The spec for the military WD is 276 AE/1BE.
My WD16H is fitted with a 276 011; which is the code in "The Driver's Handbook" for the same basic model [No dates but it shows grease nipples for the valve guides]
My bike was rebuilt at a field station two weeks before the end of the European war and sports a lorry ammeter, and an Enfield headlamp which was probably put on when it was painted black and sold as old war stock.
Can any one shed light on why the two codes are different, is one Amal's original pre war code and the other the military code?
If so 376s and 389s reverted to number codes whilst all subsequent 276s continued with letter codes.

The 276AE/1BE is the carburetter type number and the mixing chamber body number was 276/406. 276/011 does not get a mention in Amals listing for Nortons till Big 4 in 1953-4 with carburetter type number 276FV/1DJ and mixing chanber body number 276/011. Strange that the listing was 276/011 earlier?

-Well my little black book has "Book No. 100/NC 3" at the top right hand side, then centred "Air Publication No 1726 Vol. 1. Part 1." and below the aforementioned title has "Motor Cycle Solo," "NORTON, Model "16H" ", "490 cc Side Valve" in four lines.
The publisher was Burman, Cooper & Co, Ltd 194, Corporation St, Birmingham, 4. Ref.4101
In two drawings it shows the grease nipples.
Some of the illustrations are identical to the currently available A4 Maintenance Manual softback. Thus there is no doubt that it is for the war type albeit there are no military references.
According to Wiki the 276 was introduced in 1940 so could the "Air Publication" refer to the Airforce?

Yes indeed Jeremy. Air Publication was for the Air Ministry (RAF). Lots of parts seem to have been listed with MT and AM numbers. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Thank you very much Ron. Forgive my ignorance, my interest in my bike was originally just the bike, as my younger brother pulled a 16H out of a ravine with our help in 1970 and we spent the summer learning to ride up and down our dead end road all that holiday [I bought my first M21 a year later]: thus I don't know what AM and MT stand for.

Jeremy,

276/011-1 was the pre war AMAL body identification for the carb used on WD16H. It changed per 1940.
In the older VAOS lists it is noted as AM276/011
It is not known why AMAL changed the coding system.
The carb did not fysically change as far as I know, only the number.

In 1941 the code used for the entire carb was 276Y/1DJ, the body marked 276/011

276AE/1BE is a code for the entire carb and float chamber combination. 276, for the intake diameter AE for the carb indicating configuration (flange or tube fitting) jetting and valve sizes.
1BE for the description of the float chamber e.g. indicating a straight or tilted connection to the carb body.
276/406 is a number that can be found on many NOS body replacement parts for the 276AE/1BE carb.

Maybe still not a complete explanation.

In short, you have a correct carb for a WD16H

On MT and AM codes,
MT was the overall military indication for Motor Transport publications and used in all VAOS(Vocabulary Of Army Ordnance) listings.
MT1 for General stores, MT2 for tools, MT3 for Lamp holders eg, MT4 Electric cables battereies etc, MT5 nuts and bolts etc upto MT15.
The general prefix for MT stores was LV6, indicating a section in something larger setting. I am not sure where LV stands for.

AM is the abbreviation indicating AMAL in the VAOS listings. LV6, MT12/AM/276/011 was the description of the carburetter in VAOS. Early Norton parts lists did give the Norton spares numbers. The military did not want to buy from Norton but directly from AMAL hence military numbers in the VAOS.
In later Norton spares lists the carb is indicated with MT12/AM/276AE/1BE

Another common abbreviation was LU for Lucas.

cheers,

Rob

email (option): wd16h@telfort.nl

Thanks very much everyone. From the above it would seem that my booklet is 39/40. One thing though. Wiki dates the 276s introduction as 1940 but Rob states it was earlier. Does anyone have a firm date for the 276?

I do not know a firm date but I know they changed from a type 76 which had the four holes around the body to a 276 which had the hole in the intake area of the carburetter as the War office in England wanted to be able to filter all of the air entering the carburetter. I beleive that it was sometime in 1939.

Gents,

The 276/011-1 was first specified by AMAL in December 1936 and placed on military WD16H in 1937 according the original AMAL documentation.

The 76 was kept for civilian use upto 1940.

Wiki is incorrect/incomplete!

Cheers,

Rob

email (option): wd16h@telfort.nl

As I have contributed to Wiki I know it's often not accurate. I did think it may be a case of military preceding civilian, since it was the Military who wanted the changes; only to not make full use of them....
This adds weight to the 276 being developed with feedback from Norton re the "standard" 1065 needle jet [as does the numbering code].
To date my little black book, when did the RAF first order 16Hs?

email (option): jeremy@clogmaker.co.uk

The first contract that I can see was for 20 bikes delivered by June 1941. There was another contract for 531 solos, after which they mostly seem to have ordered combinations. Lots of M20 combinations were also ordered by the RAF. These military outfits were fitted with a Swallow model 8 sidecar. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

I haven't double-checked it recently, but I believe that the factory records show the RAF taking two WD16Hs in August 1938, presumably assessment models and then a first delivery of 275 in March 1939. These were finished in the pre-war RAF blue-grey.

This one is complete with pre-war Local authority registration and NI-Fe battery.

The two machines built in 1938 were built according the 1938 spec.
It appears they later went for the standard 1937 spec.
They had black painted rolling chassis and headlamp rim and RAF blue sheet metal parts.
It did not have speedo. Norton applied an RAF transfer.

Cheers,

Rob

email (option): wd16h@telfort.nl