6 replies to this topic

[Stu1961]

Hi All,

 

Does anyone know in which year the A series engine went unleaded, the reason I ask is so I know what I'm buying. I know there is no guarantee that any given car will still have it's original engine, but this can be cross referenced with the registration document. 

 

Thanks for any advice given

 

Stuart   

[minimadles]

I think it was around 1988 if my memory serves

[Tamworthbay]

If you type the engine number into guessworks website it will give you the original spec of the engine.

[AVV IT]

As above, it was around 1988.

There are a number of problems with relying on the engine number though. Firstly the engine number is only attached to the block, and as all the other engine components can be changed, the engine number only really gives you the original spec of the engine attached to that block. The engine number is also often on a metal plate attached to the block with two small rivets. This means that it's incredibly common for an engine to have lost it's number and therefore have no identity at all. It's also makes it easy for people to assign their original engine number to a replacement engine. This is becoming more common since DVLA made it more difficult to declare a change of engine/engine number on the V5 a few years back.

[timmy850]

Hence why Australian authorities never allowed riveted on engine numbers and they all had to be stamped...

[Stu1961]

Hi all,

Many thanks for the replies.

some excellent points there Dave and all food for thought. Someone once told me that the rivets used to hold the serial number plate on were extremely hard and next to neigh on impossible to drill out, which would mean they would have to be chiselled off. In that case someone trying to change the identity of an engine would leave evidence that it had obviously been tampered with, also you could not use the original holes so the position of the plate would have to change again this would be easy to spot.

The second scenario would be someone who had had the engine decked easy to spot as the machining marks would be visible,then it is probably reasonable to assume the engine may or may not be original and the owner in all probability would be honest with you anyway. However I would still ask to see the pre removed number plate and use the program on the Guesswork's site as Clive suggested.

I accept the fact that it is impossible to know what has been changed inside an engine until it has been striped but anyone with a reasonable engineering back ground would know what to look for in an original A series installation. Age gives a lot away and with an original installation of any Mini or Metro engine there is going to be a lot of undisturbed oil and general grime.

Stuart

Edited by Stu1961, 05 September 2013 - 10:37 AM.

[AVV IT]

The problem is that with the A-series usually needing a rebuild at around 100,000 miles, finding an undisturbed original installation these days is becoming harder. They do exist, but with even the newest of classic mini's being 13 years old now, it's often becoming increasingly difficult to find a classic mini still with it's original engine, let alone one that's engine is completely untouched. Also with so many classic minis now being owned by enthusiasts who want to keep everything under the bonnet clean and shiny, even genuine original installations will often be sparkly clean and fitted with a replacement chrome/alloy rocker covers etc.Conversely, a 25 year old mini that is had engine mods carried out a decade ago, might not be all that obvious when it's covered in 10 years of oil and road grime.

 

Engine number plates do genuinely corrode and break off too, just because you see a replacement engine number, or one that's been tampered with doesn't necessarily mean that anything dodgy has actually occurred. I've replaced an engine number plate because the original had genuinely broken off, and in my case the rivets could be prized out easily with just a screw driver. I do still have the original plate (somewhere), but whether I'd actually remember to pass it on to the new owner if I were to sell, is a different matter. With many classic mini's now having 10 or more previous owners, an engine transplant, or engine number change may have occurred many owners/years ago, possibly without the current owners knowledge.