Anybody get their 2005 SPCNS number yet?

[Sean-og]

I'm sure some of you have been to your friendly :shock: neighborhood DMV this morning...

[Steve Stephens]

Got mine, #60 and my appointment was at 8:30 this morning. A guy ahead of me got #8 and there were several others there in Corte Madera at the same time. DVM was having a lot of trouble getting a phone call through to Sacramento but finally persuaded them to issue two numbers per phone call. I think I waited over half an hour after my paperwork was done for the clerk to get through.

I went over to the local CHP office to ask about the VIN number requirements when I get the car inspected in a few months. (I'm a long ways from getting the car completed). He said that I only need an easily visible frame number and my body i.d. plate has to be "riveted on". That all seems easy. Now the only worry I will have is to get the car registered as a pre-smog year vehicle.

I would expect the numbers to go very fast this year so if you haven't been to the DVM yet, DO IT ASAP. You don't need to car to be finished to start the process and get your sequence number. If you make an appointment at the DMV you can do so on their website. I did so on Dec. 6th and got Jan. 10th. Then I PHONED the DMV to check on something and found out there was an earlier appointment available for today. I was told that someone may have been considering that appointment time on the net when I was also looking but had not chosen it. Pays to phone them for your appointment I guess.

Steve

[slomove]

Just looked it up. Only 90 numbers are left for the rest of the year.

Gert

[Steve Stephens]

Never in my worst dreams would I have thought they would go that fast. And to think that my original DMV appointment was for Jan. 10th which I thought would have gotten me under the allotment with a good number to spare. What are all those guys going to do after tomorrow who don't get a number? I sure hope the DMV and I didn't mess up on anything and I really do get my number. The clerk wrote my number on my paperwork and said I should have my certificate in a few weeks. Because I thought it deserved a good, safe place to keep, I had my Certificate of Origin in my fire safe and not with my other Caterham papers so I didn't have it for my appointment. Only after I got home and looked for it did I find it. Anyway, got through the process with only the proper three forms and bills of sale for the kit and the engine/trans.

Here is where you can look up the numbers left:

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vr/spcns.htm

The DMV clerk called in for my number around 10am this morning which is the first day that any 2005 numbers were given out.

Steve

[moosetestbestanden]

I didn't have my cert. of org w/ me either but everything was fine. Once the phone call is made and the number is issued you're made.

[Sean-og]

Holy shomething-or-other! I figured they would hold out until about mid-January! Unfortunately for me, circumstances (read: finances) dictated I wait another year, as I couldn't comfortably get chassis + engine + tranny paid for before New Year's day. It'll be fun for me down at DMV on Monday, Jan. 02, 2006! (And I mean that, because since marrying a Japanese woman and dealing with the INS, it is now sheer joy to deal with the California DMV)

Looks like I'll have a full two years of research into the intricacies of a Seven, plus all the previous years of daydreaming when I viewed them as virtually un-register-able in CA, before I actually get my own built and registered. Oh well, I guess it's karma for those last two years of high school when I never did my homework.

[Steve Stephens]

At 2:25 today the DMV site says-

As of January 4, 2005,
All 500 sequence certificates have been assigned.
No additional sequence certificates will be available until January 2006

Our cars can still be registered but they will have to pass smog where required.

Steve

[magnusfeuer]

I've had lengthy discussions with Caterham USA about smogging a Caterham.

It seems like it is up to the smog referee if it will pass or not. If they are in a bad mood, they can point to rules such as that the gearbox ratios must be identical, the weight must be close to the car donating the engine etc, etc.

I'd really like to get my hands on the code that defines all these parameters so that we know what we are up against.

From a strict emission point of view, it is no problems of getting a Zetec or Duratec to be smog legal. The tank pressure sensor is a relatively easy thing to install. It is all the additional rules that worries me.

/Magnus F.

[slomove]

Sean, get a trailer and do some track days in the meantime. You should have an opportunity to do a dozen or so in Northern California. May be a little tough to run the engine in that way :roll:

Gert

[soareyes]

A friend of mine is making a Stalker, a "seven" type kit that uses a GM V6 motor (www.stalkerV6.com). He had his DMV appointment late Monday afternoon to get his number, and was told at that time that all the numbers were gone! The sad part is that he actually had a number last year but was unable to complete the kit in time. I was on the wait list for a Stalker kit before I bought the Birkin, and I'm so glad now I didn't go that route!
Stan

[Woody Harris]

Old sequence numbers

Stan,

Your Stalker friend shouldn't have a problem. Once issued, the sequence number is for that vehicle and that owner until the vehicle gets registered - can't be passed on, but dosen't really expire either. He should just use the one from last year whenever he is ready to have the car inspected. I have personally used a two year old sequence number to register one of my Birkins. When asked, you simply state that you haven't had time to finish the project until now.

The downside is that once you have begun the process by paying the intial fees, you have to keep up the reg fees each year. Since the registration has not been completed until the inspection and the car is not fully in the system, DMV won't send renewal notices and they will try to collect penalties if you don't keep on top of it yourself (don't ask me how I know!). I did talk them out of it though.

Cheers,
Woody Harris

[soareyes]

Thanks Woody, I forwarded this information to him.
Stan

[Doug Liedblad]

I drove my car for several months with a temporary registration tag.

I don't recall if I already had my number or not.

Doug

[Steve Stephens]

I've paid my registration fees, sales tax (ouch), have my temp registration so I can drive once I get insurance. The car is a long way from being finshed at this time however. Went to the CHP to ask about what they check and want regarding the VIN. The officer seemed concerned the frame number might be covered up some when the engine is in and didn't want to craw under the car to look for it. I don't think he realised that the number, on the top, engine bay frame rail, can't be covered by anything or the bonnet wouldn't fit. And he said the the firewall manufacturer's plate that also has the VIN on it (at least I think it does) must be riveted to wherever I put it. Looks like I won't have to have any assigned number or extra VIN tag attached to the car which is great.

A guy at the DMV ahead of me on last Monday was finishing up his Cobra registration and had sequence #8. He also had, I think, a number from last year so whether or not a new sequence number is required for those not finishing in time with the 2004 sequence number I don't know. Something to look into for those with old numbers. Things may not stay the same from year to year at the DMV, BAR or CHP. So far I don't see any problems arising with registering my car except for what year the car or engine will be determined to be by the BAR. To me it looks like a 1960 Lotus 7 replica with a 2004 Ford engine. If they go for that I should be ok since it's my understanding from what the DMV clerk said that it is MY choice to register under engine year or car year for smog purposes.

I feel sorry for those who didn't get their number this year. For them to go in a day and a half almost means the program doesn't exist. Something needs to be done to make it more fair and less of a problem to register our fun little cars.

Let us know, Stan, how your friend ends up doing and if his last year's number will be good to proceed.

Steve

[moosetestbestanden]

And he said the the firewall manufacturer's plate that also has the VIN on it (at least I think it does) must be riveted to wherever I put it. Looks like I won't have to have any assigned number or extra VIN tag attached to the car which is great.

Prior to my CHiP trip I riveted my plate to the bulkhead below the master cylinders. When I spoke w/ the officer I pointed out the number on the frame rail & the plate. He said that having a concealed (or rather not easily discerned) VIN is for theft recovery purposes. I think he may have recorded its location on the vehicle on the paperwork but I'm not sure.

I don't know about your car but on mine the frame rail stamping is not visible when the bonnet is on the car. Thus, he still added a vin tag to the car, as it is required by law that the VIN is visible from outside the car. He was very cool about it though - he squatted down and noticed that the tag could be "visible from outside the car" even if it were located on the vertical firewall (if you will) just above the pedal box.

During my enduro the VIN was assigned during the initial trip to the DMV and they used the CC number, even though it "didn't pass the VIN check", whatever that meant. So, if your paperwork now has the same number that CC assigned, that's your VIN and the CHiPpy won't change that.