19 replies to this topic

[union jack]

If you were to add up how much it'd cost to have kids you probably wouldn't have any lol
If you were to add up how much a mortgage would cost you over 25yrs you probably would get 1.
But if you were offered a shell,subframes & wheels how much do you reckon it'd cost to get a mini onto the road using as many 2nd hand parts as possible?

[yeti21586]

ive been doing this (because im mad) and its almost £7k this doesnt including my buying the mini which was £2900


YetI

[Dan]

If you were to add up how much a mortgage would cost you over 25yrs you probably would get 1

You don't have to, it's written on the bottom of the application!

If you did build a Mini like that it would probably end up on a Q, there isn't enough of one vehicle there to get or keep a specific identity. You could do it for just a few grand though if it was all second hand. The cost of all the minor parts adds up.

[union jack]

It has a v5

[Dan]

That V5 refers to the complete assembly of parts which originally made up that Mini. Once more than a certain amount doesn't exist any more, that identity is history. The identity can only be retained if you have the shell (original or brand new unused replacement) and at least 2 major assemblies from the original car. Each subframe doesn't count, they both count as 1 assembly.

[union jack]

so if you re-built the car up using 2nd hand parts from other mini's & used a replacement engine (which would have a different number) You loose the original reg plate! who'd know?

[Shifty]

so if you re-built the car up using 2nd hand parts from other mini's & used a replacement engine (which would have a different number) You loose the original reg plate! who'd know?

For a start all of the TMF members that you've just told!!

[Dan]

If your MOT tester gets suspicious of the car, he sends a report to VOSA / DVLA that you never know about. They then send you a letter asking you to present the car for a VIC, a vehicle identity check. They inspect your car all over and if they still can't decide whether it's original enough they get experts in the marque from clubs to come and inspect it. If the experts spot that the parts are all of different ages, DVLA try to work out if any crime has taken place. If they decide it hasn't, they give you the chance to have the car tested and re-registered on a Q. If they decide a crime has been comitted, the car is crushed and you are fined.

[union jack]

Id say that'd be pretty extreme though eh! are there that many parts that are model specific?

Edited by union jack, 29 October 2010 - 08:01 PM.

[spacekadett]

to be honest on a Mini I doubt anyone would bat an eyelid as subframes etc are subject to change regularly anyway. If you are building a standard or standard 'type' (I mean stock subframes, A series in the front etc) car it should be fine. If you're putting the body on a one off chassis / fitting an engine where the back seats were or something someone might get suspicous
Tho on the original question I put my Mk1 together from a solid rolling shell (so no resto or paintwork costs) for a touch under £2k including another donor Mk1 and a big ass Minispeed bill as well Did have some luck scoring potentially expensive stuff thru work and friends

Dread to think how much I've got in it now!

[mike.]

I don't doubt that your wrong here Dan and I don't mean to offend you, but I think that is a bit extreme.

What sort of older car (mini or not) has all its original parts or alternatively has been fitted with all brand new replacements over its life that haven't come from another car? Not many I imagine.

Especially if its as strict as you say and 2 major assemblies need to be kept (both subframes counting as 1 assembly) what other major assembly's are there on a mini apart from the engine? I think you'd struggle to find a mini that hasn't had multiple major assembly's replaced with suitable used replacements.

Also how are the 'experts' going to be able to tell something like a subframe is a new item or a used replacement that has been fully refurbished?

[mk1leg]

A restoration cost as much as you have to throw at it................Mine cost £9000 with patrs and paint only NOT my time 4 years to restore...............

[Dan]

I don't doubt that your wrong here Dan and I don't mean to offend you, but I think that is a bit extreme.

Think what you like, I didn't just make this stuff up. It's written down in black and white by DVLA and VOSA, published on the Direct Gov website, and linked to at the top of this very section of the forum in a thread about modifying a Mini legally. VOSA are really getting hot on this now, in the last couple of years an awful lot of bitsa cars of all sorts of marques have been crushed. If a car has been progressively maintained over its life, and you have history to prove that, that's when they accept that it has been done legally and they will decide if you can keep the reg or if it has to be changed. If it's all been done at the same time then they don't like it, that's when it counts as rebuilding the car and at that stage the 2 major assemblies thing comes in, or the points system depending on exactly what you've done. The big give away, regarding the history of parts, is that many parts or assemblies have a build date stamped on them somewhere either in a code or in plain English.

[tommy13]

If your MOT tester gets suspicious of the car, he sends a report to VOSA / DVLA that you never know about. They then send you a letter asking you to present the car for a VIC, a vehicle identity check. They inspect your car all over and if they still can't decide whether it's original enough they get experts in the marque from clubs to come and inspect it. If the experts spot that the parts are all of different ages, DVLA try to work out if any crime has taken place. If they decide it hasn't, they give you the chance to have the car tested and re-registered on a Q. If they decide a crime has been comitted, the car is crushed and you are fined.

Dan, as a tester of over 25 years experience, I must tell you that I have never been instructed to look for, or report modifications to any vehicle, nor are we required to know anything about VIC checks or points systems.
I have read your other posts concerning the Land Rover which was crushed, and it's fair to say the only way VOSA could have known about it was through the MOT system or in a VOSA roadside check.
I suspect what is happening is the tester is issuing an advisory notice in cases where a modification has taken place, mainly to cover himself in case of future repercussions as a result of the modification. The MOT computer logs every keystroke for legal purposes, and it is not difficult to imagine that VOSA could set up a search which flags up all advisories and fail notes containing words like "modified" "altered"or "original" and act on these findings.
I have no doubt that you are correct in what you say concerning the outcome of a VOSA inspection, I just wanted to point out that it is not usually the tester who is smiling to your face and at the same time reporting you to VOSA behind your back.

[Dan]

Fair enough then. to be honest I have never suspected any tester of secretly working against the driver in that way but in all the cases I've heard of the information seems to originate within VOSA themselves and the only contact most of us have with them is through the MOT. What you say about the computer system is probably spot on. In my industry there is also a whole heap of trouble currently being caused by VOSA in regard to our trucks. Frankly I'll not be upset if the current government cutbacks return VOSA to the shabby little organisation they used to be, and get the useless wombles off the road!