I bought a used, unfired Hi-Power last week for $560.  The gun shop had three of them in stock, all were identical.  It's one of the last of the nicely blued hi powers made in the late 80's-early 90's and I couldn't pass  up such a great deal.  

The serial numbers are stamped on the frontstrap, right where I want checkering.  Is it possible to relocate the serial numbers?  If not, would it be illegal to install rubber wrap-around grips?

Nobody???

To the best of my knowlefge you can cover the serial #.  Destroying or altering is a crime I believe.  By altering I mean changing, not moving.    I know that engravers sometimes have to relocate serail #`s to make their designs work.  

No, serial numbers are best left where they are. Don'r forget, they're rollmarked into the frame & very few have the ability to do this in their shop, IMO. Not to mention I'd bet the checkering won't run as deep as the serial number so it might still be slightly visible, not real eye catching.

I would suggest some sort of wrap around grips, rubber or otherwise, rather than alter the frame & fine finish.

My .o2

Quoted: I bought a used, unfired Hi-Power last week for $560.  The gun shop had three of them in stock, all were identical.  It's one of the last of the nicely blued hi powers made in the late 80's-early 90's and I couldn't pass  up such a great deal.   The serial numbers are stamped on the frontstrap, right where I want checkering.  Is it possible to relocate the serial numbers?  If not, would it be illegal to install rubber wrap-around grips?

There are gunsmiths that do checkering that can checker around the s/n leaving a sort of frame, looks fine and does not tamper with the s/n.

RC

or the cheap method if you want more grip on the front strap is "skateboard grip tape" I found out about it on the Hi power site(the homepage hipower has some of this on the front strap)
fnhipower.com/
I have tried this and it works well....does wonders for a glock! this is the same stuff they sell precut and call decal grips. on a hi power you cut the piece wide enough to fit under the forward edge of the grip panel since it isnt a flat area.