Help identifying a rear wheel

[dennis.t]

I acquired a complete rear wheel (minus tyre) with my 1956 NH frame but the wheel is clearly wrong for that frame.
The wheel hub is a half-width cast type with a fixed axle (i.e. not QD) and large bolt on sprocket. The brake plate is present and the axle nuts and spacers.
The code on the hub is C15-226 if I read it correctly. I also have a bare hub with the same code.
If I can identify the model they belong to I will put them up for sale on the forum or swap them for an ally full width rear wheel.
Many thanks,
Dennis

[paul.jameson]

C15/226 dates from April 1951, judging by the drawing, but the hub is what Draganfly call a type 6 or type 7, so basically the hub for a plunger frame up to 1953 and swinging arm frame 1954 and 1955. So it should be the same as the rear hub / wheel on your 1955 VH, unless that bike is actually a 1956 model year bike built between September 1955 and the end of December that year, in which case it would have the alloy hubs.
The type 6 or type 7 hub differs as the years go by in terms of spacers, spindle and whether or not there is a cable abutment in the brake plate, a slot for the brake plate stop or a stud for the torque arm, etc. So a little bit of adjustment /modification and you can use the hub in 1939 - 55 bikes with plunger or swinging arm frames, bearing in mind that for much of this time, the Square Fours used a QD hub instead of this one.
Alloy rear hubs are not uncommon but when you find one, check that the 4 studs which hold the sprocket on are not loose in the alloy. The other fault with them is that the brake is usually poor and not as good as the single sided one, unless you can find some original green brake linings for it.

[dennis.t]

Paul,
Many thanks for that valuable information.
The NH that I have is a 1956 model and I believe that, although the swinging arm is not the original, it is designed for the full width alloy hub with a QD axle.
I might keep the bare half width hub as a spare for my '55 VH but the complete rear wheel will be sold or swapped for a full width hub.
I'll bear in mind what you say about the studs and brake.
Dennis