TCS Chassis Number (VIN) Question

[BertDB]

Greetings to all from Belgium!
I'm new to this group. However I was a long time lurker in the old Yahoo group.
I own a TC Special since 2002 that was sitting in my garage all the time. Finally i decided to put it back on the road. it is now undergoing a full mechanical restoration: Chassis, suspension, brakes, cooling, engine and trans. The body is OK for the time being.
After sandblasting the chassis we found the number '12600'. However the paperwork refers to '1260Q'. The little stripe of the letter Q is missing representing a zero now. Anyone has seen something similar? I will need to pass technical inspection in order to obtain license plates here, and those guys will notice the difference and will start asking questions...
Thanks
Bert

[BDA]

Sorry I can't help you with your chassis number problem but...

  BertDB!!!

[EuropaTC]

Hi Bert, and another 

If you have the plate inside the front plenum chamber, that should be good enough for registration purposes. With Lotus (or at least the Elan) the steel chassis was considered as a "subframe" and it was the fibreglass bodyshell which carried the identity of the car.

When Andy Graham was collecting info about Europas for the Lotus archives, it was that "chassis plate" that he wanted details of, not what was stamped on the steel chassis (or "subframe"     )

Brian

ps - the subframe thing came out in the 80s with Graham Arnold and Club Lotus I think. Lots of Elans were getting restored with a new chassis and I think at one point the DVLA (UK registration authorities)  threatened to regsiter them with "Q" registration plates which was a marker for a kit car. Not surprisingly, everyone wanted to retain the original period registration which Club Lotus successfully argued was fixed to the bodyshell and not chassis. Of course folks would also replace the entire bodyshell but Graham never went there !

[4129R]

What about the chassis number displayed in the windscreen, and written all over the inside of every fibreglass panel?

It would be easy to stamp the O with a Q stamp, or just add the I bit in the right place.

[dakazman]

Welcome to the forum!

   The little hash in the last 0 could have been sanded off or eaten off by rust. What about the number on the rear engine flange?
 We love pictures, and please visit :

http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?PHPSESSID=0723do60pbbdoe5pjfv3isj4o1&topic=3652.0

A member here developed an interesting site for all Europa owners to plant their flag. Hope to see and hear more from you.
Stay safe,
Dakazman

[BertDB]

Thanks for all the input:
The original plate in the front boot has the 'Q'. This plate was attached back in 1973, by the Belgian Lotus distributor when the car was imported from the UK factory.
Fiberglass panels have the 'Q', I saw it on one of the doors under the trim. There is no number under the windshield.
Belgian car inspection authorities always look for the VIN plate AND chassis number and paperwork for every car, every year it pass inspection.
I might go the route to stamp the little Q bit again. I will let you know in a few months hopefully.
The body is taken off the frame now. We found a hole in the frame (and fiberglass) grinded by the PO next to the drivers seat (LHD) only covered by the carpet. I guess to do some repairs in the frame tube. That is now fixed. Also the front needed some new steel plates. The frame is now epoxy painted, and slowly build up again. Parts delivery is slowing down due to Covid19. Fuel tanks and swirl pot will be replaced by aluminium builds, they look nice! Engine, brakes, trans are send out for a rebuild by specialized companies.
I'm not doing the work myself but a small one man shop in the neighbourhood who does full car restores. He never did an Europa, but some Elan's. So far so good.
Bert

[EuropaTC]

Belgian car inspection authorities always look for the VIN plate AND chassis number and paperwork for every car, every year it pass inspection.

That's unfortunate, I think I'd be tempted to stamp the number on the frame and "forget". 

I did some checking (mainly to cross check my own memory !)  and it was Graham Arnold who took it up with the DVLA ages ago. Folks were using Spyder chassis for replacements and the DVLA then issued Q registrations because in their view with the chassis being replaced it was now a kit car made up from parts of undetermined age.  GA argued that Lotus considered it as a replaceable subframe in the same manner as the front/rear subframes on the original Mini and won his case.

It was discussed again as recently as 2012 on the Elan forums where the advice was to contact Andy Graham at Lotus where he could issue a note to say that the "chassis"  was really a replaceable sub frame and that the details on the UK log book refers to the bodyshell. That sorts out things for the UK but maybe not with your authorities.

So it's easier to get some metal stamps, isn't it ?   

Brian

[lotusfanatic]

Hello Bert!

 

I think Brian has said exactly what I would have said....

Mark

[cwtech]

A sharpened screwdriver should easily turn an "O" into a "Q."

[jbcollier]

Be VERY careful that you don't make an original sub-frame stamping look and test as a fake.  Then you will truly be "screwed".

The "chassis" is correctly referred to as a sub-frame.  It is a replaceable part.  Chassises and frames are not.