mountaindave 

So for you Viscount nerds: Has anybody taken an old BB and crank from a Viscount and put it in a normal bike? Viscount spindles and cranks are not tapered and must be kept together.

1) Viscount used 35x17x10 (6003 bearings) press fit in their unique BB shell.

2) Modern sealed cartridge bearing BB (like the Shimano UN55) seem to use 31mm diameter cartridge bearings with those threaded sleeves that fit over the bearings.

3) 31x17x10 cartridge bearings exist (173110-2RS).

If a suitable sleeve could be made to fit between the two cartridge bearings so they wouldn’t migrate inward, would it be possible to press fit the 173110 cartridge bearings to the Viscound spindle, salvage the sleeves from a Shimano and install in a standard BB? (Does that make sense?)

Or is this a fool’s errand and the groovy chainrings should just be fitted to a TA crank arm and forget about it?

100bikes

The only thing that might work in a threaded version it tapping the bb shell Italian thread as I recall.
The shell itself is a bit thin, so you will only get one shot at this.

That being said, it may be that some type of modern press fit bb will work.

rusty

nlerner

If your goal is to use the crankset, some report success with taking a file to it and modifying to fit a tapered spindle.

Hudson308 

He's proposing to install a Lambert/Viscount BB into a conventional English/ISO threaded frame.
Not worth the effort, IMO.

San Rensho 

Go to any industrial bearing shop and Im sure you can find an exact replacement. replacement is pretty easy with just hand tools.

JohnDThompson 

Some Viscount/Lambert spindles were untapered, but not all. The mounting bolt thread is not standard 8mm x 1mm. Some Viscount/Lambert cranks used non-standard 7/8" x 24tpi extractor thread. You need to figure out which version or combination of versions of crank and bottom bracket you're dealing with.

You also need to grind down the tube ends extending into the bottom bracket shell to get clearance for such a sleeve.

A lot of work for marginal benefit, IMO.

The shell has the same 40mm OD as other bottom bracket shells, i.e. it's no thinner than any other BB shell. The reason you only get one shot is because you have to ream the inside of the shell before you cut the Italian threads. Once you've done that, there's no going back. That said, it's a pretty straightforward operation, provided you have the necessary tools.

mountaindave 

This.

Sometimes we climb the hill just because it’s there. Sometimes that molehill becomes a mountain.

Something I didn’t consider is where cartridge actually sits on the Lambert/Viscount spindle compared to where the cartridge sits in a Shimano spindle. The Viscount sits flush with the face of the BB while the Shimano has a threaded sleeve over the cartridge and could be slightly inboard. I’ll have to measure.