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Time required for Heritage Certificate??

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Thanks, maybe I will order the certificate, at least it will let me know that the VIN plate matches the rest of the car.
 
I recommend that you order only the certificate (ARSKU3) and not the cert with the Tech Data sheet. The data sheet is only a reprint of the generic data published in the workshop manual and is not specific to a given car. You can have a photo of your car printed on the cert if you wish, but you have to supply the photo.

If your cert is for a BJ8, I hope you will consider providing a copy of it to me for the BJ8 Registry. It is very convenient for comparisons among cars and development of statistics concerning original manufacture to have as many of the certs as possible collected together. As of now, the BJ8 Registry has copies of certs for 881 BJ8s.

By the way, if you are just interested in the data on the cert, and if the car happens to be a BJ8, I may be able to provide the data you're looking for without your having to buy a certificate. I have the BMIHT data for thousands of BJ8s via friend who researches for me in the BMIHT archives.
 
For the vast majority of 'standard' Healeys I'm not convinced the Heritage Certificate adds any value. Its a nice to have accessory for your ownership file but I don't think it will help in deciding whether you will buy a car or not. Remember that the engine and chassis numbers are only on ID plates, many of which have been renewed or replaced over time so even though a certain engine number is present it doesn't mean its the original engine. Don't let that put you off buying a car though. When we are talking about 'ordinary' Healeys I don't think it matters if a car has a different engine or gearbox.
 
DerekJ said:
For the vast majority of 'standard' Healeys I'm not convinced the Heritage Certificate adds any value. Its a nice to have accessory for your ownership file but I don't think it will help in deciding whether you will buy a car or not. Remember that the engine and chassis numbers are only on ID plates, many of which have been renewed or replaced over time so even though a certain engine number is present it doesn't mean its the original engine. Don't let that put you off buying a car though. When we are talking about 'ordinary' Healeys I don't think it matters if a car has a different engine or gearbox.
Click to expand...

Speaking again only for BJ8s, which is where my expertise is, it's true that VIN, body, and engine serial number plates are easily removed/misplaced/lost/installed on cars and engines they don't belong on. And it's true that the BMIHT certificate does not guarantee that the car you are looking to buy is "factory original" as far as the available I.D. numbers are concerned. There are simply an incredible number of cars out there now that have messed-up numbers that blockheaded DMVs make close to impossible (sometimes even closer!) to correct. I think it is far better to be able to identify whether a car you are considering buying is what you think it is before you put your money down. I am contacted frequently by new owners who find out that the VIN is a replacement and the body plate and/or engine do not match the VIN on the poorly-made reproduction VIN plate.
The BJ8 Registry has original factory data for thousands of BJ8s (someday, I'll have to count them exactly) and can advise a potential buyer about the integrity of the identity of a car. I have seen enough of the plates to be able to tell pretty accurately from photos whether the plate is a factory-issue or not, and have enough data to tell whether the batch/body number and engine serial numbers are likely to belong to the VIN (for many of them that don't, I can also tell which car they came from originally). With that data, the potential buyer can choose to go ahead and buy it, or look for another one. It's a free service available to anyone.
 
After typing out and submitting the above, I was plowing through my e-mail from a friend in Denmark who keeps track of BJ8s sales on the internet. He sent me this link:
[FONT=&quot]https://www.lbilimited.com/wp_car_dealer/1964-austin-healey-3000-mkiii-2/

[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]It's advertised as a 1964 Phase 1 BJ8, VIN HBJ8L/25366, for $79,500, but scroll through the photos and you'll see it has the VIN and body plate for a BJ7! If someone just ordered a certificate using the number on the VIN plate, he wouldn't get data for 25366, would he?
By the way, I have the BMIHT data for 25366.
 
The car I am looking at is a 1960 or 61 depending on how it was registered in CA, BN7 99XX. So the only reason I thought the certificate would be worth while is to make sure the car is as original as it looks. A friend of ours had a VIN that said his car was supposed to be a two seater, but really was repaired with a 4 seater should in the rear.

Jerry
 
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