If looking at a car to restore and it has no ID plate, but the owner has the vin and engine number, can the car be re registered?

yes you could register it but it probably wouldn't be too legal. many older cars only have the engine number recorded - so you gotta make sure you got the right engine in it otherwise you wont be able to register it

When I got the van registered recently the mechanic said that, according to his guidlines book, he had to go off the no. stamped on the radiator shroud for rego. This was, of course, disputed by the people at the local RTA branch but when they checked with their area office, sure enough the good ole mechanic was right on the money. He said they weren't allowed to use the no's from the plates when reregistering cars now as the plates can be changed.
This was NSW and I'm not sure about rules in other states. I'm sure they'll be different just to keep us all guessing.
Ziff

The ID plate that was fitted from 1961 to 69 is not required. You just need the chassis number and the engine number.

For about six months in late 69 there was no plate fitted to minis at all.

The Compliance plate fitted from 1970 is required but if the car has previous registration history it can be re-registered. (It may take not be straight foward but it can be done)

Thanks for the clarification Morris 1100. I forgot to mention the van is a 1964. I'll be going through the same thing with the Deluxe as it doesn't have a plate on it any more and I'm putting an 1100S engine in it.
Ziff

Edit: Spelling