Help in ID

[jamesanthony]

Hi Guys,
My name is Jim and Im from Australia.
I have in my workshop what is suposed to be a VH 500 1949 Red Hunter..
I need to try and ID it correctly for the rebuild process.
The frame # is BX1025 and the engine # is JB2829, If it helps as well.

The bike looks like a VH but has flared front guard, Plunger rear suspention,the rear guard last 1/4 is on a hinge, The fuel tank is a rusty red, the frame is all black and the rims are chrome. What has been repainted over the years I dont know. The bike was compleat.. I didnt take any photos before I stripped her down. .

The Carby is one thing that seems wrong. It has a 1'" bore and from what I can find it suposed to be 1 1/8"
The slide has a stamping of 6/4, the jet block has 301, and a main jet of 160. Is there other markings to ID this Amal carby?.

The cly bore size if I remember was 79.8mm, it has a stroke of 95mm so its suposed to be the 500cc. Have'nt found a replacement piston yet, but will bore it to STD sizing. How do I work out the type of Comp Ratio of the piston?

Im trying to strip the front forks but cant get the top cap assembly to unthread. I made a tool out of some pipe but it keeps breaking the 2 lugs on it.
Is there an other way of getting this apart? As the seals, bushes and prob the inner tubes are US.

I'll start with these questions first.
Thanks Guys
Jim.....

[carl.horrocks]

If its an amal monoblock there will be an id on the edge of the flange that bolts on to the cylinder inlet

[john.nash]

I suppose you ain't an AOMCC member, or you woud simply have asked the archivist to pull the factory records ?
The hartley books lists some frame/engine stuff, BX are 1948 frames and "BJ" are 500cc engine prefixes from the same year.

Standard bore is 81.8mm, I think, for later 500 singles.
JP, in oz, make pistons but they are heavier; People much more experienced than I , can give their opinions about that.

Is this the top cap on the forks, where the sliders go into; where the seals are ? You put a round socket in with two pegs ?
Mine were pretty rounded and wouldn;t go with the right "tool" either. The great Len Ore produced the "stilsons", and with some heat and persausion, moved them.

[jamesanthony]

Thnaks for the relpys John and Carl. The carby is a remote bowl type and Im buggered if I can find any ID. The body has had a fair bit of surface corrosion and been wire buffed before by the looks of the scoring..

The piston sizing at the time I was looking at, I tried JP and a few other British suppiers but none of them had seen that size. This engine was rebuilt with a damaged piston because they couldnt find a replacment and was never started by the looks with engine sealant down the skirts..

The top cap had some bl--dy big stilsons swinging of them untill I broke the lugs onmy tool...Will sacrifice a quality socket..

I did some searching on this site and was looking at the pictorial history, But cant work out how to advance the frames
I select the thumbs under the main pic but nothing happens.

Thanks Guys..

[john.nash]

I did some searching on this site and was looking at the pictorial history, But cant work out how to advance the frames
I select the thumbs under the main pic but nothing happens.

Thanks Guys..

I just tested the http://www.arielownersmcc.com/pictures.html page.
It works in internet explorer 7 and firefox 3.6.17 (the two browsers I have on this computer - I have IE 8 on the other one - I will look later)

There are arrows to the far left and far right of the thumbnails, at the bottom. This will scroll the thumbs from 1898 to 1976, with everything in between.
Selecting a thumbnail should change the main picture.

[brenton.roy]

Hi Jim, you may have a "deluxe" model - the VG. A lot of people put a VH timing cover on to make a red hunter...
The carb for the VG is a little smaller and they had flared front guards.
These are actually quite collectable now.
The VG will also have a 19" front wheel.
In Oz, we had a colour choice! The VG's were Black or Green.

re the fork seal protectors, use heat. Just BBQ gas will do it, but burn out the old oil gunge and get the seal holder nice and warm. You'll be replacing the seals anyway. There is no other rubber in there to damage. If you have to use stilsons, know you will put some burring on the chrome and only use the tool on the very lower flat. They have a fine thread.
regards, Brenton

[Dave.Barkshire]

You may be interested many items in the library. Have a look to find a pile of useful info for you Ariel such as sales catalogue, parts list, owners guide, rebuild docs etc...
http://www.arielownersmcc.com/members ... el_library

1949 VH Photos
http://www.arielownersmcc.com/members ... /index.htm

Serial Number List (PDF)
http://www.arielownersmcc.com/members ... nwards.pdf

[jamesanthony]

Thanks for the Info Brenton and Dave..
Cant loginto the Member_only section.

[brenton.roy]

Well if you aren't an AOMCC member, club membership is cheap! as Dave has pointed out, the resources are all there.
There are quite a few of us from Aus.

[jamesanthony]

Ok found the club paper work.. Just have to run it past the paymaster (wife) and send it through..
Thanks guys..