Ariel Owners Motorcycle Club

The tail section of the rear mudguard was damaged at the lower end and, having stripped the paint off, it looked like it had been made from a part of a main rear mudguard. The damaged area was cut off and a new lower curved section fabricated and welded in place. Once all the welds were ground down the area was finished with a thin layer of filler before painting. NB. the centre rib should extend to the bottom of the mudguard and I may have to revisit this area at a later date.

The hinge fitted was not really period correct so a replacement was made using a 'T' gate hinge as a basis with additional sections welded on to make a close approximation of what the original would have been.

The rear mudguard also needed some new metal welded in to strengthen the area to which the hinge mounted as the original metal was buckled and cracked. A 'bridging' section was used underneath and the upper 'skin' was then welded into place. All imperfections were then treated to a thin layer of filler before spraying.
'Faux' rivets were made from 6mm stainless coachbolts with the heads reduced to an appropriate size and shape with na abrasive disc on an angle grinder whilst the coachbolt was being spun in the chuck of my pillar drill. A slot was cut in the end of the threaded section so the bolts could be prevented from turning whilst tightening the nuts

The 1942 model of WNG had the speedometer fitted to the right side of the headlamp on two brackets, the bends of which were made so that the speedometer face would be angled towards the rider. Based on the WNG parts books I have seen the change from a centrally mounted speedo to a side mounted one occurred at the end of contract C/S/11464 (from engine number 10789 / final despatch date 27-9-41).

It is worth noting that two lengths of speedometer cable are given in the parts books, the central speedo one is 28 1/2 inches and the side mounted 25 inches. It is worth making sure you specify which one you want as, for a side mounted speedo, if you fit the longer one it means you end up with a curve in the cable run rather than a straight run with the 25 inch one. I got mine from John Budgen but it came from JJ cables as John only had the longer ones in stock.
The speedo I have is not correct for a WNG. However, apart from the trip-meter the internals are identical. I have therefore got a WD dial which i will be fitting.

Amazing Work Alan!
Thanks for sharing and happy new year!

Looks great. It's a pity to lose the trip function on the speedo. I use mine all the time and thought it was standard on the earlier models. The WD speedo has no internal light and the bezel that screws on is not plated and doesn't have the sharp top as the standard one has.
The hinge on the rear guard usually has SCREWS holding one part of the hinge so the hinged piece can be removed quite easily. Shallow domed 26tpi screw similar to the front guard /stay ones. Nev

Took a few goes but the WNG fired up and ran fine. Oil pressure and return just right

See the video on YouTube.....(After clicking on the red PLAY arrow click on the YouTube text bottom right of window to watch in a bigger window on YouTube):



Cheers
Alan

Very nicely done. All the best and respect for this work.

Catching up with your restoration, Alan, including the great startup! So well done, congratulations for all your dedication and skills.
One thing I was surprised about was the handlebars. With all your craftsmanship, I’m surprised no attempt was made to lengthen the bar ends. Definitely doable. Hope they weren’t binned

Wade
Not only had they been shortened but they were also bent within the section where they taper. I still have them so may well have a go at fixing them in the future.