Looking at two valve lifter assemblies in my collection both have about 1/16" endfloat which
is controlled by the disc washer which is fitted into the assembly first. Then comes a cork washer
and finally a thin steel washer which is retained by the arm on the spindle.

While the cork washer acts ...

Taking the dummy tank off - in itself a non-trivial task - make the access slightly less
restricted. Getting the original large coils out can be a struggle too so the smaller the
better from that point of view although some ingenuity will be needed to fix them - or
it - securely.

Paul and Roger, thanks for the info.

A post in the 'For Sale' section set me wondering:

https://forum.arielownersmcc.com/viewtopic.php?t=15160

The bike concerned is a 1934 500 single which seems to have a two-bearing crankcase.
I'd thought that by then Ariels had changed over to three-bearing cases.

When and how did Ariel make the ...

To answer your last question first there is - or was - an article on their website explaining
the name.

As far as a head gasket goes I'd just grind the head onto the spigot on the barrel as long as they're
compatible, the spigot changed in the early '50s as I remember.

The 'O' ring conversion is ...

In which case try putting a jump lead from the handlebar to the battery earth
and then trying the horn.

"Two great minds separated by a common language"

Vincent,

Do you mean

http://www.norbsa02.freeuk.com/goffyfork.htm

I can still access it - might your browser be struggling with the fact that the site
is HTTP and not HTTPS?

Whatever, the Dow units are are marked as 'Out of Stock'.

A hot wire suggests that there is a lot of current flowing. If both wires are hot it suggests
a short circuit inside the horn button. However, there must also be a fault inside the horn
as the flowing current should activate a make-and-break which is how the horn sounds.

Current flows so the horn ...

Interestingly, while dispatch is 26/11/1955 from the book, according to the DVLA website the bike wasn't registered
until March 1957 - that's rather a long time. DVLA also give the year of manufacture as 1957.

The last tax disc expired March 2017 - does that fit in with what you know of the bike's ...

I'm confused here. If you saw a current V5 which the auction house sent on to DVLA at
what point did the export declaration get made?

I can think of only two circumstances. Either the auction house filled in your V5 incorrectly and
declared your bike exported or what you saw as current V5 wasn't ...