They do look for the engine number, but if it’s difficult to see they accept a photo. Once you are confident it’s correct, why not just refresh it with some number/letter stamps? Avoid the angst of a potential fail for something so daft.
In order to read engine or chassis numbers paint with acid, leave for 10-15 minutes and it'll be as clear as day (don't forget to thoroughly wash off afterwards)
They do look for the engine number, but if it’s difficult to see they accept a photo. Once you are confident it’s correct, why not just refresh it with some number/letter stamps? Avoid the angst of a potential fail for something so daft.
"You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead"
Stan Laurel
Pete, if you're looking for an endoscope, Lidl or Aldi sometimes have them (believe it or not). I got one a while back - it's got a small mirror attachment (for seeing backwards if necessary, behind the camera head), a light for illuminating dark areas (such as engine interiors!), blah blah. The neck, or whatever you want to call it (the bendy bit?) is about 3 feet long. It cost about £30...even had a set of batteries included!
Or, you can buy small diameter USB cameras on ebay, with illumination on the end.
Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions on the engine number. However I think I'll leave it as it is - at least I now have a photograph that is (just about) legible.
Also for the endoscope - looks like I may have to buy one !
Last edited by Stratos Fear; 30-08-2020 at 16:36.
Can you ring the test centre and ask if they have one? I'll bet it's not the first time they'll have been presented with a car with an obscured number?
Guy
If they can't confirm the engine number then they simply emissions test the engine to current standards. Mark E with the Zenith replica had something similar where the engine number didn't match the donor V5 that the engine came from.
Because Peter hasn't got a Donor V5 to prove the age of the engine this is the same standard as he would be tested to anyway.
The limits on this are lambda 0.97 to 1.03, hydrocarbons upto 200ppm and CO2 up to 0.2%
With the rebuilt engine and catalysed exhaust these should not be a problem. The only difference even if the pre 2001 V5 was present would be that the CO2 limit would be 0.3%
Last edited by Strat Fan; 30-08-2020 at 20:13.
"You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead"
Stan Laurel
I just used a usb camera to try and read mine. Even using that it was bloody difficult, had to look at the video 4 or 5 times to come up with a number. Then checked it against the V5 and I was right.
I guess I can use the video as evidence, but not easy to interpret.
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