The making of a MAC
In 2016 I purchased a Velocette MAC 350cc from Michael Taylor (Squizzy) who lived near Ipswich. My intention was to restore it so that I would then own all three girder-forked, pushrod-motored, MOV 250cc, MAC 350cc and MSS 500cc Velocette models.
The only problem was that the bike was fitted with a set of AJS girder forks. I wanted the MAC to be original, so I set out trying to locate the correct Medium Weight Webb girders. This proved to be difficult as Webb girders are becoming scarce.
I then purchased a basket case Velocette lot from Graham Ward in Brisbane. It included a set of Webb Girders but the blades were about 30mm longer than they should have been. In desperation, I began restoring the forks but then had a change of mind and decided to wait it out for the correct forks to surface. After an 18 month wait and placing ‘Wanted’ advertisements on Gumtree and in the club magazine, I managed to purchase the correct forks from Doug Farr, Melbourne, who is the Newsletter Editor of “Fishtail Downunder” VOCA. The forks were handed on to Norm Trigg in Melbourne and he provided some parts to complete them.
In the meantime I had purchased a “job lot” from Brock Hill who lived near the Glasshouse Mountains north of Brisbane. Included in the lot was a 1939 MAC motor and I knew that the frame that had come from Graham Ward was dated 1940 – very close. So it was then that l decided that I would
build up a complete bike from parts that I had accumulated over many years. This was to be my fourth Velocette restoration.
The next hurdle was obtaining a valanced front mudguard. In 2004 I restored a 1946 MOV and commissioned Adam Higgins from Victoria to manufacture a reproduction rear mudguard tailpiece. He had never made Velocette guards before, so I sent down the front half of the rear guard and he manufactured rollers to copy the contour and roll the tailpiece for me. I asked him if he could make me a front valanced guard. He agreed to do so and he was lucky enough to have a contact down there who loaned him a guard to copy. It fitted to the MOV girders without alteration. By 2018 Adam had sold his business to “Vintage Steel” of Western Australia. I contacted them and they agreed to manufacture a front valanced guard for the 1940 MAC, to my specifications (to enable it to slide up between the fork blades without issues). They make a superb quality product. I made the front guard mounting stays, as well as the curved headlight mounting brackets and gear change lever. The headlight is reproduction and I believe it was originally supplied by DomiRacer. The Speedo was restored by Otto Instruments at Salisbury, Brisbane. I had Ian Mould from Woody Point north of Brisbane do some panel work and braze up holes that had been drilled in the rear guard and primary cases. He also built up broken fins on the barrel and head. Sandblasting and etch priming was done by Nev Hughes & Sons Sumner Park, Brisbane.
Final panel beating, paint preparation and topcoat I sprayed myself – as with the rebuild on motor/ gearbox, electrical work and final assembly. I also adapted an aluminium gear to the BTH magneto auto advance unit, replacing the original fibre gear; a time consuming fiddly exercise, having to turn up the required countersunk rivets to fix on the new gear. Rebore and head work was done by John Judson from Oxley Brisbane. Wheels were rebuilt by Ash’s Wheels of Capalaba Brisbane using stainless rims & spokes. My friend Graham Williams, a signwriter, applied the fuel tank pinstripe and front number plate and tank lettering, all in Gold Leaf. Chrome work was done by Pacific Plating at Eagle Farm, Brisbane. Zinc was done by Eastcoast Electroplating, Brendale, Brisbane. Satin Chrome was done by S. Cook & Sons, Brisbane. Finally, seat reupholstering was done by Shane
Attard of Cruiz’n Trimming at Rocklea, Brisbane.
The bike was completed in November 2020.
On 2 January 2021 Dennis Quinlan posted on the Facebook “Velocette Motorcycles” page, a listing of Australian War Memorial records outlining “Census” numbers allocated to Velocette motorcycles as a licence plate number.
These motorcycles were “impressed” into military use. Records show that the 1939 motor I used in this bike, numbered MAC 6396, was fitted to one of those “impressed” bikes. However, l can’t find my frame number in the records. Census number is recorded as – C32974.