Thread: chassis/body/vin plates?

Originally Posted by Sprint

stupid question, but do the series vehicles (especially IIA's) have a plate with theier respective VIN/Chassis/Engine numbers, build dates, etc stamped on them?

reason i ask is because i looked at a pair of IIA's on the weekend, and i couldnt find anything on one, and i could only find the PMC build plate on the other

Sprint

VIN plates only commenced in 1971-72 so it is only the very last of the Series 2a that have VIN plates.

You can purchase a certificate which records the build date of UK assembled Land Rovers from the BMIHT Archives The Heritage Motor Centre - Archive & Picture Library however I am not aware if the Aussie built CKDs are included in the records.

Another way to work out the date of a particular S2a vehicle is to look at the date range of the vehicle chassis number suffix. Classic Land Rover's calculator from Norway is a particularly good resource in that respect. (I prefer it to CalVIN from the Netherlands.)

Diana

G'day Sprint

The Heritage Centre in UK do not have the Australian CKD records, not sure that they still exist for any of the Series 1,2,2a,3 Australian Assembly stuff as Lotz-A-Landies said the Series 2a only got Vin plates about 1971 when the first of the ADR's came in, Australian Assembled Vehicles chassis numbering for 2 & 2a started with the following: Ser.2 SWB==143***** LWB==153*****
Ser 2a SWB==243***** LWB==253*****

the letter after the No. (Suffix) indicates production modifications (changes)

cheers

was there an actual plate listing the body/engine/chassis number though?

Originally Posted by Sprint

was there an actual plate listing the body/engine/chassis number though?

Absolutely no idea, but probably. Check the front of a handbook, it will possibly give the location of chassis, engine, gearbox & axle numbers.

I'm going through all this with the RTA at the moment to gat a chassis number for a 1959 MG. Ex factory, the bulkhead plate for the engine number says "see engine".. & the Chassis number only had the last 3 digits stamped.

Regards
Max P

Originally Posted by Sprint

was there an actual plate listing the body/engine/chassis number though?

Sprint yes there was a Vehicle Number plate (which should have the same number as the chassis number), which also has the instructions for the use of the transfer box/four wheel drive.



The usual location for the plate in a late series 2a was on the vertical panel in the parcel tray on one side of the steering column. In earlier vehicles it was located on the firewall just above the transmission tunnel.

Diana

Originally Posted by UncleHo

G'day Sprint

The Heritage Centre in UK do not have the Australian CKD records, not sure that they still exist for any of the Series 1,2,2a,3 Australian Assembly stuff ....

Uncle Ho

The Rover Co records for the 80" certainly did include a dispatch book for CKD vehicles. Unfortunately the details are scarce. You will be aware the CKD kits were sent out as sets of 6 vehicles, with 6 chassis, 6 engines etc. so tracing which engine ended up in which vehicle was only possible at the assembly factory. Even the chassis were not stamped with their final number until assembly was completed. As a result, the Heritage Centre will issue a heritage certificate for an 80" CKD but it will only list the car number, a date of dispatch from Solihull and the destination assembler. i.e. Annand & Thompson in Brisbane.

Later assembly of CKD vehicles in Australia, had many parts manufactured locally so the UK books may only list a set of numbers sent to PMC Enfield, Sydney, if they list anything at all. As I said, what/anything contained in the BMIHT records for 2a's I'm unaware.

Diana

next question...... how can you determine what year it was built?