Board logo

Process of finding and proving engine age
garybee - 1/2/19 at 01:42 PM

I have a very old zetec (bought it 20 years ago, no proof at this point) in a car I'd like to IVA some time.

I believe it is early enough to not require a cat. I can just about make out the engine number on the block. I remember there was a process of contacting Ford to provide to prove engine age. Does anyone know if this is still available or how I might now go about this?

Thanks in advance

Gary

gremlin1234 - 1/2/19 at 02:47 PM

the first two letters of the engine id indicate date
https://www.burtonpower.com/tuning-guides/tuning-guide-pages/ford-manufacture-dates.html

garybee - 1/2/19 at 03:20 PM

Thanks for that. The first letters look like RL which would make it January '94. The rest of the number is mostly unreadable unfortunately. I'll have to see if I can somehow clean it up to reveal more. Looks like it may be worth the effort as it's old enough to be 'pre-cat'.

gremlin1234 - 1/2/19 at 03:58 PM

take some photos of the no. from different angles, with and without flash, and post them or pm them to me, and we shall see what we can read.

see
https://locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/3/viewthread.php?tid=210801
shows the type of image enhancement possible with a little (well lot) of practice

garybee - 1/2/19 at 04:09 PM

Thank you very much. I'm a little confused by your link though, I think it may be to the wrong thread.

furryeggs - 1/2/19 at 04:14 PM

On the off chance you know the reg of the car it came out of, you can HPI it. They accepted my application with just the hpi report showing the engine number.

garybee - 1/2/19 at 04:17 PM

Unfortunately that's a non-starter.

gremlin1234 - 1/2/19 at 04:25 PM

quote:
Originally posted by garybee
Thank you very much. I'm a little confused by your link though, I think it may be to the wrong thread.

the link shows how we can get detail from 'noise' in photos

rusty nuts - 1/2/19 at 05:44 PM

I believe that IVA inspectors will accept Burtonpowers catalogue as evidence of engine age, no need for a letter from Ford. You will have to show the engine number for registration purposes though

johnemms - 1/2/19 at 08:23 PM

If you had a donor log book ..just stamp the engine number on it

redturner - 4/2/19 at 09:37 AM

Clean the number up as best you can then rub some battery acid on it and it will bring the numbers out.....

garybee - 4/2/19 at 10:05 AM

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll have a go during the week and see what I can find.

garybee - 4/2/19 at 10:09 PM

OK, so after some cleaning, angled lighting and a few pictures I am fairly confident I can make it out now. .

The code appears to be RUXXXXX (Xs are all numbers), is this a valid format?

Because it's nice to have all the bases covered...does anyone know of an email/postal address at Ford of a department that might be able to provide verification of age?

rusty nuts - 5/2/19 at 07:05 AM

Read my post ref Burtonpowers catalogue

garybee - 5/2/19 at 12:34 PM

I already have done, thank you. I appreciate the input but if more solid proof is available I would be silly not to get it.

Thanks

Gary

[Edited on 5/2/19 by garybee]

gremlin1234 - 5/2/19 at 03:27 PM

quote:
The code appears to be RUXXXXX (Xs are all numbers), is this a valid format?
yes its the format I would expect

garybee - 5/2/19 at 03:43 PM

Thank you.

Glad about that as the 3rd digit could be lots of things if letters were also an option.

loggyboy - 5/2/19 at 05:09 PM

Ford Technical Information Centre
PO BOX 12060
Colchester,
Essex.
CO1 9PF

i think they charge £25 fee these days.

garybee - 5/2/19 at 09:54 PM

Fantastic, thank you. £25 sounds perfectly reasonable if that's the case. Will give it a go.