My 4G Restoration Blog

[nevhunter]

Looks like a pretty good start. Rear mudguard stay should have a curve and the front brake cable is routed wrong. but so much looks right. SQ4's are for people who love a challenge, but you are not new to that.. You know what you are getting into. It's in good hands. Nev

[paul.wirdnam]

I've been battling with the mudguards from day one --- they have been the worst aspect of this restoration. Under layers of paint on the top, and some sort of bitumen underneath, they are not in a good shape. A MIG-welding friend has managed to salvage the rear one but having had both gently bead blasted and primer to see what they would come up like, the front one is a mess.



And after some MIG work, gentle blast and primer:







We were just about to go through yet another cycle of MIG welding when I visited Peter Batton on the way back from the bead blaster, and he casually said "I think I've got a better one that you can have.". He saved my sanity; photo of his front mudguard in the 4G forks --- the grey is some lead filling he did many years ago:





I've made several of these top mounting brackets over the years and they always take me ages to get the bracket just right with the correct curves etc. I think this one took me most of one day this week but it was very hot, so I was working at half speed:



So I think I'm finally on top of the mudguards. Thank goodness.

[paul.jameson]

The front centre bracket which you have made so well is usually riveted to the mudguard, as are various other brackets. I cheat here, and get Clay Jones at ACME stainless to turn me up some 1/4 cycle bolts with a head the same as the rivet head. Easy to fit, possible to remove should you need to and indistinguishable from the original unless you insist on looking under the mudguard.

[paul.wirdnam]

The front centre bracket which you have made so well is usually riveted to the mudguard, as are various other brackets. I cheat here, and get Clay Jones at ACME stainless to turn me up some 1/4 cycle bolts with a head the same as the rivet head. Easy to fit, possible to remove should you need to and indistinguishable from the original unless you insist on looking under the mudguard.

Paul, I think all the Ariels I've owned have had a removable, non-riveted bracket...often with home made looking brackets. And I see Drags sell new mudguards with the bracket loose so you can do as you have. Seems we've all struggled over the years trying to get our front mudguards into the girders with this bracket fitted to the guard. Very difficult with valanced mudguards.

I've really got "the bit between my teeth" on the this 4G now.

Wheels now built and I'm pleased with the results --- just the gold lining to do which will happen today. My dummy wheel building that I did at the end of July paid off; no scratches at all in my red paintwork.





And all cycle parts, except mudguards, taken to my local powder coater (Wessex Metal Finishers) who also happens to be a vintage bike enthusiast (Ivory Calthorpe and Nortons), so understands about masking off areas etc although, as you can see, I've already protected threads and new bushes. Should get it all back next week:

BTW: I do not have 3 legs --- I'm aware that there are 3 footrest in the photos. I always take photos of all the bits going off to painters and platers to ensure I get the same number of bits back

[Eero.Korhonen]

Really nice rims!
Br, Eero

[Bob.Murphy]

[quote="paul.wirdnam"] I always take photos of all the bits going off to painters and platers to ensure I get the same number of bits back [quote]

I do the same; but I also edit the pictures to give each item a number and a description and then give them the prints and a separate list of the parts - with the colour/finish required for each. Pentland Powder Coaters are good to deal with.

The wheels look very nice.

Bob.

[paul.wirdnam]

More progress!

All the parts came back from the powder coaters, nothing was lost, so I'm now busy removing excess paint from engine plate bolt holes, cleaning out threads with taps (they were protected!) etc, hammering in new headstock outer shells and generally getting ready for the big assembly:





But before that can happen, I've had to finish off the wheels. I had forgotten just how long wheels take to restore and my 3-stud QD plunger rear wheel is made up of numerous bearings, spindles and other parts. The gold lining took longer than expected with 3 coats of gold and another 3 coats of lacquer. And I had to fix new dust shields to the brake plates.

I guess others have used all sorts of methods for attaching their new AOMCC stainless dust shields to the brake plates. In the past, I've used Araldite, JB Weld etc and after 22 years (my 4F), they're still firmly attached. I know other people have used 6BA cheesehead screws. But for this project, I decided to use 2.3mm stainless pop rivets. Before anyone says, I know the inner rim (with the rivets) of the shield should be painted .







Gold lining before the lacquer layers:



And the finished wheels. The rear one looks more like something off a Sunbeam S7 with that 400 x 18 tyre, and the whole wheel + tyre is very heavy, so I'll need all of those 1000 cc's just to get it turning.









My plunger springs had some rust, so a good wire brushing and dip in Waxoyl:



And those troublesome mudguards are looking a lot better. Here they are waiting for their final 2K lacquer coat which might happen today, subject to good weather:



Oh, and I bought a tin:

[Mark Nazer]

Superb work Paul! Reading your blog is helping me learn about the 4G (having recently got my first, a 39 one too!).
And i love the tin.

[paul.wirdnam]

Build is progressing well but I'd appreciate your comments on these washers and their purpose. They were left over after rebuilding my '39 forks (with auxiliary springs) using a spindle kit from Clay at Acme:



They are unusual in being 1/8" thick. I poured through the Parts Book and found them:



And that part number indicates they're something to do with the top, front auxiliary spindle. Drags doesn't show them on any diagram or anything to do with girder forks although they do know about the part number. Here they are on my old spindle:



The next question was to work out whether they should go under the spindle nut or on the outside of the nut i.e. to keep auxiliary spring away from thread on spindle. Waller to the rescue; this is the only diagram I've found that clearly shows thick washers (34) under the nuts of the top front spindle:





And while I was looking for my Waller book, I looked through photos of the bike before dismantling it and in this photo, you can see a thick 1/8" washer under the nut in the bottom part of the photo:



So it looks like I have the correct original washers for '39 type girder forks with auxiliary springs but I haven't found any other photos on the internet of bikes with these washers. As expected, these 1/8" washers are also listed in the W/NG Parts Book, but can I find a photo of a W/NG with them....no!

I cannot work out what they are for. Are they there just to cover up excess thread on the spindle? In my case, I have (old and new) half depth nuts, and without this thick washer, quite a number of threads are visible on the spindle, which means the auxiliary spring mounting could slide across and damage the threads. But with the washer, the mounting would only rub against the face of the nut. Many W/NG I've looked at have full depth nuts and there would not be room for this 1/8" thick washers.

Over to the experts...please tell me about these washers.

[nevhunter]

I'm NOT an expert but I think they are used outside the nuts to protect them from the "end of auxiliary spring" fittings marking the nuts as I think they will foul the hexagons without them. The 3 W/NG's I've been involved with are that way and look right. One had a complete set of forks NOS done that way. I'll try to check with the manuals I have 3 of different periods but I expect they would all be the same. I'll get back to you but not tomorrow. You can swap them over easily anytime if they are incorrect. Nev