Hi All

My MkII S has the correct prefix (9F/XE/Y) but the actual numbers are very difficult to make out.



There's no way I'm tampering with the authenticity of this engine by restamping them.

Does anyone have a method to extract or make visible the engine numbers if they've been mostly removed after the block has been machined?

Cheers

Dave

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Your imagination is only limited by the size of your wallet
"61 850 original and crusty (Mavis)
"64 Smooth Roof Van (Colin)
"67 Deluxe resto project (Monty)

paper and pencil?
lay paper over the number and rub the pencil over the paper to reveal the number

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I used some wet and dry and battery acid to get the numbers on my last car.
I can post a before and after when i get home tonight. I was in the same position last year and did a lot of googling and asking around and was surprised at the battery acid suggestion.

A bit of chalk works sometimes too.

Tried the paper/pencil and chalk but no good unfortunately.
GTO-how long do you leave the battery acid on for?
Thanks
Dave

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Your imagination is only limited by the size of your wallet
"61 850 original and crusty (Mavis)
"64 Smooth Roof Van (Colin)
"67 Deluxe resto project (Monty)

I tried leaving it on for a few hours and not much happened. Then i used wet and dry (with gloves) and the number came up. The pad on mine was rusty as well. I also tried a range of other things that i had in my shed like rust convertor and wd40. I may have been lucky that my pad was rusty and removing the rust made the number appear.

Another car forum mentions acid (but no details on what acid and for how long), and also some support for a brief blast with a blowtorch as a way to make the shaved numbers reappear.

Perhaps try a few Google searches.

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

I have the same issue i used steel wool then wrote over the top of the number with a sharpie then steel wool again and you can see it fairly well

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1968 Morris Mini Cooper S

Here are my before and after photos but I think my issue was more rust than machining.

Perhaps if you can swab acid onto the clean (wire brushed) engine number area then remove all excess such that acid is only remaining in the number indentations MAY show an improvement? I'm a bit skeptical to be honest. Because to to improve the resolution of the stampings you basically need to increase the depth of the stamps with respect to the deck surface. Be careful with your experimentations...!

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67 Deluxe
Dry suspension
1293cc, 11:1 comp, RE 282 camshaft, 45 Weber, extractors etc
4 synchro close ratio gbox
Cooper S brakes, no booster
Stealth box, as Doc says "goes harder and idles!"
RH tank cos I needed it crossing the Nullarbor etc..

Thanks for the tips everyone-the best result has come from a black texta and steel wool.

If you squint and look out of one eye you can almost see the numbers!! (it's meant to be 55629)
Cheers
Dave

_________________
Your imagination is only limited by the size of your wallet
"61 850 original and crusty (Mavis)
"64 Smooth Roof Van (Colin)
"67 Deluxe resto project (Monty)

It's a pity some engine reconditioners can't leave the pad alone when they deck the block.
It doesn't take much effort.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Glad to see I could help

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1968 Morris Mini Cooper S

Jim Liseo worked on the BMC engine line from 1959 to 1971. He told me a few weeks back that often mistakes were made during the block stampings & that the police were able to find an altered stamping up to 3/4" deep! - Hence, when an error was made, the incorrect number/s were ground off & the correct number/s restamped, but each of these blocks then had a "map of Australia" stamp added at the end.
Perhaps the police still have this technology to rediscover you engine numbers???

I have seen lots of engines with the Aust Flag on the end and always wondered why. They look just like other factory stampings so i dont think they are restamped.


Edit - more info at this post viewtopic.php?f=2&t=101690%20-%20p1067944