It is both Jeremy. They both have half rim magneto plates to.
One has lived snuggled up in its box all its life and the other has been from hell to high water!
Just noticed that the one that lives in a box looks as though it has had black paint in the number..... anyone come across this before?
Also #48 has neat punching while the other looks like it was punched by an alcoholic with dt's on a prawn trawler So, different assemblers and they punched their own motors on completion (maybe).
Maybe we should start a British Seagull Historical Society.
Hugo,
Thanks for that and your comments about the stamping. On the earlier FVs there is sometimes (always?) a single letter stamped away from the serial number, which could possibly be the assembler's or tester's ident stamp. I seem to think that I have seen letters O and P and T. Anything like this on the LSs? Often the stamp is near the top bearing.
i have sent you an e mail.
Adrian,
I am in the process of updating the Data List, plus a few pages of Notes to accompany it. Both these should be issued in a week or two.
The Notes will be in a form that I can add to it and expand it when time and information and knowledge permit. I am not sure if it will be a buyers guide or restoration guide. It will concentrate on what was the original spec of this range of models.
Similar goings on with the 102's as well Jeremy.
Top crank case halves often stamped with a letter away from the main serial number (there are quite a few to choose from, i have recorded Q,P,V to mention a few, and as you suggest possibly the identity of the tester/assembler)
Wartime stuff very similar too.
I wonder if there are any records that still survive as to the names of past employees that worked at BS. (Long gone by now i suspect) We might be able to track down their initials to these stampings? Could CharlesP possibly help here?
Charles,
That is interesting. So you are saying that these ident stamps were of the assemblers and not the testers.
Jon and I were trying to guess recently, just out of interest, the final assembly time. Assuming the sub-assemblies like the carb and the gearbox were already complete, (would the base engine, ie the crankcase, crankshaft , con rod and piston - and perhaps block and head, have been already assembled?), how long did it take to put the rest together?
I suspect, judging by my work rate in putting these simple small ones together, I would end up paying BS!
So, different assemblers and they punched their own motors on completion (maybe).
How about another owners/buyers/restoration guide? It would be great if we could have one for each model.