Larry Mac Posted October 22, 2023 Report Share Posted October 22, 2023 I have a tag on the top rear of my 1977 Spitfire 1500 engine. It reads : RTC2459R00822T and below it is : FBB 052 There is NO engine number in usual place. does anyone know what this is ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinR Posted October 22, 2023 Report Share Posted October 22, 2023 RTC2459 is the original part number of a short block, R means that it has been overhauled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Mac Posted October 22, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2023 Thanks Kevin .... any idea what the FBB 052 means. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted October 22, 2023 Report Share Posted October 22, 2023 Wonder if thats the code of where the overhaul was done... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Mac Posted October 22, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2023 Thanks Johny, so the actual engine number is still a mystery ? Unless I trace it back some how to the original reg which I think was YUD 394 R which was scraped some years ago I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted October 22, 2023 Report Share Posted October 22, 2023 I’d guess based on Kevin’s info that this means the block was overhauled, but the engine was not built up by Triumph/Leyland/Rover. So it was never stamped with a new engine number, but the block was somehow sold as a spare part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted October 22, 2023 Report Share Posted October 22, 2023 Believe buying a heritage certificate would have that info... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted October 22, 2023 Report Share Posted October 22, 2023 2 hours ago, Larry Mac said: Thanks Kevin .... any idea what the FBB 052 means. ? That well be the engine number. not sure what sequence they used by the time they got to the 1500’s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Mac Posted October 22, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2023 Im getting concerned .... maybe I should register the FBB 052 as the engine number OR the whoe thing starting with RTC2459R00822T. Whats advisable can I loose anything by registering the full number ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted October 22, 2023 Report Share Posted October 22, 2023 http://www.team.net/www/triumph/trprefix.html https://www.teglerizer.com/triumphstuff/spit_and_gt6_specs.htm None of those are a ‘normal’ Triumph engine number (see the info in the links above). But I would not worry. Most likely the DVLA will not care in the slightest what Triumph did or did not use as engine numbers. They ignored my attempt at correcting the 0 to an O on my Spitfire’s commission number… The paperwork only needs to show a unique ID, which yours is for sure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Mac Posted October 22, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2023 Cheers .... should mention that the engine is well balanced and loads of poke. I am assuming it is a Spitfire engine . 53,000 miles and all cylinders read the same high compression. Ive had it for 11 years Thanks for your input. ☺👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted October 23, 2023 Report Share Posted October 23, 2023 Firstly, it's not unique - I've seen others with that kind of number, same sequence and codes. This one was debated on the Club Triumph website quite a few years ago now. This one reads RTC2459R 00608T and underneath ADH214. I'd say that the RTC number is the engine number now. I thought the RTC code rang a bell from later British Leyland / Unipart stuff and it's possible this was a late factory-reconditioned engine, but post Gold-Seal days. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Mac Posted October 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2023 Thanks Colin, so basically I can regard the ' RTC2459R00822T ' as THE engine number. ? The remaining FBB 052 as the engineers code. ? Is there any way I can find out when this was rebuilt ? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted October 24, 2023 Report Share Posted October 24, 2023 I'd guess the RTC2549R is the engine number, maybe R for reconditioned? Adding the other bit seems to make it to long compared with the numbers I'm familiar with. Anyone else reckon anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted October 24, 2023 Report Share Posted October 24, 2023 Longer the number more possibility of DVLA getting wrong as and it wouldnt be the first time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Mac Posted October 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2023 Using RTC2459R without 00822T would be pointless. I'd need to use complete from R to T otherwise there would be many cars with RTC2459R. OR I use ' FBB 052' as my unique engine number Which one should I use. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinR Posted October 24, 2023 Report Share Posted October 24, 2023 27 minutes ago, Larry Mac said: Using RTC2459R without 00822T would be pointless. I'd need to use complete from R to T otherwise there would be many cars with RTC2459R. OR I use ' FBB 052' as my unique engine number Which one should I use. ? The DVLA don't really care what the engine number is, so long as there is one and its stated on the log book. You could always get a set of number stamps and make up your own number and stamp it on the block in the traditional place. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Mac Posted October 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2023 As the plate on the engine is already there I will use FBB 052. as the engine No. any objections or would that cause a problem. ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted October 24, 2023 Report Share Posted October 24, 2023 Really dont think its important as its the chassis number thats used for MOT. Also its not the original engine so no worry about matching numbers for originality.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gully Posted October 24, 2023 Report Share Posted October 24, 2023 I would have thought it made far more sense to use the top long identifier as opposed to the lower, shorter code. I suspect the latter relates to who completed the work, so is unlikely to be unique, whereas the longer number certainly should be. Gully Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Mac Posted October 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2023 Thanks to everyone for their input ! I have decided to use the LONG number RTC2459R00822T as this makes the most sense. THANKS FOR THE EDUCATION 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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