The engine number should be down by the oil pressure sender unit on the carburettor side of the engine, it can be a bit hard to see with it all assembled. If it is an LA engine then they would generally have a steel sump rather than the later alloy one. I think they also have a scroll thrower on the rear of the crank rather than the rope seal but of course you can't see that with the gearbox and flywheel in place :-)

 

That LA number is from a 1960's car.

 

It is but LA went from 1959 to early 1960's, the sequence for 3.8 MK2's went LA, LB, LC, LD, LE, I think a 1967 car would have been LE orginally. My 1959 MK2 3.8 originally had an LA engine but now has an LB engine which still has the steel sump.

If you go to this website you can search for your chassis number +/- say 1000 cars and see what engine numbers car of a similar age had:- SALOON Data - The Cars - Jaguar, Daimler classic saloon (sedan) information, articles, photos and register

 

Thanks, I have been searching there.
The whole this is a bit strange.
The chassis number is from a 3.4 because it is prefixed with an "E". E065816
The body number is in in the range for a 1966 manufactured 3.8 LHD.
The engine number is a 1960 3.8
The gearbox number is from a XJ6

So I guess a 3.8 body could have been put on a 3.4 chassis with an engine from a 1960 3.8 and the gearbox of an XJ6?

If it's all been done well which it certainly looks like it is I guess there is no real problem. One hassle is that the dutch car registration authority has it as a 3.4 (I assume from the chassis number) which is always going to be awkward if I need to sell it.

At least someone was honest enough to put this all on the VIN plate.

 

It's strange because it is a monocoque body rather than body on chassis thus the numbers should tie up. Body number & Car number are different.
This is an example of a screened plate that has been changed and not an original etched plate.

 

I was just going to ask if the body and chassis could be separated. I might be over thinking this. My main worry it that it is registered as a 3.4 because of the chassis/body number. Does seem odd that these two don't match up. When I decode the Car Number it comes up as a 3.8 LHD Manual without overdrive just to make it even more confusing.

 

The chassis number should also be stamped into the bonnet landing panel and I recall that the body number might be on a plate under the rear bumper on a car of that year. On my 1959 car its on a plate behind the battery but my 1967 car has in behind the bumper.

The body is a monocoque construction and so doesn't have a seperate chassis.

One other thing is that the chassis plates for the MK2's are usually on the inner wing (exhaust side) and mounted upside down to make them easier to read when you lean over the wing. Not sure if there were in a different place on cars with power steering. Where its shown in your photo is where they were on the S-Type I believe. Might be different though on LHD cars.

 

I did check the number next to the bonnet catch and took a foto.


The E prefix should mean its a 3.4. That would mean that the Car number on the VIN plate does not match.

 

I'm fairly sure that the number stamped by the bonnet lock should be the chassis number and not the body number, someone might have stamped this number in here to try and make the car numbers align.

The heritage trust are the only way to find out what the numbers all mean and how they do or don't relate to each other, be careful though that you don't open a can of worms for yourself with this, its one thing for the engine and gearbox to be changed but something different for the body and chassis number to change as really on one of these they can't as body and chassis are one.

 

That really is my worry. As you say an engine or gearbox swap is not such a big deal but messing around with the car ID might be a real problem.

 

Original genuine Jaguar etched Plates are known too be extremely long lasting. Screened copies lose their screening pretty quickly plus Homer's correct comments.

 

My advice to you would depend on how far into it you are and what your local laws are, if you have not paid yet I would go back to the seller and raise this with them and let them sort it out. If you have paid a deposit then depending on how you paid you might be able to get your deposit back if they can't/won't sort it out. If you have paid in full then it might be more of an issue, especially if you are dealing with a private individual.

It might also be worth contacting the heritage trust and see if they will give you the information you need if you send them a photo of the numbers and pay for a heritage cert. They did this for me with one of mine but that was back in 2011. If you explain the issue they might be willing to help, they might at least be able to confirm whether the body and chassis numbers do match. While its probably extremely unlikely there is no technical reason why Jaguar couldn't have used a 3.4 body to build a 3.8 if they had no 3.8 bodies as they are the same. It depends at what point the numbers were allocated to the bodys and if they came from the body manufacturers with the number on them.

 

Thanks. I have not paid anything yet but in NL a verbal contract is binding. Having said that if the car is not what it appears to be that shouldn't be an issue.
I tried to get a cert from the heritage trust but you need to be the owner. I will contact them, maybe they are willing to help.

 

The engine number is repeated on the back of the chaincase on the head.

 

Thats fortunate that you haven't paid, its probably worth a little bit more investigation to see what you can find and at least ask the heritage trust if they can confirm whether that chassis number and body number belong together. If they don't then I would walk away as its not as described and potentially might be worth very little with a dubious identity, if the seller wants to enforce the verbal contract then they would presumably need to prove that the car is legitimate and if they can you will presumably still buy it?

 

The chassis number (VIN) is repeated on the bonnet slam panel followed by BW if it is an Auto or DN if it has Laycock de Normanville overdrive.

 

On some cars the BW & DN is only shown on the plate. Mine is one of those. (My car is a matching numbers car that only had one owner from new ~ a Doctor)

 

He kept immaculate records which I have.

 

Thanks for the support guys it’s really appreciated. I have written to the heritage trust, hopefully they can help me get clarity. I think the guy selling is genuine, he has had the car for 7 years and really looked after it. I just don’t want any problems with the authorities and maybe end up with a car I am not allowed to drive and only has scrap value.

 

Rishi ~ Coming from a country that still practices Roman-Dutch law as I do. If the seller has misrepresented what they are selling your verbal contract will not be binding.