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Ariel 350 - Box of bits - questions??


FUGLYONE

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Hello, have been away from MV's for a bit but now have a Ariel 350, which appears wartime. It all in pieces, but the frame and engine numbers are correct for a batch that were desptched between April and November 1943. It spent time in Greece then ended up with the Greek Post Office post war , then into civilian hands.

I am interested  to know if the bike would have been black or military green when it left the factory? Also what finish is correct for the rims, handlebars, engine and gearbox casings etc?

 

 

 

Thanks

Edited by FUGLYONE
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All bikes despatched under WO contracts were painted in service colour. The colour for 1942-4 was specified as SCC2  Service Brown ( paint code BS499) . Here's my later W/NG in Olive Drab.  Ron

DSCF2275.jpg

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It might well be worth fitting a civvy camshaft . The WD/NG was fitted with the sidevalve one . With the civvy one , either NG or NH you will have a very usable bike . I think that my NH was one of the best bikes I had . The Carburettor may also be on the small side , and an upgrade to a civvy bore would not be detectable . I have figures somewhere . There is a very active Ariel club . All threads on Ariels were BSF , except for studs into ally , which were Whit / BSF. 

On today's roads it is neccessary to have a reasonably competitive performance . Even the NH was an extremely tractable bike .

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  • 5 months later...

The light olive colour/ light stone is the base layer, then there was a layer of black, and the the bright green ( was that when the Greek post office had it after the war ?) and then it had another layer of black.  The bike was made I'm 1943, and ended up in Greece being used by the post office, then it went into private hands. Stripped down in the 90's and put in boxes and stored. The frame etc was shot blasted in the 90's and painted in red lead before storage. Mudguards, stays , brackets are all really solid. May have gone to Greece towards the end of the war with the British forces, or may have been bought as war surplus by the Greek post office.? Probably will never know.

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  • 2 weeks later...

There is a number stamped vertically in the headstock, see picture. Not sure if is on any other W/NG frames? Is that top letter , the letter Sigma, or just a M on its side. Anyone else seen one of these? Bottom mark looks like a crude crown shape?

IMG_20200816_162132gteek.jpg

Edited by FUGLYONE
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  • 1 month later...

The numbers have also been stamped into the engine casings, and it certainly appears that the Greek government did a professional job of registering the bike into their system. I have been speaking to the family and I have a pic taken in the early 60s. By this point it was leaving the Post office and becoming civilianised. 

 

Edited by FUGLYONE
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