John your cylinder head is at war and peace on the NOBS display are you or any one close to you there today or tomorrow ferge has it there, I cannot pick up mail, but at my office Today 01 22 77 12 046, or mobile 07 78 84 22 833 then back to WandP tonight and Sunday nice to hear you might buy a WNG, parts not bad , drags do nice tin wear and pretty well all parts affair bit repro, Russell's still has a fair bit of original bits as they send stuff to the Aerial club,,andrew

email (option): warbikes@gmail.com

John a few things that I can recall from memory. The forks are longer than the civy bikes. (might be 1"??) Side check springs like Norton are used. early W/NG's had 'pain in the bum' rubber mounted bars. Later just normal clamps. The bars are quite unique! Being 1" in the middle and tapering at the ends to accept 7/8" levers. Again these are a bit different! They are piggy back levers with the mag and valve lifter being one on top of the other. The mag lever is also odd in that it is normal tight wire advance....but you push it away. Steering dampers were also deleted in time. Long grips were used! A 7" twist-grip with a 6" grip and a 7" dummy grip. There were differences to the rocker feed arrangements over the different contracts, the earlier ones had a feed adjuster on the lower crankcase. The ally timing case was also replaced by tin for later bikes. They have strange speedo brackets. These oddities can make for an awkward restoration if missing. Nuff for now. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

John as Ron said about all, but that strange speedo bracket, I was lucky found a pair Nos,But I Believe drags make them. The side check springs are buggers to get on, By the way the front hub has the Qualcast name cast on it ,the lawn mower people I think but others must have made them,, do you want a photo copy of a workshop manual, Andrew.h.

email (option): warbikes@gmail.com

Is that the one in Alexandria John?

email (option): unpob@yahoo.com

I have a complete rear hub and drum with Qualcast stamped on and thought it may be for an Ariel. If anyone looking one drop me a line.
Pete

email (option): cruaser@aol.com

Guys, thanks for your very helpful tips. Andrew, alas I will not be going to W&P but have asked if one of the NOBS could bring the head home for me. The bike I'm going to see is not in Alexandrua but would be interested to know the story on this one? Cheers John

Mid war they went to pressed steel primary cases consisting of four pieces and a steel timing cover, before reverting to alloy items late 1944. The last few contracts went to 7/8" bars with the universal levers and "spacers" in the clamps. they also lengthened the forks again to 1 1/2" over stock. The front guard had two changes, the first was the deletion of the front no.plate mount pressings and the second in 1944 as the rivetted on bracket was lengthend to coincide with the for change. the early ones had footrest rubbers witch dissapeared in 1942 along with the handlebar rubbers and rubber mounts. The footrests became a flat casting with ribs. The rear saddle mounting studs changed from a 7/16" stud to a 7/16" stud with a 5/16" reduced end when the universal saddles were fitted.
I can go on, but see if you get the bike first. They are a nice bike to ride and can be tuned to the pre war hunter spec quite easily.
Cheers, Mick.

Mick, as my WNG is still on the bench can you just outline the prewar upspec that would be required to increase performance, I'm wondering if this or some of this may have been carried out, as I suspect my bike was used for trials in the past,Andrew.h.

email (option): warbikes@gmail.com

Hi Andrew,
I'll email you some details.
Cheers, Mick.

Mick, could you please email me the details as well. Thanks John

On my W/NG (XG 24366) the engine mods were to pop in a pre-war VB (sidevalve) cam and a slightly higher compression piston..........I ditched the standard 275 carburetter for a larger 276.........can't remember if I upped the gearbox or engine sprocket by a tooth or two but one was done ! As for the gearbox, I compared an early post war NG parts book gearbox list with the WD equivalent and simply swapped over the necessary cogs from a pile of Burman parts I had in stock.......this got rid of the awful gap between third gear and top inherent on the standard W/NG........

Mine has been followed by a modern Honda on the straight at a genuine 73 mph............(and I still have the rubber-mounted handlebars !)......

email (option): sjmwdbikemad@aol.co.uk

Well, I am now the proud owner of a basket case WNG Ariel. The fame number is XG 52908 which seems to make it a 44 contract but not delivered until mid 1945. I am a bit disappointed that it is no earlier, however, it is fairly complete and has all the important tool boxes, levers, speedo, correct WD forks. There are £250 of new spares with it and I paid £1,900 for it which seems reasonable to me. It is stripped down but I have photos taken before the previous owner took it apart. It seems to be missing a rear carrier and I am not sure if the aluminium primary case is correct. I will see if I can get Uncle Ron to post some photos for me. If anyone has an original parts list of maintenance manual or any spares please do email me direct. Cheers John

email (option): Tinley@btinternet.com

JT, I have the MOS ledgers that may give more detail....plus parts list and full workshop manual.........

Terry (Roberts) does the rear carriers and pannier brackets, Draganfly have much else (speak to my long term mate Mick Holmes), and Russell's still have many NOS W/NG bits.........

Your W/NG.....contract 294/23/S.6287, cat ref S.6287/18/1.......spares list issued March 1945..........Engine numbers BH 45701 to 49200, Frame numbers XG 51856 to 55355, "C" numbers C 6193966 to 6197465.........Drivers handbook 100/AI.2B and Maintenance Manual 101/AI.3C...........

Steel timing chain cover, late-war engine/gearbox plates, late-war (extended) girders, shorter (drop) front mudguard, (reversion to) Alloy primary chaincases, "universal" saddle, "universal" handlebars (7/8ths) and Amal-pattern non-combined controls, Vokes air-cleaner as standard..........colour was olive drab (not brown or khaki-green No.3)........supplied to the WD (Army).......

email (option): sjmwdbikemad@aol.co.uk

The aluminium primary chaincase appears to be badly warped. Does anyone have any experiance of straightening them. Should I do it cold or heat it up? Thanks John

email (option): Tinley@btinternet.com

Heat the aluminum (if you can). In aerospace, we would do that to take machining stresses out and relax the metal. We did a lot of castings of various metals, and used that method for each one. Talk to someone in the heat treat industry though. torch heating at home will do more harm than good.

Good for you for taking on this project!!

email (option): britool51@hotmail.com