First off I am now a member of the club (which should be demonstrated by the fact that I am now able to post on this forum again).
Due to some unavoidable delays in other projects I have only now just got around to thinking about my Matchless. I probably wont be able to actually start doing anything until January as I still have some other stuff that I need to finish off but I am at least ready to start working out a plan. (the planning is also driven by the fact that I currently have a hand injury in my dominant hand which puts me out of action as far as wielding spanners for a few weeks)
To recap, I have a pile of parts which when assembled should resemble a Matchless G3 or AJS 16.
My intention is to build something that resembles a G3C. Because I don't have an original matching numbers bike I don't feel that I need to be precious about ruining an original bike.
My inspiration is the AJS Model 16 in Sammy Millers museum which I liked the look of when I visited there a couple of years ago.
The first port of call was to date my chassis which according to the online club frame dating service is a 1958 G3LS. I knew it was a G3LS but was curious about the year. It was sold to me as a 1959 so it was close but no cigar! Given my intentions the exact year of the frame is not critical.
Now I need to know more about the engines and gearbox that I have.
One set of crankcases look to be from a WD model. These will be moved on to someone with an appropriate WD machine/WD project.
Here is a reminder of those.
Matchless WD(464x284).jpg
The engine that came with the chassis seems to be a mix of parts. The crankcases have a "C" suffix which might suggest a "Competition" model but I was sceptical as the stampings are a bit haphazard. However I was pointed (by the helpful folks on here) to the fact that the competition cases have a different stud spacing. I checked the fit of the iron barrel that came with the cases and sure enough the 2 have stud holes that don't match up. Also the stud spacing on these cases is different to the WD cases that I have.
Here is the number from those cases.
Matchless C(403x257).jpg
Lastly I acquired another engine back in April. I did this because I am missing lots of small engine parts and some of my existing parts are in poor condition. This engine, I am reliably informed, came from a working bike. It is a 350 bottom end and a 500 top end. Also I believe it is of AJS origin. The numbers on this engine are, however, a bit of a mystery to me.
Here is that one.
AJS Number(516x347).jpg
I have a gearbox which I had no idea about but dave16mct has suggested that its from a 1946 model 18 (500cc). Would it be suitable for my intended purposes?
The number on the box is G2C46
On the website it states that there is a "certificate of authenticity" available or a "dating certificate". At the moment I don't need these per se although at some point I will need a dating certificate in the future. At the moment I just want to positively identify the later 2 crankcases that I have plus confirm dave16mct's verdict on the box and establish if its suitable for my needs. Is there a service available that does this for me?
Once I have sorted out what engines I have and if I need another gearbox or not I am toying with 2 different plans of attack.
Plan 1 is to quickly put together a complete running bike with what I have in the style of an "LS". It shouldn't be too hard as for most of the missing bits I have suitable replacements on a temporary measure to get it completed. Then it should be simple to get a V5 and then I can pull it apart and turn it into something that I am aiming for.
Plan 2 is to skip the first part of plan 1 and go straight to building it in the style I am aiming for. What I am not sure about with this plan is would it be harder to get a dating certificate and V5 for a bike that looks like a "C" but has an LS chassis number?
What are the thoughts on here?
Thanks,
John