Hi,

had a bent chassis on a crash damaged Cat C Defender 90 that I bought. After a post on here previousely the consensus was to not bother trying to straighten the chassis but invest and fit a nice new galvanised one... so thats what we are doing. See photos of shiny new galv chassis, treated chassis and partially fitted chassis:







After a lot of looking in to it I decided to etch primed the new Marsland chassis and then sprayed with 'Hammerite underbody seal with Waxoyl'. All went on very nicely, hides the fact that its a shiny new galvanised chassis and will give some extra protection to the chassis.

So all good! Car nearly rebuilt etc etc.

Then I requested a VIC check as the car has a VIC marker against it as it has been written off. VOSA however emailed me back and told me that a VIC wasn't needed as the chassis had been changed and that I would have to contact DVLA... DVLA told me several things that didn't seem to make sense. However on the last call the guy told me that first I had to write to VC15 and tell them the chassis had been changed, they would decide whether a new VIN would be allocated or whether the original could be used - this could take 4-6 weeks. Following this I would have an official VIN for the chassis so then I could complete a V55 to register the "new" vehicle, then complete a V627 / Built Up Vehicle Inspection Report and include all receipts etc, copies of insurance, MOT, 2 forms of ID etc..... THEN after all that it would be possible that an IVA test would be required.

All we're doing is replacing a bent chassis with a like for like replacement!!! Doing a service etc as we go but all other standard parts going back on the truck.

I have seen and read a lot of posts on this - most of them are reasonably old, lots of conflicting opinions etc.
If any one can shed some light on this for me it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks very much.

brand new chassis with receipt all other parts still the same = it should all be fine

does the new chassis have a number on it?

No new VIN number currently on the new Marsland chassis. They come with no VIN stamped on.

When I had mine changed I learnt it went on a point system. Major parts like axels, chassis etc were given points. As long as you didn't exceed the point system by changing too many parts then you were ok. A chassis change shouldn't effect anything.

Leadfarmer... thanks for the reply. What steps did you have to go through with your change of chassis with DVLA...? Any details would be useful.

In relation to paperwork, absolutely none. I had the new chassis fitted and that was it.

As long as the old chassis is destroyed then the new chassis takes on the identity of the old one. Although my new galv chassis doesn't have a number stamped on it. The important thing us that the old chassis is destroyed and doesn't end up in circulation being fitted to another Defender. Most folk cut out the section with the stamped number and keep it safe, just in case.

LeadFarmer said:

In relation to paperwork, absolutely none. I had the new chassis fitted and that was it. As long as the old chassis is destroyed then the new chassis takes on the identity of the old one. Although my new galv chassis doesn't have a number stamped on it. The important thing us that the old chassis is destroyed and doesn't end up in circulation being fitted to another Defender. Most folk cut out the section with the stamped number and keep it safe, just in case.

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Did you cut out the section with the numbers from the old chassis and keep that part?

Thor1950 said:

Did you cut out the section with the numbers from the old chassis and keep that part?

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I didn't bother cus I like to live life on the edge. I left it at Richards Chassis who did the chassis swap. I trusted them to destroy it. I don't suppose your now driving around with it are you?

LeadFarmer said:

I didn't bother cus I like to live life on the edge. I left it at Richards Chassis who did the chassis swap. I trusted them to destroy it. I don't suppose your now driving around with it are you?

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Just remember reading about them chassis replacements, saying to keep receipts and that section in a safe place. Just in case there are issues with ownership. A person could say that is mine and you would have to prove it is yours, and without that section of chassis with the ID numbers you could have a difficult time.

Hence why I suggested just that in post 6.

LeadFarmer said:

Hence why I suggested just that in post 6.

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Correct... and did you not say you did not keep that section

LeadFarmer said:

I didn't bother cus I like to live life on the edge. I left it at Richards Chassis who did the chassis swap. I trusted them to destroy it. I don't suppose your now driving around with it are you?

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i thought richards stamped the old number on the new chassis if they were doing the swap them selves?

LeadFarmer said:

When I had mine changed I learnt it went on a point system. Major parts like axels, chassis etc were given points. As long as you didn't exceed the point system by changing too many parts then you were ok. A chassis change shouldn't effect anything.

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Not quite, you cannot exceed 8 points without an IVA but the original chassis must be retained, but this is in the case of modification, if you modify the chassis it is technically a q plate job regardless of what else you do, but this doesn't count for a chassis swap as its not a modification just a part for part change.

Richards didn't re-stamp mine. But the insurance company demanded a new MOT before I drove it away.

Thor1950 said:

Correct... and did you not say you did not keep that section

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I didnt keep mine, but Im suggesting that the OP keeps his.

SteNova said:

i thought richards stamped the old number on the new chassis if they were doing the swap them selves?

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Not mine they didnt. I was going to stamp the number on a plate myself and bond it to the chassis. But decided I couldnt be bothered