CT Road Worthy

[brewha]

Last week I went to Ct DMV for an inspection and passed without any issues. I was there for about 3 hours as there was a good line when I got there at 8:00 am.

184893

Yesterday I went back to get my registration as an appointment is necessary to get in to see an agent. I was there for about an hour but I’m now road worthy. Perfect timing for Memorial weekend.

The car is registered as a 1965 Composite Cobra Roadster using the F5 frame number as the Vin.

Here are the inspection pictures. Hope to see some of you on the road soon.

184894184895

[cob427sc]

Congratulations and welcome to the open road! My first build in1998 was the same color. Wished I kept that car.

[jroberts]

Congrats! That's good news for me the car is registered as a 1965 in CT but Great news for you! It's a perfect night to get out and stretch her legs.

[Badfish]

Congrats! Interesting that they used the frame number as the VIN, and didn’t assign a CT VIN. Maybe things have changed since I went through.

Hopefully you don’t have the same property tax assessment experience I had…

[RFracer]

Congratulations! Nice looking build. I went for inspection on a Monday and was fortunate to have no wait. Lane is open Mondays although DMV offices are not. Enjoy your car every opportunity you get!

[brewha]

Took the car for 20 mile ride tonight and it performed perfectly until…..

I lost the clutch about 6 miles from home. I could feel that it was getting to be a longer and longer throw until it just didn’t work anymore. I limped home in 3rd and 4th gear. My clutch is controlled by a cable. Looking at the end of the cable I can see I didn’t have a locking nut on the cable so the nut just loosened it self to the end of the cable. I’ll have it fixed tomorrow.

[chmhasy]

Congrats Brewha It's been a long time for you.

[rt.collinsjr]

Hey Brewha,

Also in CT. Nice to hear inspection went well. Any tips to share about CT inspectors? I have their composite build info from the web...

[brewha]

Hi RT

They tested all the lights, windshield wipers and verified all the serial numbers against my receipts. The put the car up on the lift and inspected underneath with out making to many comments at what they were looking at. We had a pretty good discussion about the car build experience where I felt they were testing my knowledge of the car. I got quite a few questions about the locations of the serial numbers on the engine, transmission and rear end. My car had a 1968 block so it had a few random numbers on top of the block which mean nothing as a serial number. My Tremec serial number was on the rear passenger side of the transmission almost hidden by the emergency brake hardware. My Moser rear end does not use serial numbers at all but does have a casting date. They seemed to know this already, so that’s why I think they were testing my experience. Before I knew it, they told me to load my car back on the trailer, fill out another form and wait inside for the final report.

I definitely over prepared for the inspection having failed one many years ago from a skid pad test. I brought tools and jacks to fix things in the parking lot if I needed to. My exhaust I knew was loud because of the high compression heads on my engine. I had installed cc inserts into the side pipes to quiet the car down and they did quite a good job. I also had steel wool in the trunk to put in the cc inserts if I failed for sound. I had side reflectors also in the trunk I could have installed if they questioned it.
Getting the car there is not hard as I thought. U-haul car rental is only $54 a day which is a great rate. Finding the trailers can be a little difficult as they are in demand. They are all in the DMV inspection lane everyday with salvage cars on them. I recommend bringing a friend with you to help get the car off and on the trailer. They will ask you to move the trailer several times before, during, and after the inspection to allow other cars to get ready to be inspected. We moved our trailer at least 5 times.
To pay for the inspection and Vin you fill out a form in line, that has your cell number. They will call you during the inspection to pay for everything by credit card on the phone. They will give you an inspection sheet at the end with the pass or fail that you need for the registration process.

I recommend that you have all you forms and receipts in good shape prior to the inspection.
Keep your phone on you through the whole process as well a good pen to fill out additional forms.
Treat the inspectors with courtesy and they respond accordingly.

Registration must be done by appointment. Because the inspection form specifies composite, there is no getting around it. You will get multiple supervisors involved as they do not get a lot of composites registrations and there is confusion by the staff on how to complete the registration. We spent a lot of time getting the taxes right as I paid taxes in Mass when I picked up the car. Make sure you have the Factory Five invoice sheet if you did that also and want that tax credit.

The car was registered as a 1965 Composite Cobra Roadster using the F5 unique frame number as the Vin. Using the frame number as a Vin made the process easier as my insurance was already written using that number.

What a relief when it’s all over.

One more thing…. When they test all the lights, make sure you shut them off right after. I did not and my battery went dead by the end of the inspection. Luckily ,I had my small jump box in the trunk.

[D02G]

Hey Brewha,

Also in CT. Nice to hear inspection went well. Any tips to share about CT inspectors? I have their composite build info from the web...

I’m also from Cheshire. Let me know if you have any questions.

[rt.collinsjr]

Hi Brewha,

Thank you, for the information. You mentioned the registry and how they are unsure on the procedure for a composite, was the process for getting a 1965 registration year the problem? Was that a point of contention? I am wondering for car tax purposes...

[rt.collinsjr]

Thank you, will do...D02G

[brewha]

Getting 1965 was not a problem. It was they don’t do that many composites. The normal worker does great until they get something different and their systems start looking for other information. I’m in the DMV at least twice a month registering Limo’s or hearses. They get confused with those and need to call or check with the supervisors unless your lucky get an older experienced worker. It also took some time to figure the sales tax right also.

[Tbev]

I’m also from Cheshire. Let me know if you have any questions.

So am I. I guess Cheshire will be crowded with Cobra's soon. :)

[D02G]

So am I. I guess Cheshire will be crowded with Cobra's soon. :)

Let me know if you need any help.

[heck914]

Thank you for the info. My father has been building a MK4 in New Haven. Hopefully we can get it to inspection by the end of summer. We might have some questions

[jwebb]

Brewha,
Congrats, look forward to seeing you running around Somer/Enfield area....

[Sixflyer]

I’m in Connecticut as well with a kit I picked up last month. I hadn’t planned on wipers on mine and I see you mentioned that in the post. Are they required? Excited to see the process isn’t as bad as getting my Manta through in 1987

[brewha]

Windshield wipers are required in Connecticut. They must be vacuum, air or electrical. I don’t believe the hand operated ones are acceptable any more.

[Oliver N.]

Good morning, new to this Forum. I'm having a Mark4 full kit delivered in October and am trying to get ahead of things. I'm planning on getting a 427 crate motor (haven't decided on Big Block or 351W small block based) but then I'm thinking about emissions. While the CT DMV website says composite vehicles don't need emissions tests the DMV publication R-157 "COMPOSITE MOTOR VEHILCLES" states on page 2 in the BRIEF OF EQUIPMENT section under "EMISSIONS - The vehicle must have an emissions test completed before it can be registered." I assume anyone on this forum has experience with this and any clarifications would be great. My concern is that if I need to meet current emissions requirements I will need catalytic convertors somewhere in the exhaust flow. Thanks in advance.

[brewha]

I think that doesn’t apply to us. All composite vehicles are exempt from emissions. Your car will be registered as a 1965 composite that will also mean it’s exempt by year. There was a law about needing all emission equipment on the engine depending on the year of the block used, but they have not seemed to check that for several years as several members got through with no issue.
You will need to keep checking the laws or requirements during your build as they do change. Bumpers are now a required item for inspection and they were not when I started my build.

DMV is very approachable. I have called the inspection line several times with questions and qualifications for inspection and they have always responded with clarity.

Good luck with your project.

[nucjd19]

I really enjoy reading on the inspection process from state to state. HAs become almost like a hobby for me to read the experiences you guys have across the country. In Alabama it was SOOOOO much easier. Fill out a form and send in 10 dollars. Inspector gives you a call and swings by your house. HE walks into the garage and says " Yep!!! It has four wheels and goes vroom vroom" where do you want the vin plate riveted ?" Well not quite that easy but close :)