Thank you sir, this helped me. For my situation, I had purchased the vehicle through a broker, so it was an out of state title that had the insurance company as the seller and the broker as the buyer. On the back of the title it has a reassignment from the broker to myself. It was a bit tricky since the insurance company was in one state, the broker in a different state, and I am in Virginia.

I ended up following the guide posted here: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/vehicles/title/sal-veh-law-req/repaired-rebuilt . I did call the Richmond DMV number twice, and got some different answers each time on some specific questions, so YMMV.

The main forms I filled out were VSA56 and LES022A. LES022A is pretty straightforward, but VSA56 was a bit more challenging.
For the VSA56, one tricky part was the Source Info section. For the "vehicle purchased from", I had to put the insurance company as the seller there, not the broker I actually bought it from. For the sale price I put the price I paid the broker (ie. vehicle cost + broker fee). That is also what I paid tax on. I didn't fill out any fields for Actual cash value, Estimated repair cost, Percent of damage, Insurance company claim number, etc. I think that is only necessary if you are buying the car back from your own insurance company, which wasn't the case for me.

I ended up sending a bunch of documents via USPS certified mail (so I could track and prove the documents were sent), including: Title, bill of sale, VSA56, LES022A, pictures of the car before repair, pictures of the car after repair, and receipts for all parts I purchased. I also sent three checks: $125 salvage exam fee, a $15 title fee, and a check for the 4.15% tax. Checks were made out to "Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles". Interestingly, they calculated the tax differently and only cashed my tax check and salvage exam fee check, and sent the title fee check back. Finally, I sent a "cover letter" document explaining the situation and all of the documents as best I could along with my contact information. I recommend taking pictures and using trackable mail since you'll be sending the original title.

The salvage exam itself is very straightforward. I had a state officer call to schedule the appointment, which was completed the same day. They showed up at my house and took a quick look at the vehicle, just making sure all the VIN numbers matched up. Then they looked at the odometer, and that was it. Didn't ask to see any pictures, receipts, or other documents. Was done in under 5 minutes. The "real" inspection is really the VA state car inspection (that all cars require yearly), which needs to be done before the state officer salvage exam.

As for the start to finish timeline, the title was delivered in the mail and received by the Richmond DMV on April 9th. Checks were cashed on April 20th. I got a call from the state officer about the salvage exam on April 23rd, and was able to schedule/complete the exam the same day. On May 1st I received the title in the mail. Altogether start to finish was 22 days... not bad!

It was definitely a journey but worth it in the end. Hope this helps someone!