I am restarting my build again after many years of inactivity and I have been reading up on the latest legislation on engines and emissions for IVA.
I was concerned to read that people are finding it impossible to provide proof of age of their Toyota 4AGE engines as Toyota will not provide any evidence but after a frantic search I have found the V5C for my original Toyota Corolla GTi donor that I bought back in 2004.
My problem now is trying to remember exactly what I did with regards to the donor after I removed the engine. I scrapped the physical car but I still have the complete V5C and a quick check on the DVLA website shows it as Untaxed, Tax due 31 January 2005. With that being the case does it mean I didn't SORN it at the time and if so why haven't the DVLA chased me to do so, or worse still fined me? I honestly cannot remember what I did when I got rid of the shell or what I should do now. If I was to SORN the car would it ring alarm bells at DVLA or if I register it a scrapped will I still be able to use the V5C as proof of engine age?
I'm not trying to pull the wool over the DVLA's eyes but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot at the same time.

is the v5 that you have red or blue?

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Originally posted by gremlin1234
is the v5 that you have red or blue?

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Engine age needs to come from the manufacturer from the engine number and VIN iirc. I had an imported MX5 where the V5 had a random number for the engine number, Mazda didn't recognise the number but once found on the engine, confirmed it was the original engine fitted to that VIN in on a specific date in 1990.

V5 won't confirm it was the same engine at first use/manufacture.

I'm screwed then because Toyota will not provide proof of engine age.

If your going to run it on throttle bodies and fit a cat it should pass the lastest emissions test

Was planning on standard ECU and injection but with the TVIS system removed.

I had mega issues with Toyota, now have a Zetec which was the only way to get through IVA!

My IVA centre would accept the V5 (which i didnt have) but not the letter that RAW gave me from Toyota. This seems to vary from centre to centre.

I would advise speaking to your local IVA station (go there in person) and check with them before you do anything drastic.

I was running carbs, so was screwed, but if your running original injection and ECU you should be fine. if you can fit in a small cat you will have no issues.

Toyota are hopeless and very unhelpful. Even Mark Viccars at DVSA said dont bother with them and they are a lost cause!!

All i can say is good luck, but investigate all avenues with your local IVA test station first!! if your in the Kent area you wont get an issue btw

Just visited the local IVA test centre which is only two miles from work but the place was abandoned and not a soul to be seen. The bay doors were open but noone in the office or test bays. Must have all gone to lunch.
I get the feeling this is going to be a total pain in the arse.
So if Toyota will not help I guess a 4AGE powered kit car is no longer a viable option.

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Originally posted by WallerZero
V5 won't confirm it was the same engine at first use/manufacture.

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My IVA station was willing to accept the V5 with the engine on, like i said it varies from station to station unfortunately.

As your running injection i wouldnt be too concerned to be honest. For me it meant going back to injection etc and was easier to just put an early Zetec in and have 3.5% CO levels.

if you cant prove the age, then you will be required to do a cat test. If you follow the diagrams in the IVA manual it will point you in the right direction to which test you will need.

try your local station again and have a chat with them before you do anything further

another possible option might be to IVA it with a crossflow or CVH (if you can find one) and then convert it to use the 4AGE

Or perhaps more sensible, one of the kit car parts suppliers does new Zeetecs for less than £1000, sounds like good value to me.
Or, how about an MX5 engine and box.
I know, neither are a 4AGE but might be more sensible.

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Originally posted by JonBowden
Or perhaps more sensible, one of the kit car parts suppliers does new Zeetecs for less than £1000, sounds like good value to me.
Or, how about an MX5 engine and box.
I know, neither are a 4AGE but might be more sensible.

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Paulbeyer - don't give up the fight yet. I'm in the same position using a 4 age. Build almost finished. I had the same problem with Toyota. My 4 age has it's original engine number but I had no idea what chassis it was fitted to thereby giving me no date of manufacture. There are different phases of the 4age such as 3 rib and 7 rib blocks. I could pinpoint my engine to between 1987 and 1991 from it's characteristics but persisted with Toyota. After speaking on phone to Toyota UK customer services I was asked to send an email which I did with photos of my engine and lots of research I had done. Toyota responded within a week giving me the chassis number of the car my engine went in together with it's date of manufacture (1989). So I have an official email from Toyota with proof of engine age. It can be done. U2U me your email and i will send you some info. It was only last month that I achieved this.
Nick

Toyota refused to speak to me in the end about engine age proof! Glad you managed to get sorted in the end though. According to them they keep no record of VIN numbers or engine numbers from vehicles they produce, lol.

Don’t know if it helps, but for my Iva I had a zetec. I downloaded a chart from burtons website which gives all of the engine codes and a table to match the year of manufacture. They were quite happy with this (in fact have done this on two IVAs).

Is there anything similar for Toyota engines?

nope!

DVSA count the burton catalog as a technical document and therefore acceptable. Print outs with all the relevant details of each phase of the Toyota 4AGE from websites is not acceptable.....

Not that this is a bitter subject for me