Antique Registration

By the total lack of activity on this blog in the last year, you can infer that I've been distracted by other things. It's not just the blog that I've ignored, the poor bug that this site is about it has been mostly ignored too. The Main reason that I've ignored it is that I can't legally drive it right now because I can't get it to pass inspection. I took it in for inspection a year and a half ago and it failed because rot in the heater channels and rust in the foot wells. And because of the work that the house needs and the fact that I was out of work for three months, I haven't had the spare money to get the bodywork done on it.

The car is mostly drivable (or at least was the last time I started it), at least around town, but illegal since I can't get it through inspection with the body work. So the solution seems to be re-registering it as an antique which allows me to drive the car without registration. I was worried that an antique registration would have too many restrictions but from reading the "Antique and Classic Vehicle Fact Sheet" from PennDot, it looks like the restriction is defined as:

The use of antique, classic and collectible plates is governed by Section 1340 of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code which states: “It is unlawful for any person to operate a motorcycle or vehicle with antique, classic or collectible registration plates for general daily transportation. Permitted use shall be limited to participation in club activities, exhibits, tours, parades, occasional transportation and similar uses.” Occasional transportation and similar
uses is defined as one day a week.

So I can drive it 52 days a year which is 52 days more per year than I have been driving it and I don't see that as a problem. I'm sending in the re-registration forms this week with four pictures (one of each side) to show that it has been "maintained in or restored to a condition which is substantially in conformance with manufacturer specifications." I should get the new plates in time for Spring so that it will be warm enough to do some tune up work on it and drive it around the city a little. I can't wait.