That's my question. My Miata purchase was had the interior swapped out. I have the original parts, including the old dashboard with the VIN plate still attached.
That's my question. My Miata purchase was had the interior swapped out. I have the original parts, including the old dashboard with the VIN plate still attached.
When I did the dash swap on my E30, I just swapped the VIN plate over to the new dash.
Tom_Spangler said:When I did the dash swap on my E30, I just swapped the VIN plate over to the new dash.
Do that and pretend it never happened
Looked at multiple discussions on a variety of forums. Some were restoration forums where they do a lot of changes of this type.
Consensus was that removing and replacement of a VIN plate was specifically forbidden by statute.
Yes. Yes it is. That is why if there is no harm done, and no one else knows about... forget it ever happened.
You never touched the vin plate you changed the dash. Big difference. 
It may depend on the state and what you plan to do with the car. Bear in mind you will have a dash VIN that says one thing and then VIN's all over the rest of the car that say something else. In states where some official inspects the car and verifies the numbers, it could be a problem when you go to sell the car or a buyer attempts to register it.
I have been down this road. I had a dash swapped Dodge truck. Dash and registered VIN from a 1995 4x4 Cummins. Body and frame from a 1996 2x4 V10. In PA, this didn't really present a problem other than some ribbing from my inspection station. However, I sold the truck to a guy in Maryland (the VIN discrepancy was #1 in the sale ad) and he had trouble getting it registered in MD. Ended up getting it registered at his mother's house in PA. The value of the truck was severely diminished because the VIN (re: how NOT to buy a truck off eBay...).
IMHO - unless you have some really good reason do the swap (and on a Miata, I can't think of one), I would do everything I could to avoid it.
Miata dashboards crack horribly in the sun. That would be a good enough reason to change one out.
When I worked for a showroom stock race team, we would get pre-production cars from from the manufacturer to turn into race cars. One was an ‘89 T/A with the 350 and auto trans. We had to make it into an ‘88 T/A 305 with 5 spd. We used a label maker along with some semi-gloss grey spray can, and presto, the vin matched the drivetrain.
Previous owner swapped it out in a color change. It used to be BR green with tan interior, it's now Lava Orange with a black interior.
I don't care much about the colors, I would have preferred a white one. I bought it because it already had a hardtop, roll bar, flow formed Wheels, racing seat, Momo wheel, and a stock suspension and drivetrain.
I might just swap the old dashboard back. I have used the special spray paint for plastic previously. It's held up really well, so I could just paint the tan portions. Not sure I care enough to bother with that step. How difficult is it to get the dashboard out of a Miata?
Not that hard. I've had them out and back in on a Friday night.
I have transferred the VIN plate from one dash to another. I don't see the problem - as noted, you're not moving the VIN, you're changing the dash. I would not leave an alternate VIN on the dashboard. Use black rivets if you want it to look more factory.
Last time we had this discussion I dug a little into it for PA. It turns out there's a form you fill out, an inspection by the state police, they issue a vin plate and make a note of it. Florida may have a similar process. If you want to keep it strictly legal that would be the way to do it.
Otherwise just swap it over it's not like you're cutting it out of the firewall.
Waiting my turn at the DMV. I'm going to ask. Bet they don't know.
Floating Doc said:How difficult is it to get the dashboard out of a Miata?
Pretty easy with an NB... which it sounds like you have. I've done it several times recently, and got it down to ~ 20 minutes to remove it.
Yes, NB.
Ultimately, I bet that fraud is the concern. The vin goes with the chassis. Just because it's attached to the dash, doesn't mean anything. That is why it's also on a sticker and stamped into the body somewhere. If you must, photograph the change and the other locations with the same number for verification.
I suspect it's the sort of thing that's only a problem if you bring it to someone's attention. If the VIN matches, nobody's going to notice or care that the dash is from a different year.
Floating Doc said:Waiting my turn at the DMV. I'm going to ask. Bet they don't know.
You’re going way too far into this for something that could be done already and nobody would be wiser. It’s not like you stole the car and are trying to stick a vin on from a dash out of the junkyard. Technically it’s probably federally not cool to touch the tag with more than a cloth while cleaning the dash, but it was also incredibly derpy on mazda’s part to affix a permanent identification tag to an easily removed piece. On most of what i’m used to the vin is attached to the metal under the dash and there’s a little window to view the tag.
Patrick said:Floating Doc said:Waiting my turn at the DMV. I'm going to ask. Bet they don't know.
You’re going way too far into this for something that could be done already and nobody would be wiser. It’s not like you stole the car and are trying to stick a vin on from a dash out of the junkyard. Technically it’s probably federally not cool to touch the tag with more than a cloth while cleaning the dash, but it was also incredibly derpy on mazda’s part to affix a permanent identification tag to an easily removed piece. On most of what i’m used to the vin is attached to the metal under the dash and there’s a little window to view the tag.
This. It may be technically illegal, but who would possibly know or care that it was done?
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