My Willys 3A and 3B Community

TECH FAQ SECTIONS => EVERYTHING ELSE, General tips => Topic started by: MikeB on January 21, 2017, 01:30:04 PM

Title: Vin Plate repair?
Post by: MikeB on January 21, 2017, 01:30:04 PM: Ok, so the dash mounted Vin/serial number plate, on my 65 year old M38 is showing the signs of being 65 years old and in a location that gets a lot of traffic.

The serial number is becoming faint, so faint it is becoming hard to read.

This will be an issue if I ever sell the Willys or get an inspection. No readable vin, no registration, no drivable Willys!

So is there any place that can re-stamp the serial plaque and it be legal. I would hate to loose all the hard work put into this jeep, as getting a new title where I live is next to impossible.
Title: Re: Vin Plate repair?
Post by: 1955CJ-5 on January 21, 2017, 06:46:32 PM: This fellow made a plate for my CJ-3a. It turned out very nice. I attached the new plate to the jeep and keep the old original plate with the title.....

http://rdrnl.home.xs4all.nl/4UWPWillysM38.html

Randy
Title: Re: Vin Plate repair?
Post by: athawk11 on January 21, 2017, 07:57:16 PM: I used the same outfit Randy suggested.ï¿½ Robert does beautiful work.

(http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa397/athawk11/athawk11%20Willys%20White/20160814_122553_zpsoc0v8ajy.jpg)

I fixed this one up.ï¿½

(http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa397/athawk11/20151030_174138_zpsnxwtlmze.jpg)

This is what it looked like prior to the cleanup...

(http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa397/athawk11/d570d280-c2a4-4a35-9217-0f5378293eac_zps2dgwbp6p.jpg)

You could try to paint the stamping black then use some 600 grit paper and a small block to sand it back off.ï¿½ The paint will stay in the low depressions and hopefully highlight the number enough to satisfy the inspector.ï¿½ This is the basic approach I used to fix the plate in the second photo, but I painted the whole plate then sanded it back off.
Title: Re: Vin Plate repair?
Post by: 64CJ5 on January 22, 2017, 03:31:30 PM: There are no data plates on my M-38. The vin no. on the title for my 52 M-38 is not an M-38 vin no.. The no. is stamped on the left frame just behind the front bumper. It matches the title.
Made my own number plate from some aluminum stock and used pop rivets to hold it to the fire wall. Not original, but then very little on this M-38 is or will be original.
I doubt that an inspector would know what an original vin plate would look like. The numbers match you should be good to go.
Title: Re: Vin Plate repair?
Post by: macrisel on January 24, 2017, 10:51:57 AM: The VIN on my tag did not match the VIN on my title when I bought my Jeep. Instead of correcting my title (which it a LOOOONG process that might or might not work) I just bought a blank VIN plate from Walcks and stamped my title VIN number on to it using a cheap set of leather/wood stamping tools I had. I still have my original VIN plate and intended to restore it or get a replacement from the vendor listed earlier...............but that was 4 years ago.