Ron

Andy. It was all done with my angle grinder with a rope wire wheel and elbow grease………And you do know I have to have a big tub of that.  Ron

Interesting Chris. I think yours is from the same contract as mine C8136 but mine has a higher frame number 15297. I just checked and mine has the solid webb at the head stock. It has the shorter stand but of course it might have been replaced? Ron

OK Jan. Lick your pencil and add this detail to your report Ron

Jan it figures that your bike might also have a taller stand? Out of interest if you measure from the pivot centre to the ground by the stand foot on the primary side....Do you get 7 1/2"-7 3/4"? Ron

Chris is right.  I just checked mine and it's the same 7" but Ben's is taller.by about 3/4". It must be a leftover from the pre-war bikes and then they decided to alter it for the WD bikes.

I was busy today with the KG3 on all the frame and fork parts. Ron

Well I wouldn't have guessed that Chris! Was it simply to lift the wheels higher?  I'll be comparing the stand on my later 'C'  with Ben's in the near future now and I've got another WD/C centre stand on its way to me.

Come to think of it, my previous 'C'  from well over 20 years ago was always a sod to hike up on its stand. It was missing its stand when I acquired it and I'd found one in a motorcycle breakers shed. My current bike is a lot easier. I've mildly wondered why? Maybe that's it!  Ron

I hope it helps some!

Some more parts de-greased stripped and primed here in 'Spacer City'  Just hope I can remember where they all belong Ron

Handy if you need a rear wheel as I believe that apart from the sprocket it's about the same as a war time wheel. (35T  for a WD Flea and 34T for post war civilian)

The 300x19 tyre however is too big for a WD Flea which should have 275x19.

Ron

Today I've stripped the main frame and primed it, then assembled it with the studs and nuts which must be painted and given the whole thing another coat of primer.

The rest of the studs should be black parkeriszed with dull plated nuts. Ron 

Yes Steve I'm missing a WD/J and KX (Fat chance on either!!) 

It is odd that despite all the various WD models RE produced (far more than most) that they never really took on the role as a front line machine. As you say they made continual improvements and upgrades. They also don't seem as desirable with modern day DR's as the other makes, and I've even heard comments about the engine with combined oil tank being ugly. 

Obviously I do like them and especially my WD/G which although has basically the same engine as a CO with a beefed up crank, It just feels so much more comfortable......Probably all the rubber parts ironing out the vibrations and the big front brake helps. Apart from obvious differences, it shares its parts list with the WD/L.

One thing I think I'm right in saying, RE were the only wartime manufacturer who adopted the more sensible slack wire ignition advance. Ron   

Some more parts arrived from Hitchcock's today. I'm happy to report that the piston is genuine Hepolite. Ron

Yes I agree Rik. When I got the bore measured and honed, my engineer commented about what a heavy old slug the piston is.....He thought possibly from a stationary engine?

Thanks for the kind words Steve, and I own one of those WD/L's. From contract C8620 and supplied to Hilsea Barracks in 1942. Ron

Tha barrel, head, and tappet cover have been blasted and I've painted them with VHT and baked them for an hour. I've also lapped the valves in. The new piston rings arrived but no way will they fit this 'Gamma' piston, so coupled with the wear to the gudgeon pin, and the fact that the Japanese piston might upset the spirits in the museum,  I made an executive decision and ordered a new RE piston (minus rings). I've also pressed a new small end bush into the con-rod which now needs reaming to size when the new piston arrives.   Ron

It's this stuff Andy https://marinestore.co.uk/Bonda_Rust_Primer__25_Zinc_250ml.html I've used it for many years and with heavy coats it also makes a good high build primer. But I also use 2 PK high build primer on pitted tin parts. Ron

And now with red oxide primer.  Ron

Stripped all the fork parts back to bare metal today. The black paint would easily pickle up if soaked in thinners for a few minutes, but the KG3 paint underneath didn't seem effected . From what I can make out, there is no primer/undercoat at all. Just a single coat of KG3 .......Must have been some good quality lead or enamel paint. Ron 

Thanks for that Jan.

Well Hitchcock's didn't let me down but Royal Mail certainly did! No post whatsoever yesterday, despite receiving an email and text from them to say they will be delivering another tracked parcel to me.......So that's that till Tuesday now.  Ron

Yes Andy that picture is some of the very first WD/C's produced and had the same fieldstand foot as the Norton 16H. But I guess unlike Norton they soon realised how unsafe they are and liable to slide and reverted to the pig sticker type. No doubt Jan will know exactly when they changed. When panniers were fitted the pig sticker stand was moved from the vertical to horizontal. Ron

Chaps I've just miked up the gudgeon pin and it's definitely 3/4" and is 1/2 thou undersize in the wear area. I'll see if the new rings are correct when they arrive (later today knowing Hitchcock's) . Then I'll decide if the new small end bush can be reamed tight to allow for the 1/2 thou wear or I can buy a new gudgeon pin or even go for complete new piston (about 65 quid with post and VAT).

Yesterday after removing the valves and preparing the barrel/head ready for blasting,  I took the fork blades apart and de-greased them. For those who haven't seen them, these early RE forks come apart (unlike most which are brazed together) Which does make stripping the old paint easier. Ron

My engineer measured the cylinder bore yesterday to reveal that it's on plus 20 with minimal wear. He gave it a light hone to bust the glaze and I've ordered some new rings along with small end bush and other parts from Hitchcock's. However the piston  is 'Gamma' and stamped 70.5  which is something  I'm not familiar with so  I'm hoping the standard RE rings will be the right size.  I'll pull the valves out soon and get the head and barrel ready for grit blasting by Steve at Phoenix as I don't have the compressor power for such blasting in my own cabinet.  Ron 

Ben's wheel hubs have flip flaps also and several of my Enfield's have them on their hubs too. Since you mentioned your 16H front brake arm Rik the one on my B4 has a ball type oiler. Ron  

Yes they're very nice little feature Rik, I don't think I've ever seen them on fork parts before, I've got them on a few Hubs. These ones were well protected by grease and the rubber doughnut buffers (which were rock hard and broke up when I tried to remove them) 

The oilers were made by 'Abingdon Works Ltd'  (King Dick tools?)  ............2/6 a Dozen! Must get some!

Ron

I promise you, it's not neat Ian. I don't want you thinking I'm under the anfluence  of ilcohol. Ron

Today I decided to check out the steering head races. Some degreasing of parts and cleaning up the races reveals that 3 of the 4 are almost unblemished with the the lower frame head race showing signs of distress, so I'll replace that one and a set of new balls......"You can not be serious man" .....There is more evidence of KG3 paint and the nickel plate on the flip top oilers is still near perfect 

Andy I took your advice  Ron    

I lived in Rhodesia for a time and saw lots of the African busses with steel discs on the outside of the wheels. It was an attempt at keeping the bus on the road after a puncture, which was quite common due to the condition of lots of the roads and even more so because the equally poor condition of the tyres. Lots of Africans have lost their lives through busses careering off the road.  Ron