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Search and Restoration Diary:
15th May 2008
First find in Ahmed’s backyard: slightly incompelete WM20, Reg.No. 34 YD 26, Chassis 110 316, some
more WM20 parts like girder forks, wheels, front frame, stand scattered around the place. Ahmed promised to have
the bike complete and running within three weeks – inshallah !
29th May 2008
Another discovery in Guarsha: surprisingly well equipped workshop, one each of modern Harley and BMW
and two old BMW R 60 for sale, one ex-Police Triumph TR 7V rotting in the yard (thanks, brought already four from Ghana) and
two WM20 crammed in a container.
04th June 2008
Guarsha WM20ies dragged out of container, one unbelievably complete incl. panniers, field stand etc. However,
both engines solidly stuck and whole things heavily corroded. Allthough, the asking price is exorbitant, matches any European
autojumble. Made a reasonable offer and wait for reply.
| Clicking on this pic will display actual size |
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| which is very large - screensaver size. |
07th June 2008
Visited Ahmed again to secure "No. 1". Meanwhile, he found another civilian M20/21 and I have to prevent him from
mixing parts. He took it on his honour to present me with a firing engine ! Shall come again next week, he might be
able to bring another WM20 – sounds promising !
| Number one as we have come to call it |
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18th
June 2008
Al Hamdulillah, No.1 is mine! Ahmed
did not take it easy to part from it, however, he kept the civilian M20 for himself as a comfort. Meanwhile, a 20 ft. overseas
container has been put up behind our house to be converted into garage and workshop. Prospects are good to start the project
soon !
| my first acquisition so far |
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| in the search for old iron. |
22nd
June 2008
The two other bikes Ahmed discovered
turned out to be one Bianchi 500 without upper part of engine and one Norton 16 , also some parts missing and engine stuck.
Both dug out of the sands of El-Alamein and nicely covered with an even coat of rust. He promised to keep on searching for
WM20.
| Disassembly begins |
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22nd September
2008
After summer vacation spent
in Germany and Sweden, then picking up with the work load again and finally cooling temperatures permitting work
in my container without being grilled, I am at last back on the WM 20 project!
In our luggage – thanks
to my patient wife - I carried along front and back light, plate holder, regulator, gasket sets, exhaust pipe etc., now waiting
to be put into proper use. Meanwhile, with the help of one of our Ghanaian mechanics familiar with elderly vehicles,
we dismantled the bike into handy pieces and will now prepare the chassis parts for sandblasting and priming.
After removing and de-coking
the cylinder head, the first look into the barrel was quite promising: relatively smooth without excessive wear, piston and
valves moving freely. Some broken-off cooling fins bother me a bit, but for the time being I will book it as battle bruises
and leave it as it is. The monobloc belongs to a later model, but I have a 276 which must be completed and rebuilt. However,
for now I will only clean the engine, primary drive and gearbox, store it and concentrate on the chassis.
| Lump out, head removed |
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| Ready for cleaning |
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| corrosion minimal thanks to dry climate |
| After cleaning off the carbon deposits |
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| the bore and piston appear hardly worn |
If the big end bearings are not too sloppy it looks like the engine wont need any more stripping down than barrel off
to check rings & decoke
| The mysterious crumpled copper plate |
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| straightened out a bit now |
| Underside of crankcase showing paint traces |
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| original light sand coloured paint |
17th
October 2008
Spend this Friday (the islamic world’s
Sunday) putting up my workshop container and cleaning the M20 engine. Much to my delight I found under the engine traces of
the original colour: Sahara
yellow-beige as used by the 7th Armoured Division (Desert Rats). Otherwise, fasteners are quite stuck by corrosion
and will need some more soaking in WD40. Another find was a crumpled copper plate fixed to one crankcase nut with the imprint
2 BW … OL 1 … DATE 13 3 53 … NO 106174, most propably giving information on engine overhaul. During next
week – inshallah – we will start sandblasting and priming of the frame and body parts.
| The REME overhaul plate once cleaned |
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The mysterious copper plate, Steve Madden and his partner Jenny pen a reply:-
These data plates never cease to amaze....
I suspect "2 BW" to stand for "2 Base Workshops" which were located at Tel El Kebir...
The "OL 1" is more likely "OS" or "OV" for "(bore) Oversize 1mm (+40)...
The next line is almost certainly the date.....
And the final line the Engine number........!!
Jen
An extract of Jen & Steves research posted on the BSA WM20 forum
Quite a few of us have bikes bearing workshop data plates from these overseas facilities, many dating from the
1950's....
I have just dug out a note made years ago on the location of some of these Base Workshops. The list is incomplete,
but is better than nothing...
1 Base Workshop - located Sharjah, Iraq
2 Base Workshop - located Tel El Kebir
3
Base Workshop - located Palestine
4 Base Workshop - located Egypt
5 Base Workshop - located Cairo
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