Replacement Vin. Decal?

[Hedgehog]

I admit it I'm hooked on car restoration shows. I've seem/heard this twice now. "While restoring your CJ we repainted the body and even replaced the Vin. decal on the dash." Man I'd really like the proper dash decal on my CJ's dash. Does anybody know where they offer a service like this? It does occur to me that this might not be entirely legal, but since I don't have the original dash and I know I'm not the only one in this situation and the DMV ALWAYS looks for this sticker ..... well what can you do.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Mine is mounted to the plate the wiper motor is bolted to. Not directly to the dash.
Is that what you mean??
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

Nope ..... My CJ has a metal Vin. plate under the Master cylinder, more than likely just like yours does. But oddly enough that is not the one Arizona and many other states use to identify the vehicle. There should be a sticker attached to your dash low on the dash and to the left of the steering wheel with all your registration information on it. At the time AMC wasn't very concerned with how they placed the sticker either, some look like they were slapped on in willy nilly fashion. As a matter of fact the inspectors are directed not to look any place else on the vehicle. You can tell them that the Vin. plate is on the fire wall until you are blue ion the face and they won't look there.

After finding this out I dug up my old dash. It was all cut up with 28 extra switch holes, speaker holes and a rat hole for a radio. All was covered by an aluminum diamond plate ugliness. The dash was almost the very first thing to GO! To my surprise under the diamond plate there was the remains of the original sticker. All the important information was there. I even considered welding the left hand part of the original dash to the replacement, but rejected that notion.

After posting this thread I did the logical thing and ran a Google search and found a place that produces there stickers.

www.bearcreeksurvey.com/NOSRepro.htm

Evidently he does a great job.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

We all should have that same firewall 'tag' from mid 1970's on. That's the primary 'VIN'.
It also has the build codes like paint color, type of interior etc.
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

I agree and yes our tags are the very same, but Arizona Vehicle Department doesn't. Why I absolutely don't know. In their inspectors manual they specify that the Vin. is on the dash or in the door frame. If there is any question the inspection moves on to a level 3 inspection and they treat your vehicle as if it were stolen.

Why do I know this, Rob at Willy's Works has a large number of vehicles inspected and is vary good friends with a vehicle inspector. He's seen the manual that is there bible on such things. The inspector knows all about the tag on the fire wall, but he can not use it in his inspection. All of it seems so backwards to me with the fire wall tag being solid and permanent with the sticker being ... well an easily replaced sticker.

 

[Posi]

An option for the metal tag on the firewall.
Tags Backeast, Trim Tags Backeast, Data Plates, A.G.Backeast. We make tags for AMC, Buick, Cadillac, Camaro, Chevelle, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Corvette, Dodge, DeSoto, Edsel, Ford, Frazer, La Salle, Henry J, Kaiser, Lincoln, Mercury, Mustang, Oldsmobile

There is another guy overseas that make a very good looking tag. I have his email address somewhere in my folder.

 

[Hedgehog]

I'm not really talking about the metal firewall tag. My focus was on the far more likely lost or destroyed decal/sticker/tag on most everybody's dash. It was always my impression that Vin. tags were somehow sacred or untouchable by mortal hands. In the past few years it has come to my attention that they aren't quite so untouchable as I once thought. So, to find the service Posi posted is interesting.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

That's arsebackwards from all other states including PRK.
Any AMC/Jeep FSM will confirm this info.
The f'wall 'tag' is the primary VIN.
There are secondary VIN's in at least 6 places on my CJ. The only readily visible one is the one on the wiper motor mounting plate.
Guess somedangbody in AZ don't like older CJ's.
My CJ never had a 'dash' mounted decal VIN.
LG

 

[Posi]

X2 on the firewall tag.
I believe 79 was the last year for paper dash stickers.
Most were removed for repainting, others the sun faded the numbers unless there was a metal top.
The 76-79 dash stickers faded the most unless the jeep was garaged.
My 79 dash sticker is still legible

 

[Peanut Butter]

The reason the dashboard decal is used as the official Vin number is that decal is tamper proof. If you try to remove it the word VOID shows up. The tin plate can be duplicated. The guy that makes them probably doesn't use the same type of decal. Not many people know this, so the replica may work. Also on my 79 model the sticker was silver not yellow. 75 may be different.

 

[CJ]

Bearcreaksurvey sells them.

See -->> CJ Decals

Scroll down the page to 'VIN Stickers', they aren't typed so there are no indentations and as stated are not tamper proof.

 

[Hedgehog]

That's arsebackwards from all other states including PRK.
Any AMC/Jeep FSM will confirm this info.
The f'wall 'tag' is the primary VIN.
There are secondary VIN's in at least 6 places on my CJ. The only readily visible one is the one on the wiper motor mounting plate.
Guess somedangbody in AZ don't like older CJ's.
My CJ never had a 'dash' mounted decal VIN.
LG

I'm sorry to say this but one this one you are mistaken. Several states use the dash sticker for looking up the Vin. number. Don't get me wrong now, I agree with you, it is "arsebackwards". Peanut Butter has a point about the void warning. :dunno:

 

[Hedgehog]

..... After posting this thread I did the logical thing and ran a Google search and found a place that produces there stickers.

www.bearcreeksurvey.com/NOSRepro.htm

Evidently he does a great job.

Caught. Yes I know about threads running long and becoming tedious to read in it's entirety ...... Just foolin' with yeah, thanks for the back up.

 

[HackFabrication]

An option for the metal tag on the firewall.
Tags Backeast, Trim Tags Backeast, Data Plates, A.G.Backeast. We make tags for AMC, Buick, Cadillac, Camaro, Chevelle, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Corvette, Dodge, DeSoto, Edsel, Ford, Frazer, La Salle, Henry J, Kaiser, Lincoln, Mercury, Mustang, Oldsmobile

I have one of his tags. He is a great vendor. Ordered it and after a couple of emails working out the details, I had the plate in under a week. It is a PERFECT reproduction of the original tag. Size, material, font, spacing: All correct. Pricey. But if anyone has one in as poor condition as mine was, it is definitely the way to go.

The guy that makes them probably doesn't use the same type of decal. Not many people know this, so the replica may work. Also on my 79 model the sticker was silver not yellow. 75 may be different.

I have the dash sticker from Bearcreek (and the cool trans/t-case one too). The data sticker is not an exact duplicate of the OEM one that was on my 1976 CJ5. (I still have a section of the dash with the data sticker and the emissions exempt sticker for comparison.)

Are either 'legal'? I'm neither an attorney nor a judge, so I'm not going to express an opinion....