dvla registration changes

[jonnyr48]

what does anybody think about making changes to your registration certificate - do you get less hassle if you only change the fuel type but keep the engine size the same, rather than wacking a significantly bigger engine in at the same time as the fuel change?
cheers jonny

[Stuart]

It looks like things have changed recently. I now need an engineers report for an engine change. Never used to be the case. The insurance people must be putting on the pressure for this kind'a thing. Always used to be they went on the chassis. Still, if it means we won't get any hassle insuring the bikes further down the line it might not be such a bad thing? If they do kick up just say if it's good enough for them to issue a new V5 Doc against then it should be good enough for you to insure me

[gilburton]

Don't worry it's only a visual check of the engine number,frame number and it is indeed diesel or " heavy oil" in the uk reg doc. My local friendly car garage owner did this for me for free. They only want confirmation of the changes. It is not a full engineering inspection. (good job in my case )

[Mouse]

All I did for the V twin was send off the amended V5 and an accompanying letter which did little more than state the fuel type and new engine number and capacity, I also included a photo of the engine plate. This was accepted and back to me in about 10 days.

The current 1900cc papers were rejected as I put a whole 1900cc and they replied by saying no engine was ever made to a whole cc and that I needed more 'proof' of the actual capacity. Blaa Blaa Blaa.

To quote their letter to me stating what they need....(Dated April 2011)

• *A receipt of purchase in headed paper, from a garage, confirming engine number engine size (cc) and the fuel type for the reconditioned or replacement engine, if one has been fitted.
  *An inspection report from an organisation such as the AA or RAC.
  *An inspection report provided for insurance purposes
  *Written confirmation from the manufacturer showing engine number and size.

If your existing engine has been converted or the change took place before you bought the vehicle we will accept:

• *Written confirmation on headed paper from a garage that carried out the conversion
  or
  *Written confirmation of the change on headed paper from an independent garage.

I'm going for the last option and I'm currently chatting up the local independent VW specialists into supplying me with a letter which will specify the vehicle reg number, chassis number, engine number with engine size and fuel type as they are the specialists with VW engines etc. They would not be able to comment on the build quality but are happy about the other stuff but need to check it with the main boss who is never there which is causing me some bother just at the moment.

I also trawled a few kit car forums and the general consensus there was keep the correspondence to a minimum, ie dont go waffling on about the finer points of the conversion, they dont want to know that you have a concourse Thurbley Wangler with the hard to obtain DooberyDangler, etc..... it makes their job of extracting the real info, ie numbers, from your letter difficult.........

[gilburton]

The last option was the one I chose. No problem v5 returned in a few weeks. This seems to be the "norm" now.
I was a bit disappointed when my local garage gave me a handwritten note on headed paper confirming the changes as I thought it looked a bit suspect, and might be rejected, but it went through ok! The garage is MOT registered so that might help?
It's another hurdle but it's straightforward and you can at least still modify as much as you want but the time seems to be coming when you won't be able to do it any more as the regs get stricter

[Mouse]

Just an update to say my V5 has been returned with the details amended. It now lists the Neval as a 1898cc and fuel as Heavy Oil.

I supplied them with a letter explaining I bought the engine over a year ago and took it to the local independent VW specialists as I was having difficulty correctly identifying the VW engine (to also cover my first attempt at registering at 1600 not 1900 ), I also asked if they would accept the ebay letter as I was unable to contact the person who I bought it off for a duplicate receipt.

I supplied them with,

A printout of the ebay 'You've won/bought' email that luckily had the sellers name and address, also my real name alongside my ebay name. (I highlighted these bits in neon pen)
A letter (hand written) on headed paper from local independent garage that simply stated 1) Engine capacity, 2) Engine fuel type, 3) Engine serial Number.3) Vehicle reg No, Date and a signature.
An accompanying letter written by me explaining why the details of the donor vehicle was unknown and why original receipt and garage details were not available.

Took about 2 weeks.