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WTK - BSA M20 Engine Color

I am brand new to the M20 world! For a factory delivered wartime M20, what colors were the engine painted (top end and bottom end). How were the bolts and hardware finished (zinc, phosphate coated)? And did the color and finishes of parts change from year to year during the war?

Is there a restoration guide for the entire motorcycle that shows the finish colors for all parts (painting and plating of all parts, etc) and shows when parts were introduced or deleted in production, changes for example like tank air filter, headlight, buddy seat styles in and on. Thanks!

email (option): questmasters(at)hotmail(dot)com

Re: WTK - BSA M20 Engine Color

Depends upon which contract it was made to,
To determine this , those with the magical powers will need your engine & frame numbers.
Most bolts were cadimum plated a finish that is illegal about everywhere,
Close is stainless steel cleaned with stainless steel pot cleaner & not polished after or dull zinc.

email (option): bsansw1@tpg.com.au

Re: WTK - BSA M20 Engine Color

As far as the paint colour is concerned, the general rule is:-
At the outbreak of war, vehicles were painted 'Kahki Green' (gas proof No3) It's more or less the colour of 'new' army webbing.

Because of the shortage of something called 'yellow ochre' the colour was changed to 'Service Brown' (BS 499) Which started at some point in 1942.

At some point in 1944 the colour changed to 'Olive Drab' (BS 298).

This is just a rough guide as there were overlaps and variations in shades and other colours were used. The only painted parts on an M20 engine from the factory would have been the barrel and head and things like maydyno straps in black and I don't know if they used paint or some sort of stove enamel back then?

Mat chrome plate seemed to be order of the day for fixings on early machines which relaxed into cadmium plating on at least the nuts and bolts and as war economies prevailed more plating was deleted, but that would require research against a particular model and its contract.

I don't know of a publication that covers the full restoration of a WD M20. But I would suggest you buy a copy of 'British Forces Motorcycles' By Orchard and Madden and start with your frame number to determine the era of war you you want to depict. There is also lots of information in the technical and historical pages of this site. Also other forum members with vast knowledge on specific makes, models and era's.

My two penneth. Ron




email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Re: WTK - BSA M20 Engine Color

trevor
Depends upon which contract it was made to,
To determine this , those with the magical powers will need your engine & frame numbers.
Most bolts were cadimum plated a finish that is illegal about everywhere,
Close is stainless steel cleaned with stainless steel pot cleaner & not polished after or dull zinc.
Cad plate is not illegal here in UK.. YET!! It's still required by MOD and other industries. It's just that the monitoring of the effluents are so strict that only companies with regular lucrative orders can be bothered with it. I have this ice cream tub of new zinc plated fasteners being cad plated as we speak. Ron

DSCF1056

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Re: WTK - BSA M20 Engine Color

So for the engine, throughout wartime production, the bottom half of the engine was natural aluminum and the top (cast iron) was painted black? Nothing else painted it finished?

email (option): questmasters(at)hotmail(dot)com

Re: WTK - BSA M20 Engine Color

Nearly all war-time production motorcycles had raw aluminium engine and gearbox casings (some exceptions included Matchless G3/G3L, James ML, and Welbikes )

There are any amount of factory and period pictures to study as well as parts lists. As has already been suggested, you should start with the frame number to determine the factory specification of a bike. Ron
024
004
C4347367

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Re: WTK - BSA M20 Engine Color

Sorry for not posting that information, my 1944 M20 frame number is 103026 and the M20 engine is a 1939 s/n 7805.

email (option): questmasters(at)hotmail(dot)com

Re: WTK - BSA M20 Engine Color

WM20 103026 was the 6209th bike of 8000 from contract S2603 (March 43-July 44). I calculate tank census number as C5213726. Ron

PS. I see you are running a website and already have this information. http://www.questmasters.us/index.html

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Re: WTK - BSA M20 Engine Color

Seems that you're being tested Ron.

Re: WTK - BSA M20 Engine Color

That is correct, I already have this M20 posted with those details:
http://www.questmasters.us/1944_BSA_M20.html

I am slowly starting to learn about the M20 for this restoration and that is why I wanted to know about the engine color/finishes and the plating colors of bolts - because that is the next thing I am going to work on, the engine! :)

email (option): questmasters(at)hotmail(dot)com

Re: WTK - BSA M20 Engine Color

I've just had a look at your website and see that you refer to a 'British Despatch rider' on C5213661

The formation sign on the fuel tank is the stylised winged helmet of 1st Polish Armoured Division. As part of 1st Canadian army, they used British equipment but very much retained their Polish identity. It might not be a bad idea to clarify things. Many of the Allies are, quite rightly, a little sensitive about being forgotten.

Re: WTK - BSA M20 Engine Color

Thank you Rik! I am unfamiliar with those markings and have made the appropriate corrections to the page!
I also added the new parts, including the engine, which will be used in this restoration.

email (option): questmasters(at)hotmail(dot)com

Re: WTK - BSA M20 Engine Color

Good luck with the restoration and look forward to seeing the results on your website.

Always interested in sites to do with WW2. I do a lot of metal detecting in the hill of Hong Kong and several years ago we found 2 crashed American Avenger bombers the story is below if anyone is interested. Im still on the hunt for any buried WM20's but I just seam to keep digging up grenades and bullets.

https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1677815/remains-us-airmen-killed-1945-could-still-be-hong-kong

email (option): deepsea@vol.net

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