IMPRACTICAL CLASSIC
In 1973 I tried to buy a basketcase 1929 TT Replica Scott from a local character. I didn’t have the £60 (!) he wanted, but he was 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.
Resisting the urge to immediately 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 from the frame found it to be in very good condition, straight and undamaged, but there was something odd about the frame. It took some time for the penny to drop as the modification was so well done: two additional loops of tube had been bronze welded to the upper rear frame tubes to support the rear mudguard. I then realised that the
