Another lathe job

I made a trip out the other day, with a mate on an MT350, to look at the Dome Trainer at RAF Langham. Great run out, lovely weather and all that...

Back home I found the clamp screw from my float bowl had disappeared - mainly because I had changed the cap for a better one, with a tickler of the correct length to reach the float (!) and hadn't screwed the clamp up at all...

So, unable to find one on eBay and too mean to buy one from Amal (they are over a tenner!), I checked the thread and found it to be 1/4" BSF. Rooting about in the 1/4" screw box, I found an Ariel clutch centre screw which has the correct thread AND the reduced hex head, or something like it, that the real Amal screw has. Adding a small sleeve out of a bit of round bar yielded something that will do the job:

Here it is in place, with the new float chamber lid:

It will do the job until I can find a real one at a reasonable price.

Huntmaster Toolkit

As you know, I have a bit of a passion for getting the tool kits right on my bikes. Some while ago, I started a post on the tool roll for the FH, which has yet to materialise but the secret to finding these bits is to do your research and start looking, in the knowledge that it might be a while before you find everything...

Here is the toolkit list from the 1956 parts list. Added to this for 1957 is a 'single ended box spanner for rear wheel nuts', number 6601-57, though I am not sure why:


Here's a list I made to collate what I had. Decimal dimensions come from the factory drawings in Ray Tolman's list.:

Item	Ariel PN	Old PN	Function	End 1	End 2
1	6600-32	G1/110	Spanner for brake fulcrum adjustment
2	6600-36	G1/125	Double Ended Spanner	3/16	1/4
3	6603-28	G1/59	Double Ended Spanner	5/16	3/8
4	6603-56		Double Ended Spanner (rear wheel spindle nut)
5	6604-55		Tappet Spanner
6	6605-28	G1/66	Double Ended Spanner	7/16	½
7	6606-27	G1/55	Double Ended Spanner, steering head nuts	1.01" 9/16" BSW	1.1" 5/8" BSW
8	6608-56		Spanner for sparking plug
9	6611-55		Box Spanner for rear wheel
10	6611-31	G1/99	Tube Spanner for hub spindle nut	0.825" 7/16" BSW	0.925" 1/2" BSW
11	6616-26	G1/33	Screwdriver
12	6616-29	G1/86	Screwdriver for clutch spring nuts
13	6617-56		Magneto Spanner
14	6625-26		Tyre Lever
15	6625-55		Tyre Lever and tommy bar
16	6636-54		Tyre Inflator
17	6601-57		Single Ended Box Spanner for rear wheel nuts
	6640-54		Tool roll only

My FH tool kit started off looking like this:

A tool box full of spanners

So we need to set to and find the tools. Item 1 is easy, and I already have one for the FH:

Item 1, Brake Fulcrum Spanner

Item 2 is also easy, once you remember that these spanners were bought in by Ariel, the makers names ground off and 'Ariel' stamped in their place. They are also notable for the fact that they are marked with BSW sizes unlike most Ariel spanners, which are marked with BSF or BSC sizes:

Item 2 Double Ended Spanner

Item 3 is another common Ariel spanner, the G1/59. This one is the later oval shank style:

Item 3, Double Ended Spanner

Item 3 is a bit tired and will need some material adding.

Item 4 is a complete guess, supported by Ray Tolman's opinion:

Item 4, Double Ended Spanner

Is this BSA spanner similar to item 5, given the provenance of the FH engine?

Or maybe this, another BSA tappet spanner?

Item 6 is one of the most common Ariel spanners. This one is pre-war (rectangular shank style):

Item 6, Double Ended Spanner

Item 7 is also very common, though this one has been filed out...

Item 7, Double Ended Spanner

This one fits the spark plug, but other than that is a complete guess:

Item 8, Spark Plug Spanner

I have no idea what item 9 looks like, or what size it should be. Here's a modern equivalent for item 10:

Item 10, Modern Version

Item 11 is just the usual wire formed screwdriver:

Item 11, Screwdriver

The clutch screwdriver is also easy:

Item 12, Clutch Screwdriver

Item 13 is a standard Lucas magneto spanner, which I forgot to photograph.

Item 14 is a tyre lever, which I also forgot to photograph...

Would item 15 be something like this?

So now I have this, and a lot of searching to do.

Here are a few links to my other toolkit pages:

• W/NG toolkit
• SQ4 toolkit
• Military tool roll
• Civilian tool roll

Tommy Bars

Genuine Ariel tommy bars are another rare item, and typically (of the tools at least) are rather confusing - not helped by the aforementioned rarity:

• 6612-27, Dwg # G1/57 appears in the 1940 singles parts books as a single diameter bar 
• The W/NG workshop manual shows a dual diameter bar
• 6612-27, Dwg # G1/57 (yes, the same part number) appears in the 1947 singles parts books as a bar with three diameters. This also appears in several parts books until 1956, so we can assume this tommy bar was now considered a mature design (!)
• the 1948-1949 twins parts book
• the 1949 SQ4 parts book
• the 1953 singles parts book
• the 1954 Huntmaster parts book
• The 1956 Huntmaster parts book lists a 'Tyre Lever and Tommy Bar", 6625-55. Parts books (prior to Leader/Arrow) ceased to be illustrated in 1951, so we have no idea what this looks like.
• Leader/Arrow parts list include tube spanners with tommy-bar holes, but no tommy bar. One assumes that you were intended to use the screwdriver as a tommy bar...

Once again courtesy of a few members of the Ariel clubs around the world, I have these pictures of three examples of the later 6612-27 three-diameter, two step tommy bar, and a W/NG tommy bar from Ray Tolman's genuine W/NG tool kit which has yielded so much interesting information.

Part of Scott Williamson's 1949 SQ4 tool kit

Close up of some of the tools from David Andersen's 1949 VH toolkit

We can see a few interesting points from this last picture:

• the tommy bar appears to be about 0.375" in diameter and is overall about 7 1/2" long
• the tommy bar has a section reduced to maybe 5/16", and this is about an inch long. This is to pass through the holes in the various box/tube spanners and the QD wheel nut spanner.
• the tommy bar has a further section reduced to maybe 1/4", and this is possibly 3/8" long. This is to engage with the smaller box spanners and the hole in the telescopic fork wheel spindle: this is probably the reason this third, smaller diameter was introduced

Ray's pictures give us some proper information. Ray kindly measured these for me and allowed me to share the pictures so we can all use the information.

You'll notice Ray's tommy bars are a little shorter than David Andersen's later tommy bar. Here's a close up of the stepped ends; Ray confirmed that there is a 0.31" section on both bars:

I'm planning to turn each of these up from EN16 steel round bar. First cut two 7" lengths from a bit of 3/8" round bar:

Face and round the ends:

And as if by magic, some tommy bars appear:

Hub Bearing Locking Ring Spanner

This is a rare item indeed, but courtesy of a few members of the Ariel clubs around the world, I have these pictures.

We can see from this one that the locking ring spanner is cast. I'm not going to be able to emulate that - I will be making one on the lathe, welding and using the pillar drill. We can see that the disc is not much thicker than one of the pins - the pin diameter is of course dictated by the holes in the locking ring.

Part of Scott Williamson's 1949 SQ4 tool kit

We can see from this picture that the drive pins on the locking ring are very close to the edge of the disc:

Part of David Andersen's 1949 VH tool kit

Close up of David Andersen's tools

We can see a few interesting points from this last picture:

• the lock ring spanner is about 1.75" in diameter
• the lock ring spanner has a 0.820" hex - 1/2" BSF by scaling from the picture which will match the hub nut tube spanner

So, the plan is to find a suitable bit of hex bar; then use a slice of 1 3/4" round bar or a bit of 3/16" plate (which I have in stock).

QD Wheel Nut Spanners

QD rear hubs need a special spanner to reach the hub nuts through the spokes:

This is the 1938 version, as shown in the 1938 singles parts list. Drawing number G1/126, PN 6608-38

I'm not sure what that hole on the LH end is doing - there are no dimensions?

Note that the LH end hole does not appear in the assembly drawing:

Access to the gearbox bolts are a problem with the oil feed pipes on the SQ4, and I have found that something like the QD wheel nut spanner is useful to get at the top nut, and to drive a small socket in the top nut

Looking in the 1939 SQ4 parts list, it seems Ariel had a similar idea. 6608-38 now has something like a roll pin in one end, and drives an extension (6611-38), with a slot to receive the roll pin in the other:

1939 SQ4 Parts List

1939 SQ4 Parts List

Now, my mission is to be able to replicate the QD wheel nut spanner and the gearbox top nut extension for my own SQ4, which is 1951. Here's the parts list:

And here's the problem - the part numbers are different. This may be extra length associated with Anstey springing, but that would not explain why the gearbox top nut extension was changed...

Reproduction 1938 Pattern Spanner

So, I have purchased some 0.600" EN1A hex bar with which to reproduce the QD wheel nut spanners and since I have no drawings of the later spanner my 1951 SQ4 needs, we will start with the older one. Another job for the brilliant new mini-lathe!

Starting with the handle component, part no. G1/126A we chuck the steel bar, face off, centre and chamfer the end:

Changing the chuck for the revolving centre, we can start turning the reduced centre section

Turning the radii with a specially-ground form tool:

Finish turned and ready for parting off:

After parting off, I faced and chamfered the cut end.

For the extension, I will use a section of my most-damaged 5/16" BSW box spanner. This is the Moore & Wright type made from hex tube - very useful for this job. Here I am parting off a 1 1/2" section for part G1/126B.

The two components, ready for drilling the tommy-bar hole and welding up.

Best try it out before we spend any more time on it! A small test reveals there is plenty of length, even for my Anstey frame SQ4:

Drill and de-burr the hole for the tommy-bar:

And welded up:

Welding is looking OK - 2.6 mm electrode, 60 A:

Let's try it out:

U-Pol etch primer, U-Pol Matt  Black and a little oil for mock Parkerizing...

Good job.