the baseplate to the car.  Then once caged and race seat installed, it can be moved to the passenger side when we want to daily drive it, we have a safe passenger seat (all metal dash, non-collapsible steering column, etc).

4 (edited by mike944 2016-05-23 11:03 PM)

Re: Registering A Lemon in CT

Ok, i'm in CT.   Don't have a lemon registered (yet), but going through the same thing as you, we're planning to register the Defeat Device Chevette as a street car.     We plan to register it as a '79 chevette, despite the fact that it's probably less than 10% (by weight) Chevette. 

My plan is to meet the "Composite Vehicle" requirements as close as i can (just in case some cop decides to be a d*ck about requirements) but not register it as a composite vehicle.   I plan to follow the guidelines in the "composite vehicle information packet" linked from the DMV site


Here's what i do know about CT and registering cars:
- anything over 20 years old doesn't need a title  http://www.ct.gov/dmv/cwp/view.asp?a=816&q=244698   I haven't actually done this yet, but everybody says you only need a bill of sale, and the link shows it, and even provides a somewhat official looking letter from the "Title Dept" of the DMV to prove it.
- if the car was last registered OUTSIDE of CT, the DMV does a "VIN verification" because apparently we can't trust those shady other states. 
- Over 25 years no emissions inspection
- over 20 years you can apply for "Classic" plates instead of the regular ones, which means your town can't tax you on a value of more than $500, not really applicable in our case, but i suppose it is, if you have a high-dollar exotic.

That's it.  I would make the basic stuff functional, like lights, horn, etc...    Then just walk into your local DMV with your bill of sale, and register it as a '77 fiat.   Walk out with plates, problem solved.

Maximum Effort Motorsports - Mid-engine 1979 Chevette - Class C Winner - GP Du Lac Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
New England Long Winter Build Award - 2015
IOE Winner, Loudon Annoying 2011, Judges Choice - Loudon Annoying 2012
Class C & Least Horrible Yank Tank winner - Boston Tow Party & Overhead Cam Bake 2011

Re: Registering A Lemon in CT

mike944 wrote:

That's it.  I would make the basic stuff functional, like lights, horn, etc...    Then just walk into your local DMV with your bill of sale, and register it as a '77 fiat.   Walk out with plates, problem solved.

So thats is esscentially my plan as well but there is a small problem.  When you look at this webpage for proof of ownership documents there is this text in the first paragraph

Vehicles with a model year over 20 years prior to the current year are non-titled and not required. For registration of a non-titled vehicle, the registration from the last owner and a Q1 form (Supplemental assignment of ownership) is needed.

The way I reed this is I need to get a previous registration and then also the Q1 form to register the car, because it does not have a title and the DMV will not give out a title for a 20+ year old car. 

Another thought that I had was I could use the H-115 form  This is what you need for a homemade vehicle.  I am not sure if the will work when I am registering just a regular car. 

I might be able to get the previous registration and the Q1 from because the car has a CT plate on it, I just need to figure out how to contact that person through the DMV or something.  I used this registration check, but it does not find anything.

Moot Point Racing - 1991 Volvo 240 - #496

Re: Registering A Lemon in CT

Let me ask some friends about it.   I have a friend who just recently registered a 20+ yr old vehicle a couple of months ago.

I thought you could just walk into the DMV with a bill of sale.

The DMV won't give you info on the previous owner.

Maximum Effort Motorsports - Mid-engine 1979 Chevette - Class C Winner - GP Du Lac Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
New England Long Winter Build Award - 2015
IOE Winner, Loudon Annoying 2011, Judges Choice - Loudon Annoying 2012
Class C & Least Horrible Yank Tank winner - Boston Tow Party & Overhead Cam Bake 2011

Re: Registering A Lemon in CT

mike944 wrote:

The DMV won't give you info on the previous owner.

I suspected as much.  I thought maybe I would be able to send them a message though.  It was a long shot.

Moot Point Racing - 1991 Volvo 240 - #496

Re: Registering A Lemon in CT

Ok, everybody i know who's recently registered a 20+ year old car has had a title, so nobody actually knows for sure.

Several people said stop down to the DMV and just ask questions.       I *think* that the requirement to provide a previous registration is so they can see what state it was last registered in, to decide whether to do a VIN verification or not.     i think......

Per that link, i read that the Q1 form is an option, but a handwritten bill of sale will substitute.    I've never used the Q1 form

I think if you have a bill of sale, you're good.  If it were me, I'd go there, with your bill of sale, and talk to the people at the front desk (you have to anyway).    if you don't have what you need, they'll turn you away.    If you do have it, you wait in the 2hr line and you're done

I'm not sure that the "Homemade" form works for a vehicle (i don't think that the linked form is the right form anyway).  I think it's only for trailers.  It's been 15 years since i registered my homemade trailer, so i don't remember.      If "Homemade" worked for complete vehicles, why would anyone register as a composite vehicle?

Good luck, and let us know how you make out.

Maximum Effort Motorsports - Mid-engine 1979 Chevette - Class C Winner - GP Du Lac Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
New England Long Winter Build Award - 2015
IOE Winner, Loudon Annoying 2011, Judges Choice - Loudon Annoying 2012
Class C & Least Horrible Yank Tank winner - Boston Tow Party & Overhead Cam Bake 2011