hahuang65

@240 I've titled. Wrote up a full guide here Lemme know if there are any other questions you need answered

Why are you worried? I'll be around to help answer questions if needed.

Spoiler:

@panamericano here you go! Bonus points if you get the reference

Today, I've successfully filed my application for title and registration. I'm still waiting for the title and permanent plate in the mail, but I've got my registration in hand, as well as my paper custom vanity plates. I thought I would write up a guide for those that come after, as it was quite a convoluted process and long process. For some background, I live in Montgomery County, just north of Houston. This is a county that requires yearly emissions inspections. If you live in a county that requires emissions inspections, I will specifically call out what you need to do in order to avoid those, as Caterhams will not really work with OBDII inspections for emissions. The general idea is you want to title as a Custom Vehicle. The general overview of the process is 1) Gather all forms and documents (checklist to come below) 2) Go to your County Tax Assessor's office to get a temporary permit (or risk getting pulled over and fined) in order to go to your ASE Safety Inspection 3) Go to a weigh station, or any place that has a truck scale and weigh your car These next few steps are "possibly", for reasons I'll dive into later in the guide. 4) Possibly schedule a VIN inspection appointment 5) Possibly schedule an appraisal 6) Possibly schedule an appointment to get a bonded title 7) Go to the DMV with all of your documents in order to obtain a letter that verifies eligibility for titling and registration. 8) Take all your documents and the aforementioned letter to your county's tax assessor's office to actually title and register For reference: DMV's overview on Assembled Vehicles DMV's manual for Assembled Vehicles Checklist of forms and documents: Application for Texas Title and/or Registration (Form 130-U) Photographs of YOUR car Front Rear Side(s) Photograph of the car being replicated, I used this one: Evidence of ownership I brought both the bill of sales (1 receipt for the kit and 1 receipt for the drivetrain) Manufacturer's Statement of Origin (Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin) ASE Safety Inspection form (Form VTR-852) Copy of the ASE certifications (1 through 8) for the technician performing the safety inspection, an example looks like Rebuilt Vehicle Statement (Form VTR-61) Certified Weight Certificate - Unfortunately I surrendered mine to the tax office so I can't show you an example, but it was just a receipt that had the weight of the car on it. VIN verification document. According to the overview/manual linked above, it can be either Law Enforcement Identification Number Inspection (Form VTR-68A) - The application for Montgomery County can be found here Approval Letter/Checklist from TxDMV Regional Service Center (you get this from the DMV to take to the tax assessor) Details / Caveats for each step/form Application for Texas Title and/or Registration (Form 130-U) For Year, put the model year of your car (not the year of the replica) For Make, put ASVE (stands for assembled vehicle) For Model I put "Lotus Replica" I skipped the Motor Vehicle Tax Statement and Sales and Use Tax Computation since I built the car myself The Comptroller's website state that no tax is due when you build it yourself Evidence of ownership Bills of sale and the Manufacturer's Statement of Origin should be enough here. The DMV accepted mine and issued me the letter to title the car The tax assessor ultimately accepted it as well, but I had to visit 2 offices. The first office was not happy that the MSO had my dealer's name on it, even though the bill of sale had my name on it, issued from the dealer. They CALLED the DMV (same office I was at that morning) and the rep there said I needed to get a bonded title (which requires an appraisal) in order to title, even though they already issued me the letter. I ultimately decided to visit another tax office the same day after perusing the manual because I decided my documents were enough evidence. Sure enough, the other office accepted my application no problem. This is why I said "possibly" for appraisal and bonded title. It's up to you how prepared you want to be vs. the possibility of having to make multiple trips to the DMV or tax office ASE Safety Inspection To do this, obviously you have to take your car. You have 3 options here: Take a chance and hope you don't get pulled over Get temporary permits (get these at the tax assessor's office, CASH ONLY) Two 1-trip permits (to and from the inspection site). You need to give them your source and destination address, they're good for 5 days but only 1 trip. $5 each, but realistically after processing fees etc, $10 each. 30 day permit (requires VIN, so if you have trouble, just go the 1 trip route, but I used my chassis code) You only get 3 of these for the lifetime of the car, so don't squander them $25 after processing fees. I did the 1-trip and didn't get to use it, then did the 30 day permit... I had to get a second 30 day permit when they asked me to schedule the Law Enforcement appointment and that was 3 weeks out. MAKE DOUBLE SURE you have Form VTR-852 and NOT VTR-64 VTR-64 WILL require you to get a separate vehicle inspection, and more importantly, a smog inspection (yearly) MAKE DOUBLE SURE you have a copy of the technician's ASE certifications. I went to Milstead Auto in Spring, TX to do my inspection. Rebuilt Vehicle Statement Pretty self explanatory, just make sure to specify that you purchased the chassis and drivetrain from two different entities to establish that it is indeed a kit/custom car Certified Weight Certificate CAT Scale will do these, although it's unclear if their lower threshold is above how much our cars weigh. I went to Hieden Feed and Supply in Houston as they had a truck scale. Mine weighed out at 1020lb, which is about 200lb lighter than I thought it would be. VIN Verification Document MSO should be enough here, as it lists the chassis code. I was told so by the tax assessor's office and the rep at the DMV over the phone. However, at my first appointment to the DMV, they said I needed to go get the VTR-68A (Law Enforcement inspection) This is probably another scenario that's just based on who you get at the DMV. For my county, they only do inspections on Tuesdays and the appointments were 3 weeks out. Supposedly you can only get it from the law enforcement office of your jurisdiction, but I got the hint that you could go anywhere from the officers when I was at the appointment. Another situation where it's up to you to either be prepared, or chance it with the MSO. Approval Letter/Checklist from TxDMV Regional Service Center DOUBLE DOUBLE check this before you leave. My rep marked mine incorrectly because the language used on the form is poor. I was applying for a Custom Vehicle, and she checkmarked the box, thinking it means approved. However the language says "NOT". I'm glad I caught this before leaving the DMV. Read the last checkbox section carefully: Final thoughts and notes To clear up ANY confusion, you take ALL the documents to BOTH the DMV and the tax office. The only exception here is the letter the DMV issues you. The purpose of visiting the DMV is to obtain that letter. They SHOULD give you all your documents back. I also got a checklist they marked off showing I had given all documents. At the tax office, I would suggest you have your documents lined up in the order of the manual. That makes it easier for them to check for completeness. I believe this is the reason my visit to the second tax office yielded me a successful titling. The manager who helped me there just went down the checklist and saw that I had all the necessary paperwork. I think at the first office, the person helping me may have had a pre-conceived notion that I needed an appraisal and bond, and no matter how much I tried to say that I have sufficient proof of ownership, it wasn't good enough... but if you have the docs and the checklist in order, it's just a simple matter of going down the list. Finally, a reminder, sales tax is NOT due if you've built it yourself at home. Good luck to anyone titling in Texas. This process took me almost 2 monthes. I had to visit the DMV twice, Sherriff's office once, and the tax assessor's office 4 times.

@IamScotticus believe so

@IamScotticus yeah they're using the chassis code assigned by Caterham as my VIN.

I ended up just going to the Montgomery County Sheriff Auto Theft Division (the "only" way to do it for a resident of this county). As far as I can tell, all the paperwork say that these inspections can only be done at the police or sheriff's office of the county/city where you reside..but when I got there they guy said I could have gone to another county. I imagine the paperwork says that so they have a reason to refuse you if they want. Anyways, it was quick and easy, just brought my application form, my driver's license, my bill of sale, and proof of insurance. They checked the VIN and 10 minutes later gave me the paperwork I needed for the DMV. @240 I didn't need customs paperwork. Next stop, DMV again. Will update after that visit.

@MV8yeah I likely will just have to wait for my appointment. Over here we can only get 3 passes forr the lifetime of the car. I'll just have to get another one for that appointment, or a 1 trip permit. @panamericanoah lucky. I don't know anyone, but the forms here seem pretty strict. I can't go to the sherriff of a different county to do it, at least the forms say that Montgomery County will only service their residents, Harris county will only service their residents that don't live in Houston... And HPD will only service Houston residents.

@panamericano is your VIN actually different than your chassis code from Caterham?

@panamericano any suggestions on finding one? We're new around here so I don't know anyone that knows an officer.

@CBuffthat may be true. I had originally planned to go get it...but when I went to the tax assessor's office (where I actually get my title and registration, as the DMV just provides me a letter to take to there saying it's okay to title) to get my temporary permit, I brought all my papers to ask about it. They were the ones who told me I wouldn't need the inspection. Unfortunately, this is the situation I'm in. I may try to go to the other DMV first as October 21 is still a while away. I have that appointment set up and will go there for inspection if this DMV also turns me away.

@MV8 no the 30 day permit was to go and get my ASE inspection and weight certification. There are no limits to where I can drive however. But I have not driven much beyond that. Here is the doc that says it can be either the VTR-68A or the MSO...unless I'm misunderstanding it.

@panamericano @240 so I was able to get a 30 day with just my chassis code from Caterham. Been driving around with that. I went to the DMV for the first time today...and I got rejected. I had all my documents in order. However the supervisor there was adamant than I get a VTR-68A. That's the form from a law enforcement inspection to verify the VIN/chassis code. The instructions on the application say that a Manufacturer Statement of Origin can stand in for that, which we do get from Caterham... But the supervisor was not okay with that. I went to the Houston DMV Regional Service Center. Now my choices are to get that VTR-68A and go back...or try another DMV. I've set up my appointment for the inspection, but it's not until 10/21. In the meantime, I will try to go to the Beaumont RSC and see if they'll grant me the title letter. Will update again.

Yeah I may end up doing that but I was hoping to place the phone where that netting is in your picture.

Thanks for the help guys. I may still pursue this in the future, because it seems like a great thing to have at eye level for just navigation. But I think I need to figure out how/where I'm going to mount my phone first. I've been looking at and it's got a great suggestion, so I'm going to try that first.

I'm trying to figure out a way to mount my phone and this looks like a great solution... however, I will have a passenger fairly often, and so I'm wondering, if I got a longer arm (https://rammount.com/products/ram-b-201-201u-c), would I be able to mount my phone in a landscape orientation sort of angled upwards but also tucked under the dash, in front of the shifter. There's a bunch of space there that's un-used. My phone also tends to overheat (Pixel 8 Pro) so having it under the dash away from the sun seems like a good idea... if feasible.

@JohnCh curious if there are any updates or changes you've made since this post. I'm curious about getting a Moto II and would like to know if there are any similar mounting solutions to yours that are off the shelf. I don't have a 3D printer.

Through my recent issues, I've finally completed my build and done a fun test drive today. Just wanted to say thanks for everyone's comments, suggestions, and tips. Much appreciated! The build took me 107 hours... Then 12 hours to disassemble due to my clutch issue, and 24 hours to re-assemble... Grand total of 143 hours across 8.5 months. Here's a pic!

Even if I'm not pushing on the clutch? I was bleeding the clutch, it felt like something popped...we stopped pressing the clutch and if I opened the bleed screw everything drain in real quick. Left it alone and it drained half the fluid reservoir in about an hour.

I'm not a mechanic, so I'd defer to you normally... However this experience has made me want to err on the side of caution. My current slave cylinder has no visible issues, but is slowly leaking. While it was in the transmission, it was leaking quite a bit more quickly. That makes me feel like I haven't found the real issue yet, as well as suspicious of parts being busted even if new. Perhaps I'll just fill the new unit and see if anything seeps as a smell test...

Yeah I'm waiting for some new parts. What do you mean by clamp it so it can't extend?

Safe to assume if I just have the slave cylinder unmounted, I can just connect it to the master cylinder to pressure test? Or does it have to be mounted to the bellhousing?

@7Westfield DOT4. Never hurts to double check

So it looks like the slave is indeed leaking or seeping. I took out both the bleed line and the clutch line...filled both sides with fluid... No leaks from compression...left it on a clean paper towel and an hour later, there's a small puddle on the paper towel...also see it on the lower lip of the cylinder. Also one of the videos shows that filling the line and then loosening the cylinder from the bellhousing for some reason made it leak also. But strange there