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Austin Healey 3000 Vehicle identification plate

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V

vlust

Freshman Member
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As we all know the vehicle identification plate is fixed a bit to the left on top of the firewall. Above the vehicle identification plate the plate with the body number is mounted.
I would like to know if anyone can tell me how these plates originally were attached to the firewall, with screws or riveted. I would like to know this because my car has to be approved by the Dutch
Agency for Road Traffic and they claim that the vehicle identification plate was removed during the restoration process (re-spraying of the car) and therefore the originality of the car can not be determined anymore.
If these plates originally were fixed with screws this argument of the Road Traffic Agency does not hold because with screws you never can tell if a plate was removed or not.
I hope someone can help me with this question so I can refute the arguments of the Road Traffic Agency.

Victor Lust
Netherlands
 
Victor,

One of the authoritative texts on the originality of Austin-Healeys is appropriately titled "Original Austin-Healey" by Anders Ditlev Clausager. You might want to obtain a copy to bring to the Road Traffic people. In it, on page 88, are pictures of the original VIN plates affixed with screws. The only riveted number plate to be found on a 3000 is the engine number plate on the block. If your car is a BJ8, you may also have the VIN stamped on the right hand front shock mount (it is there on my car).
 
Thanks for your reply to my question. Meanwhile I contacted the British Heritage Certificate organization to obtain a Heritage certificate.
Hopefully this will help proving the originality of my car. I certainly am interested in the restoration guide mentioned.

BigGreen said:
Victor,

I put some recent jurisprudence on the Dutch Healey site
Feel free to contact me for more help

https://www.healey.nl/forum/topic/160/Voertuig identificatie.html

Get yourself a Heritage certificate and check the numbers on engine etc
I also have a restoration Guide for you as mentioned above

Hans
Click to expand...
 
CLEAH said:
Victor,

One of the authoritative texts on the originality of Austin-Healeys is appropriately titled "Original Austin-Healey" by Anders Ditlev Clausager. You might want to obtain a copy to bring to the Road Traffic people. In it, on page 88, are pictures of the original VIN plates affixed with screws. The only riveted number plate to be found on a 3000 is the engine number plate on the block. If your car is a BJ8, you may also have the VIN stamped on the right hand front shock mount (it is there on my car).
Click to expand...
The right side floor board also has the vin number stamped on it. Unfortunately if it is rusted you may not be able to see or read it.
 
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