NY registration..kinda bummed!
 

Well I'm in the market for my first Cobra. I think I found one, but it's out of state. Problem is its registered as a 2009 / Make kit / 1966 Cobra. I went to DMV and they told me it has to pass emissions. They gave me a number to call in Albany and he (Mark) told me it has to be re-registered as a custom and has to go through the whole process as new. Front defroster, Rear back up lights. ect...It has heat, but not a defroster. Back up light have red lenses. This seems like a bigger hassle than I wanted. Bummed because I like the car. Any advise on this? Tom retired a year and a half ago, so he cant help..lol.

Thanks Marc

Marc,
Give Nick from Classic Concepts a call, he may be able to point you in the right direction with your issue. 631 742 1064
Good Luck....

Thanks I talked to Nick. He was very helpful. He told me I HAVE to get receipts for the motor and trans with the sale of the car. If not don't buy it. If I have to go through an inspection they could confiscate the motor and trans if I can't prove where I got it from...WOW.

This is why I sacrificed on some of the things I wanted on my car. I looked around for a long time for what I wanted, but ended up buying one already registered in NY that was "Close".
To me it was worth it to not have to jump thru hoops for the registration and then make the changes I wanted. I am almost done with the cosmetic stuff so it will look right, then comes a different heart.

Good Luck,
Dan

Yea I'll search NYS first. Gonna make sure it has that yellow sticker. If not Nick doesn't cost much to take care of it all. I just have to make sure I have receipts for the motor and trans. So far most people are not the first owners and don't have them. If I buy a car and go through the process and it turns out an engine is stolen they can take the car.:eek:. How do they determine if the motor or trans is stolen? Where do they look? I know my 68 motor has a VIN on the deck, but what if I had it decked..? There would be no VIN. I have a friend that lives next door to me. He said he would look up any VIN numbers I wanted to see if there stolen. Where do the field ops guys look when it's done?

This is why I registered my Car in Florida. Sent in mail, 5 days later had plate and 3 days after that Title. No window stickers, no front plate to mount.

amen to fla. n.y. state can kiss my a$$.

My understanding is that NY DMV is "Guilty until proven innocent".
If you can't prove the purchase of the motor & trans, THEN it is considered not purchased (ie: stolen).

I read a story a while back on the FFR forum that someone had built a '33 Hotrod, took it for inspection, couldn't prove the purchase of the engine (don't remember about the tranny) and they would not let him take the engine home, and as long as it was in the car, it stayed TOO! He returned with a cherry picker and some tools, removed the engine and trailered the car back home. That is just ridiculous government / DMV BS.

Many DMV are a PITA. When I registered my FFR in MO last year. They temporarily mis-located an internal form (sending from one office in one city to another city) it was internal and I couldn't do anything about it, until it magically appeared weeks later! There was another form, that I filled out for vintage plates and mailed to the state capital via USPS registered mail. It arrived at the government building, THEY SIGNED FOR IT (I had a USPS confirmation), THEN THEY LOST IT IN THE BUILDING. After almost 2 weeks of trying to find it and me calling them every day and spending hours on the phone, they declared it lost and asked me why I didn't fax it to them! I said because there was no fax info on the form and no one said I could!! I fax'd it and they issued my plates the next day. THEN 1 month later, I got a letter stating that they couldn't issue my vintage plates because the license number was already in use! They were correct, I looked it up and it was "in use" BY ME!!
Idiots :mad:

Good luck! get as much information as possible, double check everything, and make copies of every form.

Understand the NY DMV inspectors are "Law Enforcement Agents" and are armed. They deal with some rather unsavory characters (not to profile but many of the "bad guys" have no necks and write Cyrillic) so they tend to disbelieve your story.

Be straight with them, have your documents in order and don't be a d!ckhead and all will go well. Heck we had a rather attractive DMV agent look at Superformance Mark III and ask if she could take it for a drive....my reply "well, no plates, no insurance but you are holstering a Glock so go for it!!!"

Rick's advice should be heeded. Be straight forward with the DMV inspectors and you will start off on the right foot. They are not looking to be PITA's, but give them some attitude and they were gladly assume that role :eek:

Makes me want to build my own damn car or buy a roller minus. I talked to Jay at Backdraft today and went to Merkle engines. Backdraft cost is 37K plus taxes $3100. So that brings me to 40K ish. Merkle will build me a turn key 460 for 7K then trans 3K. So 50K I cant do...Found a car in MA with a MA vin 15 digits, but not sure if that will do. Here it is.

NY will look for a 17 digit "WMI" VIN. Anything else will open a can of "don't wanna go there" figure on starting from scratch.

The title may be a red flag for wanting them to go through the full review process, because the model is listed as a "Cobra". NY DMV may question that when the VIN is not a CSX..... People have been able to register replicas listed as 65 Fords that did not specify cobra. It is tough to say.

If you do try to go that route you need to be clear with your insurance company that they are insuring a replica and not an original cobra.

Not quite sure what you are looking for, but AMiller has a Antiques and Collectibles cobra with a 351 in it for sale that is already registered in NY, so it would be no problem. He has it listed in this website and I believe on Cragislist as well under the Rochester edition. I have seen the car and went for a ride in it, he did a nice job. I decided against it because I wanted an FE, but it had me thinking.

I feel sorry for those that live in F.Upped states like N.Y. and Ca. You'd think that the law makers would have better things to do than mess with the minority car owners/builders and deal with the real problems of their states. Fortunately, as F.Upped as my state is, they leave us car guys alone.

Yea I think it has a lot to do with stolen parts. I wouldn't think so much Cobra owners per say, but in general. My Friend/neighbor is a Suffolk County Cop and he said there are A LOT of stolen parts out there that's why.

Marc.....as you continue your search, be aware that each state has their own regulations for emissions, inspection, and registration for kit cars or as CT refers to Composites. Legal registration in one state is no guarantee that another state will accept the transfer. As an example, an advertisement might state registered as a 1966, but the buyer's state might use a different method for the model year of the kit car. CT uses the year registered in CT as the model year, and when recognized to be a kit car the Make automatically becomes a Composite with out regard to the sellers Title/Bill of Sale/Registration.

NYS nonsense can be done:

Backup Light: The ERA wiring harness has a wire in the harness for a backup light. A simple aluminum plate bolted to the rear bumper with a cheap white light (that can be removed later) and a switch connected to a hot wire on the dash takes care of that item. (PS: If you are anywhere near me, I'll loan you mine).

Dash vent fan: If you don't want to go to the expense of putting in an ERA heater, etc. a simple small 12 volt fan plumbed into the vent tubes under the dash should take care of that.

Rear tail and stop lights: The good folks in Albany know that the rectangular lights used by most replica Cobra manufacturers are not DOT rated. Your choice with ERA is either to make permanent change to the round rear lights as used by the later original cars, or fabricate a removable single DOT multifunction light.

Drive Train receipts: I always was sure to get an invoice from my motor builder for the engine and I always purchased a new trans, either Richmond Gear or Tremec, so I had receipts for those.

My experience was that once I satisfied the good folks in Albany with pictures of the car (and again they know that rectangular taillights are not DOT approved), receipts, copy of MSO, certificate of weight, etc., they would authorize the local DMV inspection location to affix the yellow "CUSTOM" vin number. I may have been just lucky, but the local DMV inspection station took one cursory look at the car and said park it over against the wall. They did not put it up on a lift They then called Albany to confirm that I was there and put the vin number on.

...and that was that.

Jim,

Our experience has been similar. They know the rear lamps are NOT DOT but choose to ignore. We just put down "NA" for the padded dash and some other items.

This is our loaner "back-up" lamp that for some reason seems to fall off cars with great regularity!!!

Don,
Current process in CT is to register the model year as what it replicates. They are registering as "1965 Composite Cobra" over the last couple years.

They were cool with me when I registered mine. Needed padded visors, so I put green foam around them for the inspection. The guy laughed and said it meets specs.
DOT lenses are easy, I did put in a back up light under left rear, I intended on removing it after inspection but it helps... So I left it.

Documentation on motor and trans was mandatory though. As for emissions that is determined by the year of the motor. As long as your block is pre 73' you are good to go.