78 to early 80;s cab replacement

[mudderone]

I have a 78 K10 SWB. I am looking at restoring it, I have located a Cab but it is eary 80's model. My question to the board is "if I replace the cab the VIN now changes. In techincality the truck now become a eary 80's, how will that effect the emission requirements? Currently my 78 has no emission. I know when I go and get the truck inspected that is the first thing they look at.






quote "if all else Give it hell":burnout

[1978K5]

Hi,....I know that swapping VIN's on cars is a federal crime. Would anyone really find out if you did change them? Probably not, and if you keep the truck then no one will, the trouble begins once you go to sell it. Do you sell it as a '78 or an early 80's model? Im not entirely sure if the Fed considers the cab as the main component or the frame, but I ran into this when I went to re-body my '70 Camaro with a '71 shell. I checked with the local police and voila, its illegal big time. The reason is that even though you swap the VIN, that number is usually stamped into the main body somewhere as a permanent ID. And according to local law, a mis-matched VIN and body stamping indicates an illegal car and is confiscated, meaning you lose it. Big chance. Will this happen? Most likely not, but if the truck is stolen, the cops will look for all the numbers, then you roll the dice. In my camaros case, it was stamped under the heater/blower cover under the hood. You can never change it so its a catch-22. Im looking at rebodying my '78 Blazer also, but if I went to sell it, I would point out I used a different body. Big thing is to make sure to get a title with the cab, at least to me as you can never be too sure can you. I hope this helps, and if you want to keep it a '78 like I do, then go for it, just cross your T's and dot your I's.

[al b]

just a thought..... cut out the door jamb back far enough to reweld it back in without disturbing the vin plate, dash plate (if you have one) may be a little more difficult, but would save alot of worry.