Merv, I agree it is illegal to tamper with the VIN tag but I've been "proven" wrong on this too by people who restore Corvettes and Camaros and other "rare and valuable" cars who feel that the whole body and chassis are just parts. As long as they own all the parts it is not only overlooked, but allowed at the highest levels of showing.

On the other hand, I have never heard of a fully documented, numbers matching, hidden VIN matched car being confiscated for wrong rivets.

I don't believe there is a good reason to remove a VIN tag unless the entire dash is rotted and needs to be replaced, and if the dash is that bad the rest of the car probably isn't recoverable. That said, I'd not invest top dollar in an otherwise good car that showed signs of tampering.