In May of this year I spotted a Sq 4 for sale on ebay, I have always been keen on owning one of these machines, when I was a child back in the 50's the local cobbler rode a Sq 4 with a sidecar and to an eight year old it was a massive outfit, I was in awe as my father rode a Norman.
The advert read if I remember rightly............Ariel Sq 4 imported from the States, now with new V5c, seized, needing work, I have read about Sq 4 engines and how much work and cost they can be so I thought hard over many days as the bidding increased. Looking at it the tank is wrong but everything else was there and in good condition as far as I could tell, one other thing missing was rear number plate and lamp. Okay with the end of auction looming a decision was made and with five seconds to go I placed my bid and low and behold I won the auction and I will be quite open I won with a bid of £5200, I then spent days worrying over it, have I done a stupid thing well only time will tell.
I picked the bike up a few days later from a farm Devon (I am in Swansea) we loaded it into the van and found it wasn't seized, well the engine wasn't, the clutch was seized and the gearbox was stuck in gear and this is what I bought.........................
At the time of purchase I was busy working on a BSA M21 so the Ariel had to wait it's turn, I used this time to source a tank I found a guy in India selling Ariel tanks the nearest I could get to a MK1 tank (oil pressure gauge and filler cap) was one for a Huntmaster and he was selling one for £200 so I bought it, quick fit and check when it arrived proved all the holes were about right but the over all height of the tank made fitting difficult so it would have to cut and shut to suit, it seemed well made.
The BSA was finished end of July and work commenced on the Ariel first of August full engine strip, oil ways cleaned, valve seats ground. bores and pistons were in good condition, big and small ends good all within tolerance, what we did find head gasket blown between three and four and timing side bushes were breaking down so needed replacing.
I must add that my hobby is shared with a lifelong friend of mine Leon, who is dab hand at paint, welding and fabricating, my skills are as a toolmaker (ex Bowden Cables) so we can cover most things.
With engine and gearbox rebuilt, new exhausts, new rims and spokes, re-wired, few bits re-chromed and lots of paint this is what it turned out like....................
I have had a lot of help from Paul Jameson who guided me through various tasks during the rebuild and kept me sane. It turns out this bike was built in late fifty one and part of a three bike shipment to Japan in fifty two, it has matching frame and engine numbers and the millage on the speedo is thirty thousand which feels about right to me, pistons are on plus twenty and have done little millage.
I have spent £3000 on the rebuild and am very pleased with how it looks, I have run it up to temp and re torqued twice now but now it needs to cover a few miles ready for the next torque down but that won't be until next spring, I live on a farm track and winter time it is a quagmire, a mixture of cow manure and mud.
Thank you for reading, I did go on a bit, and please comment, good or bad.
Kind regards Colin
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