A Scott in Southland

I did not have the £60 he wanted but he was very interested in finding a swinging arm Ariel Red Hunter. After putting together a complicated deal to acquire a friend’s Red Hunter, it all fell through. Commiserating over a couple of ciders my old mate Tuck mentioned he had the worn partial remains of a post war Scott, which if I twisted his arm hard enough, he would part with. So after putting together another tortuous deal I became the proud owner of a 1946 Scott Flying Squirrel.

After the first flush of enthusiasm and resisting the urge to tear everything apart, I quickly concluded that rebuilding the engine, and obtaining a radiator was going to be costly. As I had a few other machines to work on, I took the attitude that it was going to be a long term project which would be worked on when money, resources and new skills allowed.

The rolling chassis was the easiest part to start with, stripping the paint off the frame found it in very good condition, straight and undamaged, but there was something odd about the frame. It took some time for the penny to drop