1939 RH 'R' stamping

[alan.moore]

1939 RH500: Wondering whether anyone can shed some light on the relevance of a letter 'R' being stamped on the left hand crankcase next to the ARIEL logo

'R' stamping

Cheers

Alan

[alan.moore]

Posted this three years ago and got no replies...so it is possible that these R stampings are not all that common. Well I think I may have found the answer. The engine is from my '39 VH and I think the 'R' stamping may relate to the engine being fitted with Roller bearings. Apparently pre war Matchless sometimes also stamped an R to identify Roller bearings being fitted.

Cheers
Alan

[john.whiting]

I wouldnt put too much stock in a stamp on a crankcase,anyone can do it.

[Vincent.vanGinneke]

Have that also on my 1940 crankcase and the inner timing case.

R for Ron, Ralph, Roger, Roderick or..... Racing !!

[alan.moore]

Vincent...well that seems to confirm it was a factory stamping. I've had a look through the photos of my restoration and there is an R stamped on my timing side crankcase in the same positions as yours. If your crankcases are from a machine that would have originally had rollers both sides i.e a VH then I think it is safe to assume that the R denotes Roller bearing OR as you say Racing .

Cheers
Alan

[andrewhawkswell]

Also on this VA

crankcase R inverted.jpg (36.52 KiB) Viewed 451 times

[simon.holyfield]

Are these parts that were Rectified following some fault turning up during inspection?

[alan.moore]

Simon, Yes that is a possibility.

The parts books shows the same part number for the OHV and SV engine crankcases so, Andrew, is it possible that the crankcase you show was originally from a VH i.e does it have a VH engine number?

Cheers
Alan

[nevhunter]

Funny they have the same part number. The VA, VB has an extra hole for oil to drain from the tappet area. VA VB VG VH of the period all share the same engine prefix. Nev

[andrewhawkswell]

Alan - could be I guess, anything is possible.