I was just scanning through my parts book for my G3L as I was looking for a particular bolt that I needed to machine and the page with the gearbox mounting plates jumped out at me it showed a left and right gearbox mounting plate, I looked at the ones on my own bike and they were both the same with the extra bolt hole for the gearbox draw bolt , thinking that I'd fitted two right hand plates I looked through my collection of other thin type WD ones and I came up with no left hand plates at all, but I did find two variants , one has the little key way for the dynamo retaining strip cut at 9 and 12 o'clock positions on the same plate, the ones fitted to my own bike only have it at the 9 o'clock position and despite me thinking that my own had two right hand side ones fitted I noticed that the little reinforcing bar would have been one spot welded to the inside of the plate and one on the outside of the plate if they were identical, but mine had them both on the outside, so they were a pair.
The question is how many variants were fitted?

email (option): davmax@ntlworld.com

I have pairs of the thin plates, both identical.

Buit an old sweat once told me that it was best to fit a thick plate on the primary side as it was stronger.

in time of wartime shortages and pressure to produce it makes sense to me to have just punched out one plate for both sides.
These bikes were disposable short term kit, not intended as future restoration projects.

and to save time, stuff what the parts books say.

I'd already fitted the plates anyway and was just going to grind off the extra hole on the left side plate and touch it in. I was just curious as to how many variants there were or if mine were post war ones so I was just checking to see if I'd made a fundamental mistake on the type of plates. I agree the thin plates are kinda...........thin! But I'm building mine from parts, so I wanted to make sure I hadn't fitted the completely wrong ones

email (option): davmax@ntlworld.com

Dave as discussed by phone and to confirm. My three parts lists all show the plates with the gearbox adjuster hole on the offside plate only. The extra spot welded plates at the mag platform place must be to make up the difference of the thin plates and therefore must be on the outsides. I have plates here with the dynamo slot at 12 o'clock and at 9 o'clock and some with both???? Who knows with Matchless Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

I turned the plates the other way round and the reinforcement is on the outside on both plates, so the mere fact that they are mirror images of each other presumably means they are a pair, both looked to be un messed with and looked to be from the same pair with matching paint. Where's a rivet counter when you need one?

email (option): davmax@ntlworld.com