1928 Ariel some wood and some tape ..

[Damien Towning]

Hello everyone,

This is my second post to this forum but this one is my introductory post. I am Damien. I have large sweaty paws and a hammer.

I also have a frame and I have a wheel. Well okay the wheel is Japanese and I have some lugs and some rust. I also have some tape and some wood. This is all going rather well so far. And before anyone tells me to give up and walk away I have had worse and this is only a flesh wound !

My plans are to first make a jig and sort the frame. Been here before but never with a lugged frame.

Anyway once I get the frame back together I will aim to get it up and rolling by sticking on to it whatever bits will sort it. A living bike is a bike that is far more likely to get the original parts it came with back on it. Being that it is a 1928 some of those parts are I have discovered not easy to find.

Right that is the introduction done. Now for some questions :

- The back end is where the real trouble is. Are the dimensions on the rear of this frame similar to any other Ariel that does have some drawings/dimensions? I am having real trouble finding any dimensions/drawings for a 1928 frame and I expect I am being a bit wishful in my thinking that such a drawing might exist.

- If no drawings exist has anyone else made a jig for a 1928 and do they have some measurements for that? Particularly for the back which is where it is all in pieces ( yes he said in pieces ) ...

- If I had pulled this out of a shed in say the 1950's and stuck it back together on an anvil with my hammer and tongs ( as evidenced by the arc welding holding it together ) and I was then preparing myself to ride it to a fight ( extra chunks of metal added to frame ) what pre-unit stand-up motor and box might I have selected for this a bike ?

- Same question as above for the front end. What other front ends might fit it?

I ask this because it would seem the rear mount for the box has been altered by somebody who may have done exactly this in the 50's. The engine mounts look to have been left alone but It has had big thick bits of steel welded under the lower frame all all the way from the motor lugs to the back and then a giant thick amount of metal and plate added around the gearbox mount and maybe a different plate for a different gearbox. Basically the whole bottom end of the frame has been welded up like the person doing it intended to jump the bike off a building ! What is strange about all this is that it seems to have been done to a frame that was straight. Rather than as repairs to a frame that was twisted. Somebody had a plan for it. I'd like to revisit that plan if I can.

Hoping somebody can help with my addiction.

Thanks ...

[andyhughesflattankarielpre25]

Good day Damien,you have your work cut out with this one,like you say it can be done,I have a 29 the same but a few more bits with it, I will private message you as I have just finished a 28 model A.

[adrie.degraaff]

I have crankcase W6320 for you, but most Ariel single engines up to 1959 will fit.

You don't need a heavy jig, see http://forum.arielownersmcc.com/viewt ... f=25&t=410

[john.whiting]

Old bike frames had zero value up to the late seventies.........I ve seen trailer loads of belt driver frames at swapmeets with no takers............I have no doubt many on this forum could point out patches of concrete that have old bike frames in them for reo...........I wernt no good for reo....either...............Its a waste of time breaking up the concrete,too,cause the frames are usually severly rusted from contact with the ground underneath........I did this looking for a Harley frame.......paper thin in places ,but I did get a few dollars on ebay for it............Is it worth annoying the neighbours with a 90 lb jackhammer?.......No......and I found out new readymix is almost $400/cu metre.

[Damien Towning]

Right then! So if I see some old biker in a bunch of leathers furiously going at a wall or a driveway with a sledge hammer and stopping to rub his hands together occasionally I will know why ! I did me some paintshop today to sketch out the dimensions that would be helpful to. I also put in some lines where it has been cut. I am starting to think the person who cut it actually had a plan and knew exactly what they were doing. More than I do. I am guessing they planned to braze a tube in to the steel left inside the lug rather than trying to drill out the pins heat up the lugs and pull out the old tubes. That would have been my plan. I am now starting to think that was a wrong plan and they had the right plan. Also I wonder if they had a jig setup and that is why they went for the whole back end all at once rather than a tube at a time.

[Damien Towning]

Also I read the number on the frame as either 5828 or 5628. I am guessing the odds of being able to look that up in some sort of register somewhere is fairly slim? Everything from this long ago bombed during the war or thrown in to the tip ?

[adrie.degraaff]

I see 5628.

[Simon.Gardiner]

Also I read the number on the frame as either 5828 or 5628. I am guessing the odds of being able to look that up in some sort of register somewhere is fairly slim? Everything from this long ago bombed during the war or thrown in to the tip ?

Damien:
There might be some factory records, I think I read somewhere that there are still records back to 1926 (others here will know for sure).
If you're serious about building up a complete bike, join the Owners Club.
And although I'm not an expert on the 'black' Ariels you might be advised to keep an eye on Ian Colvin's 1927 rebuild thread (if you're not already)
http://forum.arielownersmcc.com/viewt ... f=7&t=8924
(there are also some good links in that thread that others have put in).

SG

[nevhunter]

You still have the remains of the original gearbox mount. It's a bit of a weakness on those models as it's made of about 1/8 th inch steel plate.. It doesn't have the pivoting gearbox mount like the later models. Nev

[Damien Towning]

I went ahead and joined the Australian club today. I am hoping they might have something interesting about this frame in the archives. If the gearbox mounts are basically in the right place I am going to leave em alone. I've asked it how it feels about all this being put back together business. Have not got a response so far. Figure it is keeping itself a bit quiet in case it ends up under the bench in the shed again.