Anyone with previous experience willing to comment of this chaps experience? Should he have said anything?? What would an MOT station say now if he presented his vehicle with a new chassis but had not declared the change to the DVLA. I thought one was allowed so many points eg engine, chassis, suspension etc. I was going to change my chassis but rebuild the existing engine with a +20 rebore and retain the leaf spring suspension with possibly new springs and galvanise a decent period bulkhead I have as a spare. Any thoughts from the ether??
chassis but > had not declared the change to the DVLA.
Common sense would dictate if you change from a rusty old LR leaf chassis to a fancy new LR leaf chassis then there's no point in involving the DVLA as you're not making changes from the manufacturers original spec. Not even insurance companies are going to get their knickers in a twist about you fitting a new chassis as long as it's not different from the manufacturers specs. If you were to stick a coil sprung chassis to a leaf sprung then that's something to tell them (DVLA and insurers) about as you're not fitting something that was originally designed for your vehicle. How's your MOT station going to know how old the chassis is? If there are chassis numbers that clearly don't match then there is an issue with regards to the possibility of stolen goods which would surely be a police matter.
The guy in the ebay auction should only need to get a letter from the manufacturer Marsland (a receipt is not necessary as his auction states) stating that the chassis is built to LRs spec. and he should be fine. The "brand new" thing may also be sticking point in his case - if the chassis was on a road registered vehicle then it is obviously not brand new, but the seller is cagey about whether it has had a chassis number punched onto it or not which I would imagine would be definative.
Bottom line is that if you get a new, original spec chassis then most MOT testers will rejoice at not having a shower of rust descend on them when they come out with the testing hammer and will compliment the vehicle, not run off to the DVLA.
The only reason you should present the vehicle to VOSA for inspection is for them to issue and stamp a new chassis number, or authorise stamping of the old chassis number onto the new chassis. As a fair percentage of Series landrovers have long since lost thier chassis numbers anyway, it hardly seems worth it, especially as VOSA's services do not come free....
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.