Morris Minor Owners Club

I’ve got a Marina 1275 engine that is missing it’s tag and when I bought it, the chap said it had been missing for over 40 years (the time it had sat in his garage) and he has no paperwork for it.

What do I do?

What do you want to do? That tag was often (brutally) removed and usually discarded if the block had to be skimmed. Engines reconditioned by small firms might have been given no number or a set of initials and numbers - think John Brown Engineering, 15th engine, might be stamped JBE015, or perhaps a date would be used.

The engine number plate is held on with scrivets (screw rivets). The plate should have been carefully removed before the block was skimmed and the plate then replaced.

You have to use your judgement as to whether you want to buy the engine. As it is not original to your car I don’t really see that a missing engine number matters. What matters is whether the engine is any good!

Stephen

I agree, I wouldn't worry about it. Must be thousands of these cars going round without engine tags. The main thing - is the engine any good?

Well, if you've already brought it, and if you fit it to the car, make up a suitable number and then make a new tag to rivet on.
Blank plates are £2.44 on ebay, just search "Blank Engine Plate For Classic Mini MGA MGB MGC Austin Sprite MG Midget" or variants thereof....
I suspect they are available other suppliers too.

My car's engine number is on the V5c document. Will it matter that the OP will not have the correct engine number on this document?

Stephen

You could stamp a plate with the engine number on the v5 and attach that, it's what they do on modern cars when they replace the engine.

kevin s wrote: ↑Mon Aug 07, 2023 9:50 pm You could stamp a plate with the engine number on the v5 and attach that, it's what they do on modern cars when they replace the engine.

Fair enough but it may well be that the OP's V5 has the original engine number which might be 10xxxxxxx (assuming it was a 1098) whereas a 1275 should be 12xxxxxx. I'm probably overcomplicating things as usual.

svenedin wrote: ↑Mon Aug 07, 2023 9:02 pm My car's engine number is on the V5c document. Will it matter that the OP will not have the correct engine number on this document?

Stephen

Well I was kind of assuming, I know it's a rash thing to do, that if he changes the engine he'll tell DVLA, that's why he's wondering about the lack of serial number.....