Guys - can anyone tell me the exact location for the engine and frame numbers for a 1931 Model 9?
Thanks again
Jamie
Hi Jamie,
My bike is a 1932 but I think it's the same and since nobody else has stepped in, here goes. My engine number is between the pushrod tubes, on the top face of the right crankcase. The frame number is harder to explain but if you look at the headstock from the front of the bike, the number is stamped to the right (as you look at it) of the centre line at the bottom, just above the flare for the steering head bearing.
Cheers Rick
Many thanks Rick - I hope you're now fully recovered and the Sunbeams back on the road!
Though very original, I think the frame must have been re-painted at some point as I can't make out a number as the paint seems too thick. There is a red oxide primer under the paint and not sure if that's original.
I'll let you know how I get on.
Thanks
Jamie
Hi Jamie, yes and no are the answers there! Yes, thanks, I'm ok -just a few permanent dents and scratches I can live with but no, the poor 9A is still in bits. Probably need forks and crankcases really but no time to deal with it at present anyway. I do really miss it - but part of what loved about it was the original paint, which will never be quite the same again, especially the poor front mudguard - that got very badly crushed. Hey ho!
The red oxide won't be original. I've never seen primer used pre war - maybe because of the heat involved in the stove enamelling process. Paint is not my subject but I think Sunbeam used chemical preps on the steel as a rust preventative - like chemical blacking, in fact you can see it where the lovely original paint has shattered off on my 9A's front guard! There was also a sort of thin rubberised coating under the paint on some bikes as an anti chip medium. I think that was 'bonderizng'. Course restorers send stuff off and get all that original stuff blasted away in seconds!
Cheers Rick
Many thanks Rick, glad to hear your on the mend and many thanks for the info.
Jamie
Frame number is in two places. Head stock centre towards the lower bearings and the lower frame casting between the gearbox and engine. 1931 was last year after which they moved the headstock stamping to the RH side of the lug when viewed from the front.