Posted 09 January 2017 - 03:32 AM
Hi Noah & Welcome to TMF,
If the DVLA database is still showing the engine as a 998, then the engine swap probably won't have been declared, so after you buy the car you'll need to send the V5c off to them with details of the new engine size & number. In an effort to reduce vehicle identity fraud DVLA also tend to require written confirmation/ evidence of a genuine engine swap these days. This can be in the form of the receipt/invoice from the garage who carries out the work. If there is no receipt, or the swap was done by a previous owner, then you'll probably need an engineers report from a garage/ workshop etc. confirming that an engine swap has taken place. A friendly independent garage or classic car restorer should be able to help you out with this if needed, but some may charge an admin fee.There have been cases where DVLA have decided that evidence isn't actually needed for classic car engine swaps, so you could just try sending off the V5c with details of the new engine number/cc, and they might just update it and send you a new one straight back, but this doesn't seem to be a consistently applied policy by DVLA, so they may well write back to you asking for written evidence to be provided first.
In terms of an insurer, I'd always recommend that you avoid comparison websites & mainstream insurers and get a classic policy through one of the specialist providers. Personally I'd avoid flux though, due to a rather negative customer service experience that I had with them. I've been with Peter James for a few years now and can't fault them, but I've also had policies with reasonable customer service from HIC, Lancaster, Footman James & Brentacre, so you could give a couple of them a try instead. Most insurers won't quote you online if a car is modified, particularly if the car has performance mods such as a bigger engine, as they'll usually want more details about the associated increase in BHP before giving you an accurate quote.
Who ever you go with, make sure that you get an agreed valuation policy, so that you get back the true cost of replacing a classic mini in the event of a claim & not just the insurers opinion of what standard market value is. Most of the specialist providers provide these policies, some as standard and others for an additional admin fee, similarly some will accept your valuation so long as you supply a series of photos of the car, whilst others will require you to have the car independently valued by a garage/specialist beforehand.
Hope that helps and if I can help with anything else, just give me a yell.