Thread: Followed Me Home, '33 Build

Tweet

After putting my '33 (titled as a replica in VA) on the road, I have received NO property tax bills. The only tax I had to pay was 3% on the cost of the body, frame, engine and transmission - and, that was a one-time cost.

(Notice: If anyone from the Virginia DMV is reading this, I DON'T LIVE THERE ANY MORE )

Guys,
Thanks for all of the kind words which mean a lot to me, coming from this group of builders.
Mike, Thank you - I have come a ways since we first talked but had hoped to be done by now. I might not have taken this plunge without your encouragement, and I am anxious to see your progress when you are able to focus on your coupe. With the amount of research and good ideas you have gathered I'm sure it is going to be a beauty! You have given me several really good example photos when I had questions.
Jack and Dave, the tax and registration reality is one of the areas where I am most leery - totally exposed to the DMV! And Jack you may be moving when you come back stateside
Don Jr, David and 34_40, I appreciate your comments. We do things our own way and see beauty, but it really helps when they meet with approval from others, too. David, one of my boys says the megaphones are a "defining feature" of the car! I think that meant he likes them, too.

Now to wire it without burning it to the ground!!

Originally Posted by Henry Rifle

After putting my '33 (titled as a replica in VA) on the road, I have received NO property tax bills. The only tax I had to pay was 3% on the cost of the body, frame, engine and transmission - and, that was a one-time cost.

(Notice: If anyone from the Virginia DMV is reading this, I DON'T LIVE THERE ANY MORE )

Jack - if I'm reading this correctly, I should then retitle my car as a replica instead of a restoration/OEM as it currently is registered in NY, with approprate taxes paid, when (IF?) we end up moving there. (Or do I just suck it up and pay the yearly property tax )

Dave,

If it's already titled in NY, I have no idea whether you can register it as a replica in VA. If I were you, I would give it a shot and see what happens. I know that if a car is already registered as an antique or specially constructed vehicle in VA, you can't go back and re-title it as a replica. I believe that the replica title is a better deal in VA than the other options.

Info is at this linky.

If you have separate proof of ownership for the body, frame, engine, trans and rear end, you may be able to ignore the current title and start in VA as if you never had one.

Roger,

Texas has three years to pass a decent law, or I could be in deep doo.

Have been watching this thread,and I have enjoyed your build..Looks kool..I also like your megs..
The thing that scares me is this property tax you guys are talking about...Is it a licensing type thing? or is it another way of them screwing you guys who build/restore a car??We pay a registration fee like anyone else,annually,to drive our cars,and I am just wondering if this is the same?Which comes down to this,,does a scratch build cost more to put on the road than a restored vehicle??

Originally Posted by lamin8r

Have been watching this thread,and I have enjoyed your build..Looks kool..I also like your megs..
The thing that scares me is this property tax you guys are talking about...Is it a licensing type thing? or is it another way of them screwing you guys who build/restore a car??We pay a registration fee like anyone else,annually,to drive our cars,and I am just wondering if this is the same?Which comes down to this,,does a scratch build cost more to put on the road than a restored vehicle??

Thanks, lamin8r. In Kansas we pay a small license/registration fee annualy for each vehicle, but the bulk of the county revenue is via personal property tax which is levied on your house, trailers, and vehicles of all kinds. Vehicle property tax is collected at the vehicle registration time, to get tags or annual stickers for existing tags, and it based on the assessed value of the vehicle - a new $60k vehicle may pay $1200 the first year, decreasing as the cars value drops (my old '90 F150 is about $50). When you purchase a vehicle the seller generally does not collect sales tax, which is also due to the state, county and local governments. Mine is about 8.5%, a one time hit. We tend to lump it all into "property tax" due at registration, and the big unknown is the assessed value determined by the DMV. Other states are different. This is part of the issue in CA now - some of the big guys were getting a new high dollar build assessed and licensed in another state, then bringing it into CA and paying annual property tax on $30k vs $300k.

This is likely not going to sit well with many of you, but we live a mile back on a gravel road and plan to be here for several years yet so I looked at options for the bottom of the body to eliminate concerns with rocks thrown up from the tires. I considered LizardSkin, but did not see that it added enough advantage to justify the cost delta and installation hassles. My Jeepin' buddy's swear by HercuLiner, which is a bed liner material applied with brush & roller, but also used for Jeep tubs, undercoating and general tough protection duty. Love it or hate it, that's what I did for the bottom of the body and I really like the way it turned out. I masked off the area where the body sits on the frame. They say two coats minimum, and I got four out of the gallon with only a tiny bit left over, and the look improved drastically with the third coat. It's tough as nails, and I believe it will also quiet the road noise considerably.

Nothing at all wrong with Herculiner on the bottom of a driver!!!! On our '49 Mercs we use it on the inside of the fenders to keep from star cracking the 'glass... BTW, same thing will be going on the insides of the fenders on the '36 Plymouth in the garage now. On a show car that does most of it's travelling in a trailer paint is great, but where durability on a driver is needed, bed liner works great...Quiets down the road noise a bunch, too...

I think that was a kick-ass idea. Insulation & stone protection .... great decision. I will be considering this as an option & I don't even live on a dirt/stone driveway!!

I also think it comes in colors??

REGS

Originally Posted by REGs

I think that was a kick-ass idea. Insulation & stone protection .... great decision. I will be considering this as an option & I don't even live on a dirt/stone driveway!!

I also think it comes in colors??

REGS

Thanks for the comment. Yes, HercuLiner comes White, Red, Gray and Black. They also have a UV protectant that is supposed to slow/stop the dulling affects of sunlight, but I'm not sure how much of an issue that is for the bottom side of a car...

I am with you. I was thinking of using lizard skin as well but couldn't find anyone that used it but had a few people ( some on this forum) recommend bedliner as well. I am going to coat the whole underside of my car including fenders. I bought the sem kit with the gun. I think I am even going to use it on both sides of my running boards. Since my car will be used for a daily driver I know the running boards will be stepped on a lot from my kids. I also live down a grave road and need the added protection.

Good idea, Roger. I have heard of people doing this on the inside of their fenders with Rhino-liner and other such professionally installed spray-on bed liners. But you saved yourself a few bucks doing it this way. I like the looks of it. Nice texture.

Originally Posted by rumrumm

Good idea, Roger. I have heard of people doing this on the inside of their fenders with Rhino-liner and other such professionally installed spray-on bed liners. But you saved yourself a few bucks doing it this way. I like the looks of it. Nice texture.

FYI, the best price I found locally was at our ACE hardware stores, $74.99 for the gallon kit. Local auto parts (AutoZone, O'Reilly's, NAPA) ranged from $90 up to $110. ACE did not stock it, but ordered it in from their warehouse, no added shipping. With 3 or 4 coats it looks comparable to LineX and RhinoLiner, IMO.

Roger, looking at the 3rd pic with the body back on the chassis, it appears you're getting very close to the first 'test drive'. How far away are you and do you have a bottle of champagne ready for the big day?

Mike

Originally Posted by Mike52

Roger, looking at the 3rd pic with the body back on the chassis, it appears you're getting very close to the first 'test drive'. How far away are you and do you have a bottle of champagne ready for the big day?

Mike

Mike,
I am enjoying putting things together knowing that they are meant to stay together. Still have a ways to go, including wiring and first fire. I hope to take a shakedown road trip to Sioux Falls, SD before Halloween to take Scott Sehr (engine builder) for a ride. I'm really hoping to drive it to the Ol' Marais River Run in Ottawa, KS September 18 but that's going to be a stretch.