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rewdco

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Everything posted by rewdco

  1. Oh yes, now that you're saying so! 😃
  2. Not a frost crack, but according to the caption, the engine has been deadly wounded by a grenade ("motore ferito mortalmente da una granata wernica"). Don't know what "wernica" means however...
  3. Just found this WW1 picture of a Fiat.
  4. The number in the parts list is 25578. But according to the Hitchcocks website this number has been superseded by 40460.
  5. Hello Mike, Welcome to the forum! Your frame is indeed #20356 (delivered under contract S/1546 on 17/07/1944 to the War Office in Ketley). The original census number would have been C5162696. After the war somebody replaced the original engine by an engine from a contract C/13869 bike, hence the C/13869 contract number on the engine. But to give the appearance of a “matching numbers” bike, the original duplicated frame number on the engine was filed away (you can easily see the flat spot), and number 20356 was applied instead. The bike may still have its original Albion gearbox (ending with 522). Here's a "close" number, for your interest!
  6. Deleted message. Reason: posted twice.
  7. Fantastic overview Simon, thanks for sharing! Now just a thought... If all the Nortons are on the lower deck, and all the BSAs on the upper deck, wouldn't it be logical to assume that they were loaded at two different locations?
  8. WD/C - WD/CO tool rolls were made in brown gaberdine cotton cloth, with a stone red hessian cloth lining. Rexine was only used for the edges. Here's an original one and a replica: There was a (basic) "Tool Kit" and a "Supplementary Kit". See pictures below.
  9. I've just discovered an "Instruction Book" for the India Office BSAs. According to this book, the frame and engine numbers that had been allotted for this contract were WM20.3101 - WM20.3557. But when we look in the factory ledgers, these numbers haven't been filled in. So mystery solved, apart from the prototype bike, there were no India Office BSAs.
  10. This is a "works" photograph of the India Office Norton 16H. Please note the upswept silencer, pillion seat with set back rear carrier, large sump guard, front mudguard stay lifting handle, cylindrical air cleaner: And these are "works" photographs of the India Office BSA. Please note the upswept silencer, pillion seat with set back rear carrier, tank mounted Talflow air cleaner: There are lots of war time pictures with India Office Nortons. And of course, the Nortons on Thristlegorm are also India Office bikes (upswept silencer): But I've never seen a war time photograph of an India Office BSA. The two "works" pictures above show the prototype bike, the question is if they have ever made a batch or a contract. I don't think so... Fact is that the BSAs on Thistlegorm are "normal" M20s, with a straight silencer: @ administrator: please feel free to move the Thistlegorm content to a separate, dedicated thread... 😃
  11. Fantastic overview Simon! I've seen lots of Thistlegorm pictures, but non of these show the complete vessel. Thanks for sharing!
  12. By the way, I've just added two pictures in "The Brooks B182 saddle" post.
  13. The Indian covers which are readily available are all made from soft, "warm" vinyl. Definitely a no-go for what we need. The original saddle covers were made from Rexine (which is called "Unobtanium" in Mendeljev's table). So if you want to become a millionaire and retire young, buy yourself an old Singer stitcher and start making good saddle covers! The material that was used for MGB hoods and tonneau covers is a very close match for Rexine, and please use real horsehair felt padding (3/8 thick). Don't use the easier to find coconut felt pad, as this will disintegrate quickly. To make a long story short: no, unfortunately good covers are very hard to come by.
  14. I've just found a Terry universal saddle on eBay.com . The saddle frame is easy to recognise. But it comes with a set of specific brackets, and I wonder for which bike these may be...? Definitely not BSA, Enfield, Matchless, Ariel. Maybe Norton, Triumph, James, ...?
  15. I've just gone through the rest of the keycards, but unfortunately I couldn't find 14CW0027. (I may have overlooked something, as looking at all these numbers drive you mad... 🤪 ) Probably frame 14GW0022 and engine 14CW0027 were already mated when the BAOR inventory was made, and it was the frame number that was recorded on the keycards.
  16. Geoff, If you want a high res scan of this keycard, please take contact with Welbike (for contact details: see one of the earlier posts). He's got the originals and can make you a really nice scan of the complete card. Jan
  17. I fully agree Richard! And 31BW could be "Base Workshop"...? Also: behind the CW or BW prefix there is usually one number (the umpteenth rebuild?). In the example below: the 268th rebuild in 25 Command Workshop. But there can also be two numbers, separated by a slash. Looks as if the second number could be the year, as it is always either 55 or 56. In the example below: the 207th rebuild in 25 Command Workshop in 1956...? No idea what the (PR) stands for though...
  18. I stand to be corrected... I have gone through 10.000 of the 20.000 plus Key Card entries, and I have indeed found "several" (less than 1%) of these "special" numbers. Mostly "25/CW" prefixes (e.g. 25/CW/270 or 25/CW/70/55, etc...), but also some "14/CW" examples (e.g. 14/CW/133 or 14/CW/0110, etc...). Unfortunately I haven't found 14/CW/0027 yet. There are also a handful of "31/BW" prefixes, and I have found 1 (one) "14/GW" number: 14/GW/0022. BINGO!!! 😃 These "special numbers" are always found in the "Engine No. "AFY" Chassis "B" Veh." column. It has been discussed before if the quoted number is in fact the "true frame number" (on the frame) or the "duplicated frame number" on the engine. We're still not sure. Fact is that 14/GW/0022 has been "converted from" census number C4171614, which is a contract C/6126 number. And when we calculate the frame number for this census number, we arrive at #19400. I've added two pictures with "close" census numbers / frame numbers, for your interest... By the way, the post war registration number ("W.D.No.") was 88YC89. Here's a "close" one:
  19. Highly unusual! On the engine you can still see the "WM20." prefix of the original engine number (which was clearly removed with a file). But I have no idea at all about the 14 CW 0027 and 14 GW 0022 numbers... They are not even matching...
  20. Highly unusual numbers! Any chance of some pictures Geoff?
  21. Random letters and numbers are usually not recorded on the Key Cards Geoff. But if you post them here, we can have a look.
  22. rewdco

    BSA WB30

    "Flattened tube end with a hole"...?
  23. rewdco

    BSA WB30

    Maybe "eyelet" is not the correct word... 😕
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