GSL526

[ChrisB]

I recently picked up this MMII but can find almost nothing about it, the paperwork is minimal.

It's number is FBA11/285740 registered 6/10/54. It is registered with a 948cc engine but the serial number would indicate a larger engine (10V189E1151812).
The MOT history on the official website is non existent. From what I can tell it has a genuine 58,780 on the clock. The only major issue is the panels of the B pillar which need new lower metal welding in. The rest is pretty good, but I will get it resprayed whilst the welding is done. It runs ok, but it has a water leak (oil stays in!).

Has anyone got any info on this car? I have applied for the certificate from Gaydon.

Many thanks in advance for any info

(And yes, the Daimler V8 in the garage is mine as well - the Corsa isn't!)

[ChrisB]

The rest of the pics

[ManyMinors]

Very nice! The engine number is for a later 1098cc engine. The GSL registration tells us that the car has been re-registered some years ago and now has an "age related plate" attached to it. As for the mileage on a car so old......who knows! The wings are later replacements as is the whole interior trim. Probably to be expected on a car of this age really and shows that somebody has been prepared to spend some money on it. The windscreen rubber has been replaced with something different - probably in an effort to sort out the usual water leaks.
This has meant losing the sought after chromed surrounds which is a shame. For some reason, the original chassis number plate has been replaced with a rather poorly stamped replacement which some people might be suspicious of. Probably perfectly innocent though. Hope you have great fun with it!
PS - the Daimler 250V8 is a grand car. I am a former owner of one and wish I still had it......

[irmscher]

Lovely car

[ChrisB]

If possible I will replace the windscreen rubber (and chrome strip) as there is a lot of mastic in the joints.
How does the GSL let you know it was reregistered? I realise the Gaydon document will tell me the original registration, if it was transferred off it must have been decent.
It may be worth punching a new plate, the overstrike on that chassis number is pretty awful, but it ties to the V5. The V5 states the right engine number but 948cc. Maybe I should amend that to 1098? The Daimler had the wrong engine number on the V5 from build in 1964 to me getting it updated with photos and the build certificate in 2015. Someone in Coventry swapped the details with 5606KV when registering it.

Many thanks for the help

[ManyMinors]

The *SL (along with *SK and *SU for example) registration series was just one of several used by the DVLA in the past to provide replacement registration numbers for pre 1963 vehicles which had lost their original numbers for various reasons. Originally, as I'm sure you know, registration numbers signified a certain county or area and these were of Scottish origin. Your car probably didn't come from Scotland though. Unfortunately tracing a car's history has become much harder now as the DVLA will no longer let you see the registration/ownership records of a car you own. A Heritage certificate will only provide the build details, not the registration details of a car. They will not have records of the car's original registration number as it will have been registered sometime after it was built. They will hopefully be able to let you know which area of the country the car was sent to and it may be possible to search that county's records for the original registration from the chassis number IF the records still exist.
With regard to the engine, it was common for Series 11 Minors to have their rather weak and underpowered 803cc engines replaced with the better/later 948cc Minor 1000 engines. Perhaps this was done and then, later still, that was replaced with the 1098 unit it now carries? Certainly my own Minor has received several engine transplants in its 60+ years.
You are right. Records held by the DVLA etc were not always completely correct even to begin with and many mistakes were made changing from hand written "logbooks" to the computer records by the DVLC/DLVA from the late 1970s onwards.
I expect replacement blank chassis plates are still available. I believe that "Minimail" in Gloucestershire provide a good service of stamping them correctly although I've had no personal dealings with the company.

[palacebear]

To expand on the info given by ManyMinors, the old, previously unissued Scottish registrations assigned by the DVLA for 'age-related' re-registrations were *SJ *SK *SL *SU *SV *SY. Also a couple from Welsh areas were used. From memory these were *FF and *FO. In all cases the format was three letters then three numbers, e.g. ASJ123. They were issued, again from memory, between 2001 and 2010, replacing the previous dubious practice of giving all re-registered vehicles a 1963 A-suffix (year letter) plate.

After 2010 a new (the current) system adopted. Uses unissued registrations from any part of mainland UK. Issued at random with no reference to the old area identifiers. Format is three numbers followed by three letters. The first letter of the group usually being U, X, or Y. Example is my own Minor re-registered in 2012 with ***YUA. UA originally signified a Leeds area registration but my plate was issued in Devon. Not all plates in this format will be re-registrations as some of the old council licencing offices were using them back in the early '60s. Example is 123UPL a Surrey County Council issue from 1961/62.

Apologies for rambling on!

[ChrisB]

Many thanks for all the information - obviously a lot more digging is required.

And please, ramble all you like, it's all interesting!

I will stamp a new VIN plate, it can't be any worse than the bodged one in it at present!

Chris

[geoberni]

To add to the post from PB above, my own '55 Series II purchased a couple of years ago was originally PKV708. In 1991, that was transferred as a 'Cherished Transfer' and now resides on a Renault, the replacement number AFE996A being issued.

So now I'll perhaps correct the date range PB mentioned here

They were issued, again from memory, between 2001 and 2010, replacing the previous dubious practice of giving all re-registered vehicles a 1963 A-suffix (year letter) plate.

because it was in 1999 that a previous owner (who did quite a bit of restoration - not always very professionally) managed to get an age related number BSL***. hence the car is called BaSiL, a name we've continued with from the previous owner.


As regards the missing windscreen trim, I posted back in the summer how I had got around the lack of chrome. Series II chrome trim is like Hen's Teeth and even more expensive. viewtopic.php?f=12&t=68690

You will also find the tale of my experience with DVLA in getting hold of the info they held.viewtopic.php?f=1&t=68615&hilit=DVLA

[ChrisB]

I was thinking of using this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MORRIS-1800- ... rk:22:pf:0.

I will send a V888 to the DVLA and hope for the best. First though, I need to get a cheque book from my bank. I looked back and it's over 10 years since I last wrote a cheque!

Chris

[palacebear]

So now I'll perhaps correct the date range PB mentioned here

They were issued, again from memory, between 2001 and 2010, replacing the previous dubious practice of giving all re-registered vehicles a 1963 A-suffix (year letter) plate.

because it was in 1999 that a previous owner (who did quite a bit of restoration - not always very professionally) managed to get an age related number BSL***. hence the car is called BaSiL, a name we've continued with from the previous owner.

Interesting point GB. I had (slighty) assumed the change was 2001 as it coincided with the new numbering format for new registrations (e.g. AB51XYZ). With hindsight it appears the changeover may have occurred in 1998 and coincided with the introduction of twice-yearly changes of prefix age letters for new registrations. The S prefix (e.g. S123ABC) and all subsequent ones each were issued only for six month periods. Exhaustive internet searches for details have so far proved fruitless... and I really MUST get a life!

[geoberni]

Basil was brought in Portsmouth on 21/5/99 under the Reg AFE996A; the new owner must've applied pretty soon for the age related Reg as it was changed less than 3 months later, as the letter I have confirming the allocation of BSL*** is dated 6 Aug 99.

So Aug 98 might well have been the change date

[geoberni]

I was thinking of using this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MORRIS-1800- ... rk:22:pf:0.

I will send a V888 to the DVLA and hope for the best. First though, I need to get a cheque book from my bank. I looked back and it's over 10 years since I last wrote a cheque!

Chris

I guess it depends on the rubber seal you have fitted. ManyMinors indicated that your windscreen seal doesn't look the original type, so perhaps the one you propose will fit.
However, from my experience the original wouldn't take something like that; not that I've ever seen an original SII trim off a car.
The SII rubber simply has a single channel around it; I assume the Morris 18000 one had a far more complex arrangement to allow the rubber to fit over either side of the trim (if you get my meaning).

[ChrisB]

Ok, now I am confused.
According to the records at Gaydon The car was built in September 1954 with engine 9M-U-H/120993. As far as I am aware that makes it a 948cc engine.
However, all the histories I have read say that in 1954 it should have been 803cc, the 948 coming in in 1956. Even the 9M-U-H serial system isn’t meant to be around when it was built, it should be something like APHM.

One word: HELP!

I’m hoping the V888 request will reveal when it was changed to the current 1098 engine.

[palacebear]

That would confuse me too. You're quite right in your assumption that the engine number prefix should be APHM. I would suggest, if possible that you check back with Gaydon. It rarely happens but they have been known to make errors. If you've paid for a Hertiage certificate you deserve to be sure it's correct!

[myoldjalopy]

My guess is the car has been slightly messed about with during its life (which is not unusual). I note the number on the engine doesn't exactly match that on the plate - on the engine it ends H51812, but on the plate it ends 1151812. The air filter is from a 948cc engine so I guess the original 803cc engine was swapped for a 948cc at some time, and then again for a 1098cc but keeping the 948cc air filter. I don't know how Gaydon gets its information but something has got mucked up in the process of swapping engines, engine number tags and chassis number plates over the years. I don't think I'd worry about it. Most of these cars have been tinkered with to greater or lesser degrees since they first appeared off the production line. At least yours looks pretty original, apart from under the bonnet, and the renovations it has undergone have been sympathetic to the car's original appearance.

[ChrisB]

I've gone back to Gaydon and asked them to check their records as the engine number quoted id "impossible". I will await there reply with interest.

In the meantime the V888 has gone off to the DVLA (along with a few corrections to the V5C)

[ChrisB]

Pretty much sorted now. It was GRN703 registered in Preston in 1954. The engine was APHM/120993 and was swapped in the ‘90s for the current engine with the cc being misreported to the DVLA as 948 instead of 1098. There are no receipts or records to show it ever having had a 948 engine ( that I have found so far). The mileage and service history indicate it’s been unused for around 43 of it’s 64 years! The original reg was, sadly, put on a BMW in 2006

[myoldjalopy]

Just out of interest - do you know what type of gearbox it has? From your picture of the interior, it doesn't seem to have had one of the later gearboxes with the remote gearlever selector fitted. Fairly easy to 'marry' an 803 with a 948 box to upgrade the box without having to mess about with chopping the floor and fitting the remote type transmission tunnel, later carpets, muck about with the handbrake etc. but not so easy to do the same with 1098 box. Is the gearbox a ribbed or smooth casing? That will give us a clue.......

[ChrisB]

I'll have a look next time I'm at the garage it is in

In the meantime, as GSL526 is already a "fake" period number, we have decided to take Jay's plate off V778 and put it on the car, so it will now be 655JAY.