Where's a good place to get v.i.n. rivets?

Doug, try these guys, they specialize in just that kind of item.
http://www.trimtags.com/rivinstall.html

Interesting site...

Good luck - Brett - 67 Drop Top 455!

Hi Doug,

I've bought from Joe (Trim tags at the web site Brett notes above) before. A real nice guy. I recommend him. He also sells the "roset" rivets used originally on the vin number tag. Good luck.

Actually there for a friend of mine who has a 66' G.T.O. Thanks for the info

Be aware of this law.

I have not been able to find out what the law is on Michigan yet.

Anytime you remove the VIN plate you cast suspicion on the car. I would never buy a car if the VIN tag was removed and replaced. It often done by some people to fake high value cars but taking a VIN from a junker GTO and putt on a good car. aka - fraud. I beleive several have shown up selling on ebay with questionable VIN's. The VIN plate is not the only VIN on the car, so if you change the plate and someone ever checks the hidden COP vins, you could be in a jam. If its ever found you did something like this and were involved in an accident where they will check these VIN's, the insurance company could use that to deny any claims etc. All kinds of things can go wrong.

I you read this post you will see that some people figure they can do anything they want to the car because they own it, look at this thread .
Also in Illinois is against the law to even to have Roset VIN rivets in your possession, see below.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"> ARTICLE I. ANTI-THEFT LAWS

(625 ILCS 5/4-102)
Sec. 4-102. Offenses relating to motor vehicles and other vehicles
- Misdemeanors.
(a) It is a violation of this Chapter for:
(1) A person, without authority to do so, to damage a vehicle
or to damage or remove any part of a vehicle;
(2) A person, without authority to do so, to tamper with a
vehicle or go in it, on it, or work or attempt to work any of its
parts, or set or attempt to set it in motion;
(3) A person to fail to report a vehicle as unclaimed in
accordance with the provisions of Section 4-107.
(b) Sentence. A person convicted of a violation of this Section
shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. A person convicted of a
violation of this Section a second or subsequent time, shall be guilty
of a Class 4 felony.
(Source: P.A. 86-1209.)

(625 ILCS 5/4-103)
Sec. 4-103. Offenses relating to motor vehicles and other vehicles -
Felonies.
(a) It is a violation of this Chapter for:
(1) A person not entitled to the possession of a vehicle or
essential part of a vehicle to receive, possess, conceal, sell,
dispose, or transfer it, knowing it to have been stolen or
converted; additionally the General Assembly finds that the
acquisition and disposition of vehicles and their essential parts
are strictly controlled by law and that such acquisitions and
dispositions are reflected by documents of title, uniform invoices,
rental contracts, leasing agreements and bills of sale. It may be
inferred, therefore that a person exercising exclusive unexplained
possession over a stolen or converted vehicle or an essential part
of a stolen or converted vehicle has knowledge that such vehicle or
essential part is stolen or converted, regardless of whether the
date on which such vehicle or essential part was stolen is recent or
remote;
(2) A person to knowingly remove, alter, deface, destroy,
falsify, or forge a manufacturer's identification number of a
vehicle or an engine number of a motor vehicle or any essential part
thereof having an identification number;
(3) A person to knowingly conceal or misrepresent the identity
of a vehicle or any essential part thereof;
(4) A person to buy, receive, possess, sell or dispose of a
vehicle, or any essential part thereof, with knowledge that the
identification number of the vehicle or any essential part thereof
having an identification number has been removed or falsified;
(5) A person to knowingly possess, buy, sell, exchange, give
away, or offer to buy, sell, exchange or give away, any
manufacturer's identification number plate, mylar sticker, federal
certificate label, State police reassignment plate, Secretary of
State assigned plate, rosette rivet, or facsimile of such which has
not yet been attached to or has been removed from the original or
assigned vehicle. It is an affirmative defense to subsection (a) of
this Section that the person possessing, buying, selling or
exchanging a plate mylar sticker or label described in this
paragraph is a police officer doing so as part of his official
duties, or is a manufacturer's authorized representative who is
replacing any manufacturer's identification number plate, mylar
sticker or Federal certificate label originally placed on the
vehicle by the manufacturer of the vehicle or any essential part
thereof;
(6) A person to knowingly make a false report of the theft or
conversion of a vehicle to any police officer of this State or any
employee of a law enforcement agency of this State designated by the
law enforcement agency to take, receive, process, or record reports
of vehicle theft or conversion.
(b) Sentence. A person convicted of a violation of this Section
shall be guilty of a Class 2 felony.
(c) The offenses set forth in subsection (a) of this Section shall
not include the offense set forth in Section 4-103.2 of this Code.
(Source: P.A. 90-89, eff. 1-1-98; 91-450, eff. 1-1-00.)

</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

I'll tell him thanks!!

Just a follow up comment....I would imagne most people are well aware of the laws regarding vin switching. But there are legitimate restoration reasons for needing things like original rosette rivets (ie replacement of a 68 firebird dash due to rust out). In such a case, the original vin number plate remains with the original car. So how does Illinois deal with this? I believe other states do not have such restrictions as that which has been pointed out above. I've dealt with california laws. They state that vins can be changed "with authorization from the DMV".

Good luck.

Mike

Other 'legal' ways to replace vin number plate,
For instance I had a cracked dash on my 89 Volvo Bertone 780, bought a used dash ( since its a low production car and a new is $1900!) and replaced , now you are REQUIRED ( which I did) to replace the vin number plate since it is part of the dash..
there are several 'legal' circumstanecs..
Bjorn

But how many realy consult the DMV before doing this? When they were making these laws they were trying to crs theft rings and they made no allowances for the car hobby. Now, a state licensed auto repair facility can probalbly do something like this but would have to provide some kind of documentation I would guess.

Its been my experince that people who tend to this. think they can do whatever they want because the own the car. While that may be true, once they license it and or sell it, they could be in violation of the law. Who's to say what they did it legit, just because they say its so? What if you just spent $25,000 for 1966 GTO and then discovered the VIN tag had different rivets on it than what is supposed to be? Then lets say that the person discovering that was a state DMV inspection officer. Right away its going to raise suspicion with him and he is going to impound the car till he sure its not a stolen car. That has happened to some collector cars buyers when they brought the car in from another state. I heard of one buying an old Chevy, bringing it home from another state, restoring and then many years later trying to license it in his state only to find out it was a stolen car all along. The guy he got it from had no idea because he never registered it. The guy had the car impounded and it took a very long time for him to ever get the car back. Since it was over stolen over 20 yrs prior and the insurance had settled, that he was able to claim the car since no one else would. But if the original owner or the insurance company would have claimed it, he would heve been screwed.

Don't ever buy a car with a tampered VIN plate, it will only be a matter of time before it comes back and bites you. Every car has more than one VIN on it. You see the one on the door pilar or the dash but they are more stamped in the body in hidden places, as well as the engine, transmission and the frame. The locations are kept confidential but the auto industry, law enforcement and the insurace institute. One guy told me he took a car he bought down the the CA DMV to check out, they took inside a shop and went over it with a fine tooth comb and then told him it checked out. They would not allow him to observe.