Hi All,
I've picked up a set of M20 crankcases with the number C1521425 stamped just below the timing cover. I've checked online and not seen any other engines with this stamping. Is this a contract number and if so what information is available for the bike it was originally fitted to.
Thanks in advance.
Torquil
If a "rebuild" number, 1521425 would have been a rebuilt car with an "M" prefix.
Does your mail address suggest that you're in the Republic of Ireland ? What is the engine number ? Did it apply to an Irish Department of Defence batch ?
Without the crankcase number to date it it’s not an easy task to identify the year
Volume Irish batches arrived in
1939
1940
1941
1945
I have pictorial evidence of census numbers still applied to the 41 & 45 year bikes but not in earlier deliveries
It was more common for the registration number of bikes to be stamped in Ireland as the British war dept census numbers were effectively meaningless
I have some examples which retain these details from over the years
My thoughts on this are the crankcases in question have come from over the border in the north of Ireland where they may have been stamped for whatever reason at camps like Kesh or ballykinlar where lots of rene work was undertaken
During the disposals of the 1950’s & 60’s lots of southern bikes were bought at auction - taken into the north & re registered as 39 year models even though they are 1945
In recent years I have bought quite a bit from up there
Dear Mr Torquil, are you still there? If so, would it be possible to post some pictures of all the numbers on this engine? Or alternatively send them to me, so that I can post them here. Otherwise all our theories will only remain speculations...
Engine number is WM20 4470 though my spider senses tell me that it may be a restamp.
Despite working in IT for 30yrs and having posted pictures on dozens of pages over the years, I'm struggling to post a pic on this page! I don't see an option for 'HTML large with link' on imgbb.com after I have uploaded my picture and have tried the others but all it posts is the link and not the image.
There is indeed a problem with posting pictures since a couple of weeks. We always had to take "HTML", suddenly we had to take "BB code", but I'm afraid to say that even BB code doesn't work anymore... Anyway, I've seen your picture by clicking the link above. The two round markings are BSA quality control stamps. But the C number looks "recent" to me, these are the sort of stamps that you can buy in a hardware store today. War-time stamps look different. At least, that's my two pennies...
Could you post a picture of the engine number as well?
Strange, its on the wrong side of the engine and there is a definite gap between the C15 and 21425, has it been fitted in a postwar C15? which would be a very odd thing to do, if indeed possible???
Not possible in a C15 unless you want to run without a gearbox!..:laughing:
By the 50's the style of the stamp font on this engine was in use..Gold stars, for example, do not have the 'seriphed' style stamps applied in earlier times...So the number could, theoretically, date from that time and is not neccessarily a 'modern' restamp...Ian
WM20 4470 was indeed an Irish contract machine sent to Dublin during September 1941. It means that if the two case halves relate and the stamp on the timing side is not "factory" then it must have been applied during its service life in Ireland or afterwards. It's hard enough to decipher British rebuild markings, where we have a much larger pool to draw conclusions from.
The British had "B" workshops. Might Ireland have used "C" workshops for motorcycles ?
Ron, you're doing better than me as all I get is that BBCodeitem message and no actual photo. I can't post links either. All I get is a "forbidden" message.
Yes Rik, the last click link I tried to post was forbidden. The site needs a better host like the other forums we use, but the current attendance probably wont warrant it. I can't stand the way FB works either! Ron
