Alloy 4G exhaust manifold mystery

[RayBlack]

Has anyone come across alloy exhaust manifolds for a 4G Sq4? I received a couple in a '48 basket job that I recently purchased. I can find no reference to them in my 47/48 parts book and they are not mentioned on the Draganfly website. They are not unique in that a friend of mine with a big pile of Ariel parts has several sets. There is number cast into them as can be seen in the photos, but it does not appear to correspond to any Ariel numbers I have seen.

[nevhunter]

Usually put on patterns for Foundry Use and recording. Sometimes includes a date. Nev

[Roger Gwynn]

That is a casting number and will be found in the parts book under the column headed 'Do not use PART NUMBER'. The number that is used for parts supply. Ariel called the 'Spares Number'. The part number would usually be changed when there was an alteration to the part, in this case an 'A' has been added but the Spares number did not change as the 2 parts are interchangeable and therefore considered to be the same. These alloy versions are only found on post war models.

[RayBlack]

Thanks Roger. Based on this advise I went back to the parts book and, sure enough, there is the ET 1033 number alongside the 200-37 spares number, which I associated with the cast iron manifolds. Mystery solved. I think I will probably use the alloy ones on my '48 Sq4.