FH - nacelle & handlebars

 I'm working on several fronts here, aiming to find problems and clear space so that I can start on the bottom end of the engine. Once that's in, there's polishing and plating, cables and wiring.

The nacelle went on relatively easily, though the trim on the front doesn't fit too well. That will need sorting out:

I planned to fit the instrument panel, mainly to avoid losing the trip reset cable but I found a few problems:

• the speedo bracket only fits one way, basically because it's too wide. I fitted it by elongating the holes but it would be nicer if I made a new one.
• the ammeter is one of those - - 0 - + ones, with no numbers. I'm not sure that's correct.
• the Lucas U39 headlamp switch is damaged where the clip fits - people prise these out and the Bakelite breaks.

On the up side, both the light switch and the speedometer have PVC cables - maybe the whole bike was wired using that stuff.

Next - working through the little bags of screws, I find the grub screw for the steering lock, so that's fitted:

I treated the bike to a nice set of stainless steel handlebars from Draganfly - made in Bungay. The SQ4 has these too and they are very nice.

There's a lot of work to bring the levers up to scratch though!

FH - first badge

 I sometimes think Ariel must have employed a Production Engineer in the mid 1950's, as there are several locations where his cost-reducing influence shows - think about the Spire fasteners in the nacelle, seat base and rear mudguard, or here, on the mudguard tailpiece. There's still a nice little Ariel badge, as there had been since 1952 or 1953, but this one is no longer enamelled and screwed on - it's die cast, and retained in place with Starlock washers.

They push on over a couple of 3/16" legs cast into the back of the badge:

Looks good doesn't it!

The pretty rib on the nacelle fits in a similar way, after polishing:

Huntmaster Forks & Nacelle

So, having cleared some space in the workshop after sorting out the Square Four fork bushes, and having the fork tools out and the assembly details still loaded into my mind, I thought I would check out the nacelle and get an understanding of how it fits, what parts were missing and what parts were broken.

So here is the top view, with the nacelle and the instrument panel in place. All the fasteners are, surprisingly enough, missing - those hexagonal plugs are incorrect for that location I think. The stem nut and its washer are missing, as are the screws for the instrument panel. The instrument panel is a little bent, and may be cracked - there is a lot of braze around the handlebar clamp. In reality this is scarcely visible and will be easily remedied.

Under the instrument panel, everything looks good. I'm not sure whether the headlamp shell is supposed to be fitted grommet 'up' or with the cables exiting downwards...

Something else I did not expect - rear fixing holes. The nacelle is also a little distorted around the bottom yoke - easily fixed. The correct MCH60 headlamp shell is here - I am lucky to have that. The steering lock is missing, but the grub screw is in place and the damper is all together apart from that top nut.

I have the small bridge piece under the nacelle, no fasteners and the holes are a little worn - nothing that will be visible in service. The headlamp shell has lost one of its captive nut cages, though the nut is there. The alloy trim, which fits in those holes on top of the nacelle, is also missing.

Here's the headlamp, with the shell refitted grommet down. Thanks to the guys on the AOMCC Forum, I now know that this isn't the correct way, but it is the only way you can get access to the rim clamp.

Here's one of those top fork nuts. I'm not sure what it is - it's been shortened by someone.

Here's the fork top plug, which fits under the top bolt. Not sure why they needed both, but both of these are in place.

So all in all, not too bad. I have ordered the missing parts from Draganfly; next stop is to strip the legs and see what the bushes look like. The chrome shrouds have been painted, possibly using an etching primer - it looks like the chrome is coming off.

A braze repair makes short work of a crack in the instrument panel, smoothed with a good dose of flap-wheel:

And a little filing has the slots fitting neatly around the handlebar clamp studs: