MA Registration Process For Kit Cars

[Ls1Rx7]

Before the Mods Move this: I saw there was 818 and GTM specific registration sections on the forum, but I thought this would better fit in general discussion because it isn't about either of those cars.

I'm actually looking for help registering a different kit car. The name of the vehicle and links to the company I'll leave out to respect Factory Five's forum.
But I thought the Factory Five community is probably best informed to help with this process and this specific challenge, even though it's not a FF car.
And at the end of the day we're a small tight knit community of people crazy enough to build kits, and we're all in this together dealing with the Govt.


Anyway on to the car
It's a Lotus 7 based kit. The car looks like a lotus 7 but as my Screen name implies I have an Ls1 Rx7 that I'll be taking the Ls1 from and swapping it into the Lotus 7 clone.
The Certificate of Origin from the factory claims its a 62' Lotus 7. But because of the v8 under the hood it probably doesn't look enough like a Lotus 7 to pass being registered as such. Which means I think I'll fall into the street rod category similar to how the 818s and the GTMs are classified.

The ls1 is from a 2000 Trans am which i parted out almost a decade ago, so having receipts for the engine/tranny just isn't possible, and obviously we don't have emissions equipment on that engine either.
The donor vehicle is more than 15 years old though so I don't know if it's exempt from emissions etc, or if I'll still need to have everything that was on a 2000 trans am.
I also don't know how the car would be registered, and if I'll run into a problem with receipts etc. Those are my 2 biggest concerns right now, I'm sure more will come about. But I want to know what I'm up against before purchasing the kit of course.

Thanks in advance and I hope to see you all at Bass Pro, Devens, or NHMS.

[michael everson]

I have been through this twice this month. Here is a quick rundown.
1. Go to the registry and tell them you need to schedule an appointment with the state police for VIN reassignment.
2. The state police will call you with an appointment. date.
3. Go to the appointment with the car on a trailer or flat bed. Make sure you have all your paper work and a copy of everything. They will keep the copies.
They will go through all your receipts and make sure everything is in order. You WILL NOT get through with that engine. If you don't have proof of ownership, they wont allow it. At very least you would need a copy of the title from the Trans Am. Find another drivetrain and swap yours in afterward.
4. Once the SP give you a VIN then go to your ins. company with the RMV1 form and from then on its treated like any other car.

The SP do not check that it looks like the car on the COO. They only care about paper work. Its not a safety inspection either.

The emissions hurdle comes when you go to get an inspection station.
Hope this helps a bit.
Mike

[Ls1Rx7]

Hey Mike, thank you so much for your response. I forgot I made this thread.
Do you know if they handle emissions on these cars based on the year the vin was issued (essentially a brand new car) or based on the donor vehicle?

[michael everson]

Donor usually.
Mike