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I have decided to restore my 42WLC back to military trim. I bought it in 1981 for £475 (500$) in civilian trim. I know the WLA had quite a few types, what type would the WLC be? The engine number is 42WLC 9478, which according to the how to restore your military Harley doesn't exsist. Would it have 16in wheels and what other differances does the C have over the A? My bike has the WLC forks and interchangeable 16in wheels. The bike has been used almost continuously since I bought it, I used to use it to ride 56 mile commute to work every day across London, so now I'm retired, I think it deserves a rebuild.
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Just home from a holiday and saw your thread.I will check your numbers when I have time. As for 42 WLC,it should have 18 inch wheels, big twin front break set up, round oil bath unit, front fender round soup can light, two soup can style rear lights.(of course with blackout lens covers) Left hand throttle and hand clutch as well as the foot clutch. There are several other things and I thought Palmer's book covered them, if not you need to get a 1942 parts and service manual for 1942 WLC. They are very detailed with good diagrams and all you will need. They are reproduced.Also 1942 and 1943 WLC have many differences as well so get the right year service and parts manual.Ross -
O yea, almost forgot, front fender tool box...1942 onlyRossComment
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Just checked Palmer's book and if you take his number run for 1942 yours doesn't fall into that range but is certainly in the right vintage number area. I believe Palmer's book to be the very best but I have seen things that don't support all points. It could be your cases were re stamped at some point or they are legit issue as the Canadian Government changed their minds on their motorcycle orders a few times. The numbers and their fonts will tell the tale.Your numbers are close to Palmers.. As for types- Canada is pretty easy a 1942 model or a 1943 model. Domestic use of war zone use.Bruce's book details all the little stuff between a WLA and a WLC, I just mentioned the most obvious stuff. What his book doesn't extensively detail is the wide range of tank marking that can be applied based on what stage of the war and where the bike was campaigning. In your case a single C was it was in service by the British C.... Commonwealth or in my case CC.... C designation for motorcycles as determined by the Canadian defense and C for Canada later Commonwealth or Allied forces post D Day times.Canada actually added stars to there vehicles after D Day for easy ID from air and land.BUT...not every outfit did it the same way, there are many variations. The markings on a WLC are a science to themselves and there are a few books out there that cover vehicle marking for Canadian War vehicles and I suspect the same if your WLC did British Army Service. Great project and you certainly have wiggle room to fund the resto buying it so long ago for so little by today's standards. Going back to what it was built for...gets my vote.RossComment
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Thanks for that Ross, my engine numbers do look original, so I don't think they have been restamped. I've had quite a few WLA's and C's pass through my hands and they do look legitimate. As I mentioned in my first post I bought the bike long time ago so there are no aftermarket parts on it. I have no history of it before I bought it apart from the fact it was sold by a dealer called F H Warr, he bought most of the ex war department bikes and spares after the war (at 10$ a ton!).Comment
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Dear Rowdy, the AMCA European Chapter has authenticated quite a few WLC models for the UK authorities and you can see our procedures at www.amca-europe.eu. You must have UK papers already so this may not be a concern. The UK DVLA is more relaxed about engine numbers than we would be as AMCA judges, so bikes are dated from the frames. But happy to give our opinion on engine numbers and other details.Comment
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Rowdy, here in Australia there is a 42WLC engine I have seen in person. All the serial number (SN) characters are consistent with factory stamping for a 42WLC and the number boss has not been altered. According to Palmer’s 32–52 military book the engine was never made. The SN is higher than 4800 but lower than 10000 and therefore does not fit either of the two ranges the book provides. But are the ranges accurate? Not according to the SN I examined. And the book later appears to contradict itself regarding those ranges.
Just out of curiosity, are there additional markings on your left case? I’m aware of several 45ci Harley military engines with extra markings, sometimes to the left of the number boss and sometimes to the right. Thanks.
EricComment
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No there are no extra markings on the cases, when I bought the bike I also checked for any numbers on the chassis and there aren't any. Should I restore it pre 4800 or post10000?Comment
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Thanks for that Steve, at the moment Im trying to register it in France. I do have V5 and I even have the old buff log book.Comment
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For the UK authorities we start the dating process from the frame head forging die number next to the ZE-35T. This should tell you if it was built in 1942 or 1943, and give a pointer on how to restore it to original. The engine belly numbers may help too.Comment
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Rowdy, although you bought the bike in civilian trim is there anything about it that would suggest which batch it is most similar to—for example, the hand lever(s) and bracket(s)? Any clues in the plating of certain parts? See Palmer’s book re these details.
As Steve suggested, check the steering head die number and the engine belly numbers.
What is the casting date code on the left case?
Is the trans case still the one the bike had when you bought it? If so, what date code does it have?
EricComment
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Just one more comment on should you restore pre 4800 or post 10,000 The main issue in my humble opinion is that the first 5 symbols tell the tale from a Canadian perspective. 42WLC.... is what determines whether you go 1942 resto or 1943 resto in Canadian military trim. So I hark back to my first post, I think there is no option but to do a 1942 style WLC military look.If your bike was a WLA...different story.Originally posted by Rowdy View PostRossComment
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Again I'd say go back to the steering head die numbers. Harley was building a lot of bikes in 1942/3 and hence getting through a lot of dies. Dies numbered 3,4,5 and 6 would tend to show a 1942 frame, with 7, 8, 9, and 10 being 1943. You can then restore the bike back to the year of the frame. Don't panic if the frame is earlier or later, many WLA and WLC bikes were mixed and matched in wartime, and Harley sold quite a lot of replacement frames in the 1946-52 period in Europe which have been rebuilt into bikes using loose motors or replacement engine cases. I've also seen UK WLCs with the engine numbers restamped by the Canadian workshops with numbers of the form 1234/46, presumably a 1946 date code as they were clearing out rebuilt mix/match bikes unneeded after WW2. As long as you don't buy an eBay bike with one of those Polish repro frames you should be OK. These are just metal sculptures which you cannot get titled in Great Britain. Do your research but don't obsess too much about the details. If you have an original Harley frame then you've got a bike to be proud of and which should give many years of faithful service.Comment
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Thanks for all the replies. I've checked out the frame casting number and it's ZE-35T 8 which would indicate its a 1943. Also the engine case number is 42-8033 I would presume that this is quite a low number indicating early 1942. I'll have a go at downloading a picture of the engine number, I'm not totally savvy with these computer thingies.Comment
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Your vin is factory stamped
42-8033 is an early belly number, falls in middle of type 2 from Dec 10 1941 to Feb 15, 1942
Most type 2 have #7 or #8 frames.
My guess is mid January 1942Comment
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