Magnetic Imaging of VIN and Engine Numbers

[RENNSPORT CLASSICS]

Hi

I have magnetic imaging equipment to read under paint a VIN number and/or production numbers. It can also produce an image of an engine number.

It is used by at least one British Police Force.

I am starting to build a library of comparative images. For a limited period I will provide this service free of charge. A Certificate and copy of the images will be provided.

I will also provide a signed non-disclosure agreement to all owners that wish to avail themselves of this service and be assured that the results will not become public without your written consent.

I am trialling this equipment but the results are impressive and I am considering adding this premium inspection service alongside the service I already provide inspecting cars mainly RSs and is now including E, S and Carreras.

It has become necessary to provide a higher standard of service especially as values have risen so much in the past 5 years and too keep up to date with the technology that exists for doing so.

My standard inspection service starts from £500.00+ Vat so this is indeed a free offer and an opportunity for some of you to add an important piece of data to your car's portfolio.

I am travelling over the next two weeks and if you wish to cover my fuel costs I may be able to visit your premises to carry out the service.

I am based in Cheam in Surrey.

PM me if you are interested.

Mark Waring

[squirejo]

Hello Mark. It sounds interesting but I happily display ignorance and request more information; on my car the numbers are visible. How does MRI help and in what circumstances? Does it uncover, for example, tammpering or different metal grades to identify a clone or something like that?

Thank you

Joe

[RENNSPORT CLASSICS]

Joe. I believe it will be an additional tool to aid the process of identification. In most cases it provides a much clearer image for interpretation and is a record. How one chooses to interpret the results depends on personal experience and knowledge of the vehicle and its history.

I don't wish to discuss all the possible scenarios but owners of cars with known history and providence should not be alarmed and may take comfort from knowing that underneath the paintwork of a freshly restored car they have just bought is a perfectly original chassis number just covered with new paint.

Having spoken with many owners already that are interested, they see this as a positive method to support the providence of their car.

Without removing paint or applying acid, to etch away the metal, a much clearer image is available.

I often come across parts of numbers filled with paint that are very faint as that is the way they were originally stamped and this device has provided vivid enhancement of these numbers to enable very accurate comparison.

I specialise in the 1973 RS and inspect on average 12 cars a year providing advice to buyer and sellers alike and this is a very specialised market. I am recently being asked to inspect other models too and am off to Italy very soon on behalf of a USA client.

Just because a number is visible doesn't mean there isn't another number underneath but it is only a concern if you already suspect something may be wrong and this device may provide reassurance.

Different metals exhibit different reactions to magnetism and this equipment is highly sensitised to display these differences. It works on ferrous and non-ferrous metals.

I'll see if I can post some examples soon.

I hope this helps.

[squirejo]

Very much. I am in. Will PM

[RENNSPORT CLASSICS]

Joe. I believe it will be an additional tool to aid the process of identification. In most cases it provides a much clearer image for interpretation and is a record. How one chooses to interpret the results depends on personal experience and knowledge of the vehicle and its history.

I don't wish to discuss all the possible scenarios but owners of cars with known history and providence should not be alarmed and may take comfort from knowing that underneath the paintwork of a freshly restored car they have just bought is a perfectly original chassis number just covered with new paint.

Having spoken with many owners already that are interested, they see this as a positive method to support the providence of their car.

Without removing paint or applying acid, to etch away the metal, a much clearer image is available.

I often come across parts of numbers filled with paint that are very faint as that is the way they were originally stamped and this device has provided vivid enhancement of these numbers to enable very accurate comparison.

I specialise in the 1973 RS and inspect on average 12 cars a year providing advice to buyer and sellers alike and this is a very specialised market. I am recently being asked to inspect other models too and am off to Italy very soon on behalf of a USA client.

Just because a number is visible doesn't mean there isn't another number underneath but it is only a concern if you already suspect something may be wrong and this device may provide reassurance.

Different metals exhibit different reactions to magnetism and this equipment is highly sensitised to display these differences. It works on ferrous and non-ferrous metals.

I'll see if I can post some examples soon.

I hope this helps.

The closest analogy to the image that can be produced is to think of it as similar to a finger print. The detail produced is so vivid it will show a pin head of rust corrosion and minor scratches and/or original marks and blemishes in the metal. Once a picture is taken the image could never be cloned using todays technology as it is a unique "finger print". In much the same way a piece of furniture cannot be cloned using period wood because the patina cannot be replicated.

There are also positives in the case of continuation cars. For example when a chassis number has been cut out and transposed into a new shell it may be possible to prove this and therefore provide the evidence that this has been carried out. There are many significant race cars that it is public knowledge that this has been done. It is up to the market to establish the value of such vehicles and some are so significant it has not affected their value at all.

It has been suggested to me that when a car is known to have had its identification marks scanned using this device it would be a deterrent to it ever being cloned "from paperwork" in the future and that I should publish a database of such vehicles. If there is a need for this service I will consider it.

[gridgway]

Spent a fun morning with Mark and his toys yesterday - the lovely RS and the imaging toy.

It's a very interesting and clever gadget that uses magnetic tape and a magnet or eddy current inducer to record an image on the tape (about 1" wide). This is then read by the machine which produces an image. The idea is that you take about 5 good images of the VIN or an engine number. Then you can look at them and compare (there is comparison software in the machine I think (it's laptop driven) but we didn't get to use it).

Then you can essentially discard any magnetic noise and see the detail. The depth of the punching, scratches, marks, corrosion and (heaven forbid) any tampering. Mark has got some test pieces to show some common types of tampering - I had no idea how clever people can be and it's really obvious in the image.

You can see one of my VIN images below together with a photo. This is from my 81 SC. So, we didn't find any tampering and I doubt that there are two cars out there with my VIN!

I expect that as Mark builds up his library of images over the years, it'll be very useful to owners and prospective owners.

So I reckon that it's clever and very useful if the identity of your car is important to you!

Graham

[RENNSPORT CLASSICS]

I have had a very successful week last week testing the equipment on an RS, 2 x 911Es, a 2.2S, a 74 Carrera, bitza car and an RS gearbox. The Gearbox was unreadable by the naked eye but with the device I positively identified several numbers which in isolation meant nothing but in combination and position meant the gearbox was the matching gearbox to the car. The possibility that the car had a gearbox from another car and it happened to have the same numbers I am reliably informed is millions to one.

Many thanks to those involved that gave up their time to help.

The RENNSPORT ID capture or "finger printing" service can be booked through Parr Garage, Canford Classics, BS Motorsport and Early 911 as an individual request when your car is serviced next or part of any pre-purchase inspection. Alternatively call me directly through myself on 0208 643 0456 or 07774 011959 to arrange it. It may even help sell your car if you have this service carried out before hand. I provide a certificate.

[davep]

This is very interesting. Thanks for the photo.

[squirejo]

And to add - I had this done last week. Although I am yet to have a full 'debrief'with Mark, I too was impressed with the images which captured clear detail of numbers despite surface corrosion of the engine number in one case.

I cannot really see any downside. It "carbon dates" the car as effectively a finger print is captured. If it looks different in the future then you will want to know why.