Suspicious or common place? Filed engine identification tag

[WoodFamSkipper]

Hi all

Is it common place to see the engine identification plate with all the information ground off?
See attached pic...
Is this what gets done after a rebuild? Or a re-manufactured/refurbished engine process?

To me, if i was looking at a car and it's VIN number was ground off...I'd be thinking "hot" property

[masonc]

Looks like fungus obscuring the letters, scrape it with a knife, the numbers and letters are usually hammered in. If someone wanted to hide the numbers they could remove the whole plate easily.

[Cotemar]

Can't tell if that is ground off or eaten off by corrosion. It just an aluminum plate.

Sometimes they get pretty nasty.

Take a closer look to see if the numbers are actually indented into the aluminum plate.

[Steven UK]

Where the plate is ' just her punched' they corrode, I see it all the time. Give it a rub with an dish scrubber thingy.

[Steven UK]

That's 'number punched' I don't punch any 'her's'

[Kita]

Originally Posted by Steven UK

That's 'number punched' I don't punch any 'her's'

[leftbrainstuff]

Absolutely not. It destroys any provenance and the chain of evidence. The relevant authorities love this. It implies an illegal history. Stolen, involved in seizure, attempt to escape a lien, etc...

Is this defaced or corrosion damages?

Good practice is to throughline the old engine number but leave it legible. Then engrave or add an additional plaque that keeps the chain of evidence. New engine number, builder info, data and new engine configuration number.

The above is what classic vehicle and aircraft title expects. Substantial value can be lost when provenance is lost.

With boats there seems less rigor or financial impact I suspect.

[Mistress Sirena]

I am sure the number appears in other places on the engine in castings ect...

[a64pilot]

My Yanmar had no data plate at all, it goes on the heat exchanger that had been replaced.
I found the data plate in the chart table. Stolen sailboat engine would I think be very, very rare, and who would ever check anyway? I don't think engine serial number is anywhere on ships papers?

[Tayana42]

Anyone know if you can get a replace data plate from Yanmar?

Mine also was on the heat exchanger. When I replaced it I took the data plate off and glued (5200) it to the new exchanger. It's a bit deteriorated now.

[boatbod]

Those numbers weren't "ground" off as there is no uniformity to the direction of the marks. More likely they simply corroded away - they are just stamped into aluminum and that it's going to create weak spots for moisture to attack.

[ur2slo]

Clean it with scotch brite and suitable solution. I use Wd40 at times, the green stuff too, but I'm sure 18 million will inject the proper one.

get some chalk or better yet pencil graphite or some dang grease, wipe it on, use a rag to lightly remove excess.......see what ya got.

All else fails..........report it stolen! It must be according to the internet!

lol j/k

[hamburking]

Personally, I would be more concerned with the condition of the engine than the tag.

How do you steal the engine out of a sailboat?

An outboard, yeah, I get it.

[TommmD]

Check any survey done on the boat.. if you have an older copy it may be recorded there. Typically is copied down.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

Can't tell if that is ground off or eaten off by corrosion. It just an aluminum plate.

Sometimes they get pretty nasty.

Take a closer look to see if the numbers are actually indented into the aluminum plate.

This is what I would expect from corrosion or misc random scrapes and damage. Notice that there is significant corrosion away from the numbers and some numbers are completely unaffected.

On the OP's picture, the numbers are completely obscured and everything else is largely clear.

I suspect something was done to obscure the numbers. Why I don't know. It could have been someone thinking it needed to be obscured after a rebuild.

If it was a criminal activity, they are idiots. Since the numbers are punched, it is possible to get the underlying numbers. Also, it would be far simpler and more effective to simlply remove the plate. Most people wouldn't think to look for the plate and the owner can simply shrug and say it came that way as a much more viable answer compared to a plate that has clearly had the numbers obscured.