Irish Mini Owners Club

whats the story with it... is it hard to insure a mini with vtec engine ect and who does it?

What year is the car first as you will have to change the details of the car with the tax office first where you would have to declare a different engine, this engine will have to be inspected by a garage too and stamped to confirm matching numbers. Then you have to consider nct too

[quote="spud1979"]What year is the car first as you will have to change the details of the car with the tax office first where you would have to declare a different engine, this engine will have to be inspected by a garage too and stamped to confirm matching numbers. Then you have to consider nct too[/quote]


I know all this as I have had conversions in other cars but not a classic.
Can you still get classic insurance with an engine conversion? And don't need to change the book for tax as will still be 1.3.

Once you declare the engine chance I'm sure your insurance company will have no bother with it. They will be happy to get paid.
It's not about the power of the engine, ur changing engine numbers that's why you need that change of particulars form.

[quote="spud1979"]Once you declare the engine chance I'm sure your insurance company will have no bother with it. They will be happy to get paid.
It's not about the power of the engine, ur changing engine numbers that's why you need that change of particulars form.[/quote]
grand i have a civic with a conversion and they wanted an extra 4500 so just making sure that doesnt happen

Check with your insurance company and they won't be long about telling you. Get it in writing if they say no extra charge before you start the project then

Axa were they only company I could get to quote me on mine with a different engine, mine is under classic insurance and as its pre 1980 exempt from nct so don't know how you would fair on that front.

I insured my Suzuki Swift GTi engined Mini with AXA.I sent off a sheet with every single modification to them and I had no problem getting it insured.Then thing with insurance is to comply with the "Principle of good faith" whereby the insurance company is insuring you given that you have been completely honest with them.If you are not honest with them then they may or may not pay out in the event of a claim.

It's all well and good getting info like that from people on a forum but the one and only way to find out for sure is to talk to the insurance companies themselves, that way at least you know in black and white so to speak, what you can and can't do

I insure mine as a classic with AXA, full vtec conversion declared and they don't have a problem. It is very hard to get it insured as a daily though, much easier as a classic.

How will a vtec still be 1.3??? Or are you doing a Swift gti conversion? Glanza turbo conversion?

Also, make sure you look carefully into the NCT. I looked into it before and was very hard to get any straight answers from them. The easiest option is to have a pre-1980 car so it is NCT exempt. I looked into a 98 cooper before with a vtec conversion, but had to leave it as was told that the emissions would have to comply to the original specification. Getting the vtec down to the a-series mpi level would have been near impossible. A lot of insurance companies I looked at wanted proof of valid NCT and also, if you are caught driving without a valid NCT it is 5 penalty points...

[quote="Backfire"]I insure mine as a classic with AXA, full vtec conversion declared and they don't have a problem. It is very hard to get it insured as a daily though, much easier as a classic.

How will a vtec still be 1.3??? Or are you doing a Swift gti conversion? Glanza turbo conversion?

Also, make sure you look carefully into the NCT. I looked into it before and was very hard to get any straight answers from them. The easiest option is to have a pre-1980 car so it is NCT exempt. I looked into a 98 cooper before with a vtec conversion, but had to leave it as was told that the emissions would have to comply to the original specification. Getting the vtec down to the a-series mpi level would have been near impossible. A lot of insurance companies I looked at wanted proof of valid NCT and also, if you are caught driving without a valid NCT it is 5 penalty points...[/quote]
its a 1990 mini so doesnt have to do an emissions test and conversion are not a problem with the nct have never had a car with the standard engine. how much was you insurance with the vtec lump declared? will only be a weekend car as i do 400+ miles a week with work

Mine was €280 last time, fully comp with agreed value. Can't remember the mileage limit, wasn't restrictive though.

AXA will insure it fairly cheap ! Mines 220€