When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Whizzer on Sterling badged Columbia? Have questions!

#eBayPartner    Most Recent BUY IT NOW Items Listed on eBay
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
A belt shield and a gas cap. They don't have to be in perfect condition. I read somewhere that a Ford bronco cap will fit but what years?
Ford Courier is more like it. You will need to drill a small vent hole in it.

1120631
 
Okay, Just to give you a bit of history regarding your bike.

It’s a Columbia/Westfield 1947 Heavy-Duty Motobike -- the first year (postwar anyway) that Columbia came out with this particular model! (The “L” on the Bottom Bracket denotes 1947, not 1944). This model was designed to be more rugged than the standard motobike in order to compete with other manufacturers (mostly Schwinn) in the emerging Whizzer market of the late 1940s. It featured a military-style lower truss bracket (which your bike has -- just above the front fender) for a more rigid front end along with a heavy duty “floating” Eclipse/Bendix 36-11 front hub (36 = number of spokes / 11 = .105 heavy duty spokes). The original rear wheel hub probably would have been a Morrow 36-11 utilizing .105 spokes as well. If the rear spokes currently on your bike are .120, the wheel may not be original to the bike and could have been swapped on when the bike was converted into a Whizzer bike. However, some Columbia models at that time did in fact use New Departure hubs and it appears your hub had been purposely drilled out to accept the heavier .120 spokes. So who knows?

The grips and the seat are original to the bike. One of the grips is obviously shot and the Persons Seat is a bit rusty needing a new cover but it’s still a nice original seat and in my opinion, worthy of restoration. Unfortunately, recovering can be a bit pricey if you job it out.

The “Norma” brand clutch pulley bearing is original and may need replacing -- you can still purchase this exact bearing (NOS condition) on ebay (as I did some time back) for a reasonable price if you’re a purist, or you can simply use an after-market brand.

You’re correct that the H124545 would place its production somewhere in 1948 (I had a list somewhere that would have approximated the actual month/year by serial# but can’t find it right now).

There are still several suppliers of original Whizzer parts out there but I’m not sure who is still active (I used to use Memory Lane for most of my parts but unfortunately they’ve been out of business for several years now). You may have to do a search or maybe some other member can chime in.

Good luck with the restoration -- available time (and money) usually determines how long the restoration will take but the main thing is to have fun doing it! Hope all this helps...

Bob
 
Thanks so much for the information Thurman and Bob! I appreciate it very much! Every little bit helps! That is great info Bob about the bike! I did check that Norma bearing out and it seems to be in good working condition still I put my finger through bearing and ran it against the wire wheel on the grinder and worked fine. I did order a replacement just in case. Speaking of that bearing why didn't they just make the inside diameter of it 1/2" instead of .666 and then put a bushing that has .666 od and .5 id? So it wouldn't wear the threads on the bolt as much? On a different note why does it have a bushing in the intake manifold? I didn't measure it but I was trying to clean it out a little bit and the bushing came out. Here is a picture of it. I will put the measurements up when I get a chance just in case it's not listed and can help someone.

IMG_20191231_112937497.jpg


IMG_20191231_112927610.jpg
 
The bearing bushing used on the Clutch Pulley Bolt acts as a secondary bearing surface (which may be a bit of an overkill, but does makes for good engineering practice). Regarding the Intake Manifold Tube -- never could figure out it’s purpose, although it does appears in parts diagrams for the “H” Whizzer engines that I’ve seen. One of the two H engines that I own has the tube and the other one doesn’t (but I imagine it might have been left off during a prior rebuild). Since it does restrict the passageway of the manifold, maybe that’s part of the intent.
regards, Bob
 
The bearing bushing used on the Clutch Pulley Bolt acts as a secondary bearing surface (which may be a bit of an overkill, but does makes for good engineering practice). Regarding the Intake Manifold Tube -- never could figure out it’s purpose, although it does appears in parts diagrams for the “H” Whizzer engines that I’ve seen. One of the two H engines that I own has the tube and the other one doesn’t (but I imagine it might have been left off during a prior rebuild). Since it does restrict the passageway of the manifold, maybe that’s part of the intent.
regards, Bob
It is used as a restrictor to reduce output.
 
Thanks for the info. The measurements of the bushing or restrictor in the manifold is 1.7" length .75 od .575 id. Since it restricts output should I keep it in or take it out? What type of changes will it make with it out? What are your opinions on it? I'm going to be using the original ml5b carb. What would be a good Chinese carb to use as a back up? Mikuni 18mm? Will I have to alter it to make it work and if so does anyone have any advice on what needs to be done? Drill out the mounting holes to make it fit on? Change jet needles etc?Thanks for any help.
 
I was just taking some dimensions and figured I would share them for anyone who could use the info. They all apply to the gas tank and cap area. Whizzer h motor tank inlet dimensions are 1.94" from slot to slot and .75" are the length of the slots and .25" deep for the tabs to lock into. The inside diameter of the tank opening is 1.5". The length of the tank is 14.5" not including the mounting brackets. The brackets stick out .375 or 3/8" on both ends making the overall length with the brackets 15.25". The height of the tank is 6" and the width is 6.5" and the nipple for the sediment bowl is 1/8" 27 npt sticking out of the bottom of the tank. Hopefully it will help someone if the info isn't already out there it will be now. I will put the depth and width of the indentation in the tank that goes into the top bar of the bike frame for mounting when I get a chance.

IMG_20200113_134039535.jpg


IMG_20200113_134102297.jpg


IMG_20200113_134130128.jpg
 
The indentation in the tank that goes over the frame to mount the tank the dimensions are a little over 1" wide by 2 7/8" deep at the front and it tapers down to 1" at the back. The front being closest to the fill hole and the handlebars and the back is closest to the seat. Does anyone have some good pictures of the clutch setup for the h motor? Specifically the handle and where it attaches to the pulley and where it runs. Mine is missing the clutch cable and I don't know how it attaches to the pulley or what all I'm missing. Thanks in advance for any help. I couldn't find any close up pics of the clutch cable where it is attached on both ends.
 
Back
Top