Merlin's 1993 BA8 Si - What is this?

[Scott560]

Looks like an automatic gearbox ECU to me ( https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325900044422 ) , 2 screws and bracket match up...

[Vtecmec]

Yes, that's the auto box ECU.

[Merlin]

A wee update. Work on the car stalled out as the DVLA refused me a registration on two counts: the MOT tester had put the car down as a Honda Civic, and the DVLA claimed I had not provided enough evidence of the car's date of manufacture.

The car was back in the MOT place yesterday, and it passed again, this time as a Honda Prelude. The big issue was that the alternator on the F22 is goosed, so it ran out of electricity in the MOT testers bay. I had to take the battery out of my 5th gen and race up there to swap it over, after that it was fine.

I originally supplied the DVLA with the proof of purchase from BeForward and the export certificate, both of which show all the car's details, but this wasn't enough for the DVLA guy. They sated that the DVLA wants the first registration certificate, and of course this is not supplied with the car. All exports are deregistered before leading Japan. I found two Japanese companies that provide exported car information: https://carvx.jp and https://japancarhistorycheck.com/

For £20 carvx gave me a document that details all the basic car information, but also the car's auction history, showing all the previous auction sheets and photos. I can see what the car has looked like over the past few years as it has gone from auction house to auction house.

I have just paid £100 for japancarhistorycheck to provide a copy of the original registration certificate. I should have that by email sometime next week. This will allow me to finally get a registration. I have never had this issue with registering previous imports, maybe they have tightened up, or I unluckily got someone very pernickety.

[wurlycorner]

Interesting.
I looking into something similar for this, for the 1st Gen (not to do with registering it here - it's a UK delivered car from new) but to try and get it approved as ULEZ/Road Tax exempt a year earlier - annoyingly the registration date trips it into needing an extra year to wait, but it was manufactured way before that, so I can appeal and get it registered as and exempt (provided I can prove the manufacture date).

If it's a UK built car its really easy - free online form will get you a copy of the CofC.
https://www.honda.co.uk/cars/owners/cer ... rmity.html
Obviously that doesn't apply here, but I expect there is another process you can do, to get it from Honda Japan.
I did try to follow that up, but annoyingly the email address given for these type of enquires for Honda UK, bounced back. I need to try another route...