# Westfield Frame Numbers 1939 - 1945



## Mercian (Nov 25, 2016)

Dear All,

We've been working on this for a while, in the Compax thread, and via private messaging. I would like to thank again all those who have contributed details of their own bikes, and listings they had started themselves, in order to get this done.

The list below is of extant Westfield bikes, and is an attempt to relate the BB single letter/ number code (see MG198492 / L1, below) to a date of manufacture for the frames. For L1, this would be January 1944.






We seem to have achieved that, using Mr. Columbia's production year block codes as a reference.

http://www.vintagecolumbiabikes.com/id79.html

We can see in the table below that the letter/number code corresponds to a year/month code for the manufacture of the frame. We can also see that at year ends, the frame manufacture numbercan lag behind the serial number by one or two months - this being the time for the frame to pass through the factory before completion (work in hand).

Rarely, as in MG99828 / J10 and MG100646 / J9, the frame manufacture number and serial number are reversed in order. This represents a month end where frames from the new months production are arriving as the old ones are used up, or possibly more than one production line using frames at a different rate.

The codes seem to hold good until early 1945, when they either cease, or there are two examples of an N code.

We can also see that the prefix codes for the serial numbers vary in 1943 and 1944, and include W for some biks, which could be a specific contract code like the MG and MC already seen.

I would welcome more examples to expand the list, and corrections/additional information for the bikes listed.

I hope to finish a more detailed list for the Columbia G519's shortly, and I am trying to relate it to the known contract numbers.

The abbreviations used are:

N/K - Not Known. Not possible to find this information at present (but may be updated)
Civ. - Civilian.
Mil. - Military spec. reinforced Compax frame





Thanks,

Best Regards,

Adrian


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## johan willaert (Dec 1, 2016)

Great work!


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## Mercian (Dec 2, 2016)

Thanks, Johan.

Due to additions from members (Thanks, as ever), and further work from me, this general list is now about 150 bikes (Al Westfield types) long, and will have a Version 2 shortly. This will probably be put in the Balloon Tires section, but I will link it from here.

In the meantime, today I will put up Version 1 of the Westfield G519 list in this section, roughly 70 bikes.

Best Regards,

Adrian


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## Mercian (Dec 8, 2016)

Dear All,

this is to let you know that I've just posted Version 1 of the 1933 - 1945 Westfield frame list (slightly over 200 bikes) on the Balloon Tyre part of the site, link here:

http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/westfield-frame-numbers-1933-1945.100743/

As ever, I thank those of you who have helped with this, and hope to correct and expand it later.

Best Regards,

Adrian


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