I'm building a Lotus Seven replica. The engine I am using is from a '91 RX7 N/A. I need to definitely ID the engine S/N for the "Statement of Construction" required for my application of title.

I'm hoping that the engine was original to the car. I suspect that it had been rebuilt at least once in its life before me. I'm not sure whether the front iron, which carries the S/N, is original or not. I have searched the forums here and on the Ausrotary site for some kind of chart showing VIN vs engine serial number ranges. I can't find any such info.

I called Mazda corporate and they would have been able to tell me original engine numberinstalled at the factory , but.... the VIN showed up as having a Salvage Title. I knew that. According to the guy I talked to, that automatically erases the engine number from their database. They cannot reverse search based on the engine number alone.

The car VIN is JM1FC3313M09038xx. I think the engine number is E63202. The stamping job of the first digit is poor it could also be E53202 or E33202, maybe even E83202. These are fairly far apart. I'd like to find out which one of these numbers is correct for this VIN.

I should be able to make a good assumption based on other cars built about the same time as mine. I'd appreciate any info you can give. Either point me to the right website, or share the data from your original engine with a close VIN. No need to list the full VIN, just come close.

Thanks,
Chuck

 

there is no chart, they don't match from the factory, they just had a pile of engines and a pile of cars...

sometimes there will be an engine number if you run the warranty history (i'd call the dealership), and it might be on some of the documentation from when the car was sold new (window sticker, sales contract?)

could you just write the cars vin on the form?

 

The VIN-Engine association at the time of production is available in Mazda's database. I doubt that they would go into the database to change anything because the vehicle has a salvage title. Or even if they would be aware of the salvage title. Find a Mazda tech and ask him to print out the information for you. A few donuts may help.

 

The local shop will have more info than corporate? Corp already looked and saw the car was Salvaged and the engine info was deleted.

Pretty much the same as my ol' MGA. Although, generally with the MGA, one can be reasonably certain that engine numbers within 200-300 of another went down the line back to back.

Anybody want to share their info?