This listing is for a high quality A4 Format facsimile of the 1939 Norton Spare Parts Catalog for all single cylinder models.
This is a particularly rare catalog as it is the only known catalog that shows spare parts diagrams for the revised 1938-47 OHV and SV (Civilian) models. It is reproduced from a very nice condition original catalog - with all bemishshes removed, and is in A4 format - fractionially larger than the original Norton format, making it very easy to read.
As you can see from the accompanyning photographs - which show the original (A5) format original spare parts list, next to our Facsimile (A4) version - we have taken considerable efforts to 'clean' the original - removing the yellow aged hue, as well as all obvious signs of blemished and other marks - which provides a much cleaned and smarter version of this rare catalog - which is extremely useful to anyone owning Norton single cylinder models in these years (Note - we also produce a similar A4 facsimile for the model year of 1937, where the OHV/SV engines were of the design that directly preceded this model year - the two catalogs viewed together provide a very interesting comparison of all the changes that were introduced for the 1938 year).
FYI - I spent many years looking for an original copy of this rare catalog - I believe it is particularly rare, even when compared to other pre-war Norton spare parts list - I only ever saw one other copy, owned by a pre-war dealer close friend who lent me it about 30 years ago - and of which I was able to take a very poor quality photocopy at the time - but not good enough to reproduce. Unfortunately, although I gave his copy back and he told me later I could have the original . . . we could not find it! . . . so I was very pleased many year later to find another rare original, which is shown reproduced here!
Price is Each.
Background to Pre-War Norton Spare Parts Catalogs - and why we reproduce them in A4 format:
Pre-War Norton spare parts catalogs were normally produced in a relatively small A5 format and were pre - 'Exploded Diagram' format - i.e. in those days they did not adopt the format almost universally adopted by all major manufacturers for spare parts drawings - where an exploded picture of an engine was shown, with all parts shown in relation to each other.
Instead - the Norton format in pre-war parts catalogs was to show every part in tiny detail next to each other in a list format - i.e. all related parts shown next to each other, with the part number under it. Suprisingly - many of these small drawings were quite accurate and the scale normally correct in relation to the other parts surrounding it. However, being printed in A5 format, some of these parts are drawn very small - so we normally reproduce these catalogs in a larger A4 format - so they are clearer to view, and more use to the restorer.
By the way - original Norton pre-war spare parts lists often had a different coloured cover per year, and if we can, we will normally re-produce the same colour in our facsimile copies. However, for this model year the original catalog colour was black - and trying to reproduce this in A4 format results in most of the colour text being lost, as it does not show clearly on black card media. Therefore we have produced our A4 facsimile on a nice lilac coloured card media - which we believe shows off very nicely the 'Art Deco' artwork which which was used for this model year - hope you will agree this is a better option for this particular catalog.
Further Background to the 1938-47 Model Years
This is a particularly rare Spare Parts Catalog as it is the only known catalog (that I am aware of) - that shows diagrams of the OHV and SV 1938-47 redesigned Engine type. All previous spare parts catalogs showed the slightly different pre-38 OHV/SV models, which has numerous different engine parts. As far as I know, this Spare Parts Catalog was only produced in 1938/39 and I am assuming only in very small numbers (just prior to World War 2) - as I have only ever seen a couple of these catalogs in the flesh . . . and one of them is the one I have in my possesion - from which this facsimile is copied! (see one of the photographs).
Note that the OHV/SV engine type that is shown in this catalog was produced just before and just after World War 2, i.e. 1938 - 1947. However, Postwar, Norton's did not produce another Spare Parts List with pictures until 1948 - by which time the OHV and SV engines had been redesigned (by Edgar Franks) and was very diffierent - this being the 1948-56 engine type. Therefore this Spare Parts list is very useful to anyone that owns and is restoring a pre-1948 OHV/SV model - it is the only Spare Parts List that shows a picture for the parts for these 38-47 OHV/SV models.
As a final footnote on the 38/47 models - Norton did produce a Spare Parts List in 1946 (and I have an original of this catalog - email if interested, I may reproduce it in the near future) . . . but this 1946 list did not have any pictures in it - only the Parts Descriptions and the Part Number - but it is very important to know that - although the OHV/SV parts were 95% identical to the 1939 parts, that postwar a completely new numbering system was introduced for all parts. If you have both spare parts lists (38-39 and 46) - you should be able to match them from their description!
The catalog is 26 pages in total. It is printed in A4 Landscape format on high quality Xerox paper of a similar grade to the original paper, as with all our facsimile catalogs. It comes in a sealable bag to protect it in storage.
Typo to original Norton Catalog - It is interesting to note that most Norton Spare Parts and Roadholder catalogs did not print the model year they covered on the cover. Instead, on the introducton text (normally page 2 or 3), in the first two lnes of text they would say 'for models subsequent to 19XX', where the year was normally the year before the actual catalog production - therefore the 1937 spare parts catalog says 'subsequent to 1936'. Therefore it follows that this catalog should say either 'subsequent to 1937' (if produced in 1938) or '1938' if produced in 1939. However, this original Norton catalog has a rare typo - and says 'subsequent to 1936' . . . which means the typesetter must have forgotten to update it!
