I am looking for a motor for my Clubby Van and found a 1098cc that looked a
pretty good buy in a magazine.  Called the bloke, spoke to him at length,
agreed on  pick-up details and, as an afterthought, asked him for the engine
number.  Mmmh.  Not the same as the number in the ad. Checked REVs (Register
of Encumbered Vehicles) on line and the motor is flagged as "Under Police
Investigation".
I then proceeded in a westerly direction to the local cop shop.  The police
got really excited and wanted to set up a sting operation (Yes, just like on
The Bill).  They gave me a look at COPS (the NSW Police data base, which had
an alarming amount of information about the seller who turned out to be
quite legitimate) and sure enough, the motor came from a '63 Deluxe reported
stolen a few months ago.  The seller had bought the car from a car crusher
company.  It would appear that it was given to the car crusher and then
reported stolen for $5,000 insurance, at least 5 time its value.
I'm still hoping to get the motor when the dust settles.

Graham