Yep, Michigan has same laws. One is not allowed to screw with VIN plates at all.
If you have to swap bodies or something, it's now considered an 'assembled' vehicle and they just require you to get the vehicle inspected by the State Police, who usually requires receipts or proof of ownership of major items like frames and bodies and engines, then they issue a generic VIN.
I see people all the time selling VIN plates and titles, and I wonder what they do with them. I know there is a couple places out there you can buy the special rivets that hold the VIN plate on (they have s goofy star shaped head) . I would just worry if you didn't do it by the book, and god forbid you end up in a wreck somewhere with injuries involved, when the insurance companies get involved and there's large sums of money involved, you can bet your last penny the insurance company is going to check. If found to be some illegal setup, now your on the hook for damages.
I know, it's a far fetched situation, but keeps me from doing it. I put a fiberflass body tub on my K5, I have 2 VIN plates with both titles from the 2 '73's I disassembled, (in MI it's actually illegal just to even be possession of the VIN plates off the body, ha, luckily before I even knew that, I had torched the large section of metal off around the VIN, so technically, it's still attached to the body
).
If one is looking to swap bodies, I would take those questions to your DMV or whatever entity controls registrations and titles, and ask them what the procedure is. Here in this state, there are some instances where the State Police will swap the VIN plate for you. Usually it involves newer cars where the area around the VIN is damaged and if an 'assembled' title and VIN is issued, that can severely diminish the value of a car . Imagine you go look at a 2008 Corvette or something and you decide to buy it, and the owner comes out with a title which instead of identifying the vehicle as a '2008 Chevrolet Corvette', it says "Assembled Vehicle" or something)
