classic motorcycle forum

I suggest you tell us the engine and frame numbers George and we'll tell you what you really have because it doesn't look much like a Series III.

I can't really tell a lot from your photo but it doesn't appear to have the oddball 1949 forks either. For that year Ambassador made their own version of the tele fork which was a cross between the new teles and the old girder fork so you had things that looked vaguely like teles but had girder fork link type things working up and down at the fork top. Yours appears to be the later MP (Metal Profiles) forks that Ambassador and many other makes fitted throughout the 50's.

Frankly, I think your bike looks far more like a mid 50's Ambassador Popular than any early Series model.

Nevertheless, as I said above,  if you give us the frame and engine numbers there is every chance we can identify it precisely.

Cheers
     

The other standard trick with Villiers coils is to discard the Bakelite HT lead connector thing that connects the HT lead to the coil and solder the HT lead  directly on to the coil. That removes another trouble spot.

The bakelite  connector was necessary back in the days when HT leads had rubber and cotton fabric insulation because that sort of insulation failed so quickly but with modern non rotting plastic insulation it's not the problem it once was.

Cheers,

The factory did not fit grub screws as you suspect. As standard the ears are just a hand push fit but they can have a hefty build up of muck and corrosion which makes them stiff to pull off.
Having said that as this push fit can become a little sloppy after replacing the coil I then fit a grub screw on each ear. This ensures a good connection. It's possible someone may have done this already.

Ages ago I bought a few packets of 3mm grub screws plus the relevant tapping drill and tap from a model shop specialising in radio controlled racing cars. They weren't expensive.
Have fun.

Villiers Type 4F 98cc, 2 speed gearbox. Fitted to Excelsior models F4 & F4S in 1954-6.

Cheers,

Hi Darloman,
There's a very good reason why Villiers coil info is hard to find. Basically it's because good figures on the test bench often don't translate into good performance on the engine.

A coil on the brink will test well but under normal engine conditions of heat, vibration, dirt, a poor earth, etc, etc it will get unhappy. The usual symptom is poor hot starting. A sulky hot start on your first long ride of the summer is a classic story.
Villiers closed down the best part of half a century ago. Even the newest Villiers coil is ancient and suspect.

There is only one test for a Villiers coil. If in doubt, throw it out. Modern replacements are cheap and readily available.

I could go on. I like Villiers engines, crude, rude and dead reliable given half a chance.

Cheers,

You're quite right R, they didn't have any damping. They were just pogo sticks. This was common in British lightweight teles of the time.
Have a look at the original BSA Bantam forks, the first Francis Barnett teles and James first own make teles and you'll find the same story. Proper hydraulic damping on British lightweights came years after it did on larger machines.
Norman had an early go with an upside down system where the oil sat on top of the seals with the airspace in the sliders below. The seals slowly leaked of course and the forks then locked solid as the bottom airspace filled up with oil. Norman didn't change the design. They merely changed the advice in the later owners handbook about the quantity of oil required. Later advice was to add a few drops only for lubrication with no talk of damping.
Grease doesn't supply any damping. If there is an excess present the suspension just goes solid.
As for the neoprene rods, the Cyclone forks I rebuilt didn't have any. They were designed along the same lines as the Challenger but were slightly different. If they were present I would imagine it would be as you say, some sort of bump stop. They would need to be firmly attached at each end to have any damping effect.
In the late 1940's Dunlop offered a proprietary lightweight fork with an internal long thin rubber cartridge attached top and bottom as a suspension /damping medium. James used them for a short time before making their own undamped fork. A local club member has a James fitted with these forks and in a rush of blood to the head had a local rubber company extrude some replacement rubber for him. He swears it's impossible to remove and replace the rubber without losing at least two fingernails in the process. The owners handbook maintenance instructions are the opposite to the usual and make great emphasis on NOT getting oil anywhere near the rubber.
From the above you can certainly guess what I like to play with can't you. I rode these things as an apprentice because I couldn't afford much else. Now I'm very content with them.   
Exploring the world of British lightweight suspension in the 40's and 50's is a hoot. It's one of the reasons I love'em so much.

   
 

 

Ice? Ice? 42C, on the road and heading for Xmas with the in-laws. Nice, normal Oz Xmas.

Cheers,