Douglas SV

AFAIK they were only made post-war. Sadly the factory records were destroyed and the very knowledgeable Eric Brockway passed away a few years back. ttfn Roland

I think you will find the serial numbers quoted by Eric Brockway were all that Douglas had on record. A lot of the engines (ours included, a SV63) appear to carry a number on nameplate that is far different from those found in the A - Z. There may also be a number stamped on the crankcase. You may find that the serial number you have was a link to the equipment it powered rather than the engine itself. Ours was originally fitted to an Opperman Motocart and had been modified. They are a robust engine and as you found take only a little work to get them running. They can be a bit thirsty though, ours will get through a gallon a day on the rallyfield. You don't get many rallied, but if you do you will be amazed at how many people will tell you that they have one "somewhere at the back of the shed".

Regards

John R

To add to my posting of last night our engine carries the Engine No 1590BP, Type SV63 on the makers plate. The numbers 63 and 1189 are stamped into the crankcase housing beneath the fuel tank.

I can't help with the number but the H may indicate that the engine is a 'High' model. You can confirm this by measuring the height from the base to the centre on the shaft. It should be 7.5" for the high model and 6.9" for the low model. Sump capacity also varies with 4 pints for the high model and 3 pints for the low.

I would agree with the going out of production around 1955 'ish but I have an original Operation and Maintenance Handbook which has an added engine service bulletin dated 10th October 1947, so production of the SV range may well date from immediately or just after the end of WWII. This would make sense as in article about Douglas engines for SE, Eric Brockway wrote that a larger (3 1/2 to 8 3/4 HP) range of air cooled single cylinder engines based on the 100cc engine design were produced for the Ministry of Supply during the war years.

Regards

JohnR

Thanks John,

Very interesting. I'll look up the Douglas article in SEM when I get a chance.

Thanks again

Mark

replying to John Rogers, Rory Mullins wrote: Got a Douglas engine today F224951 Model 29374 WJ , the F22 etc. could also read E 224951? Thanking you in advance Rory Mullins

replying to John Rogers, Rory Mullins wrote: Got a Douglas engine today F224951 Model 29374 WJ , the F22 etc. could also read E 224951? Thanking you in advance Rory Mullins