Z20LET conversion

h4rri

I'm seriously pondering a Z20LET conversion as I miss my Zafira GSi turbo.

I know this has been discussed before and I'm not looking for any 'mechanical' advice per-se. I have been looking at various companies who offer low mileage LET's fitted for decent money and was considering going down this route.

I know I could do the conversion myself but I like the idea of handing the car over for a couple of days and getting it back with a working warrantied engine 🙂

The question is, when you let the DVLA know about the conversion do they change the V5 etc? I would assume it would change from an SRi to an SRi Turbo on the V5 and the insurance would be able to see it as such avoiding having to declare the engine as a 'modification'?

Thoughts? Does anyone have any company recommendations from previous conversions?

Matt

I didn't think they changed the model of the car on the V5, just the engine. I know people who have done Corsa's etc, and they are still an SXI even though they have a *20LET in them.

Maybe @[deleted] can shed some light, as he's swapped the engines in both his Corsa's?

MikeS

You write the car off & the engineer report states it has turbo instead of a NA 2.2 engine then the insurance company would refuse to cover you and the 3rd party if one involved, then it gets expensive !

I have heard of people having their houses repossessed to cover 3rd party costs

I urge you not to cut corners on this

Interesting to know if the insurance company ask for more simply because of a change in insurance group or a significant amount for being heavily modified

http://www.pngclub.com/forum/showthread.php?121295-*HOW-TO*-Log-engine-change-with-DVLA

h4rri

Thanks guys, that's why I'm checking before the change. I want the car registered as having the correct engine installed to avoid insurance etc headaches. I was hoping it would be a change of vehicle and engine type on the V5.

I'll read that link thanks MikeS

h4rri

Reading through the link and subsequent DVLA links it would appear that you simply need to provide:

DVLA said:

DVLA said:

Engine number or cylinder capacity (cc)

You’ll need to provide either:

a receipt for the replacement engine
written evidence from the manufacturer
an inspection report provided for insurance purposes
written confirmation on headed paper from a garage (if the change took place before you bought the vehicle)

From: https://www.gov.uk/change-vehicle-details-registration-certificate/what-evidence-to-give

So it looks like they will change the details, assuming the conversion company supply the required details etc.

evocarlos

can you not just write on the v5 form then send it back to dvla for modification
my r19 had the wrong engine number in when i bought it the numbers did not match
had to put the new engine number on the v5 then send it back for altering
your insurance would have to know it now has a turbo engine as a replacement for the broken one you took out 🙂

h4rri

Yeah, just checking the logistics, it looks like it's a simple as sending the new details on the V5 and including a report on the 'safety' of the fitment and its all done 🙂

corsaZ22se

just fill in the part on the v5 for new engine, you will also need a new mot as its taxation and emission class will probably be slightly differant. the model of the car will stay the same on v5 just engine details and taxation class will change. you have to tell your insurance thats its been modified or they could void any claims made. modifications are anything which is differant to the spec which the car origanally left the factory. if you are just after another turbo car and not a heavily modified car it would be cheaper to buy a new car. unless yours already has alot of mods and is a very tidy chassis to start with?

h4rri

Thanks for the info.

I could sell up and buy another car but it wouldn't be in as good condition etc as the current one so I was looking at squeezing a bit more power out of it with some spare cash. Might look at the supercharger route ....

corsaZ22se

for the same kind of money as a z20let conversion you could have z20leh power from your z22se. (y)