Code Breaker Wanted!

[myoldjalopy]

About 26 years ago I bought a 1956 948cc four door (sadly destroyed by a white van man several years later ) and with it came a spare but knackered 948cc engine. About seven years ago I had it reconditioned and I fitted it to my present car.
I have had sitting on a mantlepiece for several years an engine numberplate, which I THINK came off this engine but I'm not sure as I can't decipher the letters and numbers. Doesn't seem typical Morris to me....
In raised characters it says 8G9RL50069 and then, stamped into the plate, is FD.
Can anyone make sense of this, please?
Just idle curiosity really....
Thanks,
Pete

[philthehill]

8G is the designation given to Gold Seal factory in line (fore and aft configuration) reconditioned engines.
From the rest of the number can be determined what had been done to the engine during reconditioning and also the reconditioned engine number allocated.

Phil

[myoldjalopy]

Thanks Phil............mystery solved then! Goodness knows the detailed history though. Maybe it was the original from the '56 car which got reconditioned, or a recon replacement that later got worn out. All I know for sure is that the '56 car had a 1098cc engine in when I bought it, but it drank a lot of oil so I soon swapped that for a 1098cc out of a Traveller I had to scrap (it was literally falling to pieces) and after a while that too became worn and I put a recon 1098cc in - before White Van Man killed the car. I then sold THAT engine on to someone else. The 948cc goldseal you identified had been sitting in a friend's garage where I had left it for some reason and forgotten about it - until he wanted more space. It was then I decided to have it reconditioned and swapped it in place of the tired 803cc engine that was in my present car. So it seems it has been reconditioned twice! These engines seem to get around from car to car!
Pete

[bmcecosse]

Was there any trace of Gold paint on it?

[myoldjalopy]

Oh golly, I don't know Roy. Been so many engines over the years I've lost track and my memory banks are evaporating with the passing years! But at least Phil was able to clarify what the engine number meant, whichever engine it came from.....

[bmcecosse]

You changed the engine number to a different engine ??? Expect a knock at the door early one morning......

[les]

Yes messing around with Morris minor engine numbers would put one on the authorities ' most wanted list' They wouldn't hesitate to go back over 50 years to get all these numbers back to their original vehicles! Especially as there's no other crimes being committed these days.

[myoldjalopy]

Ha ha - no, I never swapped numbers around, just swapped engines from car to car. This particular numberplate was removed, however, for some reason and I found it on the mantlepiece. The engine itself is now painted black.............

[Dean]

Wow, you must have done some mileage to wear out so many A series engines. Great story.