Home depot has automotive cleaners & lubricants in the tool area I think. You will find a product called Brakeleen brake parts cleaner in a aerosol can that will work well, dries fast & leaves no residue, used sparingly it will last a good long while. Its under $4. Mineral spirits I don't think is ideal cutting grease and will cost more. There are many cleaning products out there that will work.
You are likely to find old hardened grease that is difficult to clean. an old tooth brush works well.
Be careful not to get this cleaner on painted surfaces & some plastic I am not certain of the hub bearing count on frt hub.

I like to clear coat the decals before I do too much to the paint. For little stuff, a can of spray paint sprayed into the cap, then applied with a Q-tip works, followed by a shot of clear coat will seal up the rust easily. It's pretty quick to keep things sealed to prevent further rust while not disturbing what's left of the old finish. It's preservation as opposed to restoration. If you really want to get serious, new paint is a huge step beyond this, many hours as opposed to a few minutes.

I never thought I could do it but I just finished putting together the front hub. I used mineral spirits and the hub and shaft were looking good. I will order bearings later and will use the ones I have for the moment. It woud be pretty easy to do this again when I need to replace them.

I was told to oil the crank? thru the saddle tube so I removed the saddle and just wondering how much oil should I add and if motor oil is ok?

I am also going to clean the saddle , this is not a brooks but a selle marco that I will use while I save for a Brooks. I wanted to put it apart but cant find any instructions online or even how to tell what model it is.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback, this coming from a guy who had never done any work on a bike before.

Velocals sells those metallic strips if you ever feel like replacing that broken one.

Raleigh Stripes White-Black-Gold-Black-White (sku 663) - VeloCals

Are the cranks spinning freely? Any side play, stiffness or notchiness? If they're spinning freely I'd go ahead with the oil, but if they're not it may mean the bottom bracket grease has dried out and needs replacing, or your BB needs adjusting.
Most of us would probably pull the BB apart to clean and re-grease, but maybe it is a daunting task if you're not familiar with bike mechanicals. And it would mean removing the cotter pins. But again, youtube is your friend, and advice from us.

You can add a bit of oil down the seat tube, it is a 'quick & dirty' way of getting a bit more lubrication into the bottom bracket, and hopefully freshening up the grease that's in there. First you want to have a look (as much as you can) down the seat tube and see how grimy it is in there. You don't want the oil you put in the seat tube to be carrying contaminants like rust, insects, etc down into the BB. Your bike looks pretty clean though. Car oil is fine and you probably only need 1 or 2 teaspoons worth. Any more and you'll have a puddle of oil under your bike the next time you take it for a ride :)

I feel them spinning freely so I will add the two teaspoons of oil and our the seat back.

Thanks

I saw some Phillips blocks (4") at my favorite online auction house today.

When I search ebay I limit my searches to north america but somehow china or india or thailand sneak in and I have seen blocks in India but I'm afraid to buy outside of NA maybe England would be OK.

Oil is a good band aid but you should do a re pack in the spring.
Only potential difficulty is those cotters. Some drift out like butter
and others are as stubborn as a dog with a bone.

Once I get more comfortable working with the bike I will do it. I live in an apartment and have a couple of wrenches and thats it. So I am very limited on resources at the moment. I even go to Whole Foods free bike station to work on my bike when I dont have a tool available.

I didn't know Whole Foods had that as an option?

It is a bike rack and a few wrenches and levers attached to it. I will take a pic tomorrow. Pretty much all the Houston Whole Foods have one

Most of us here have been wrenching 3 speeds for years, so please forgive us. We tend to have high standards we like our bikes to meet. Since you were motivated to get a classic bike like this, I suspect there's a good chance that you will catch the bug and end up like the rest of us, but for now, just oil up the bearings and cables as best as you can, put on some good brake pads and have some riding fun. It would ride better with a full service and careful setup, but my first 3 speeds were in far worse shape than yours and I ended up OK...i think. Unfortunately, most modern repair shops are clueless about these bikes, so you're on your own. Except you have us! This is a great board. I've learned a ton here. BTW, did you get that rear brake cable freed up?

To confine purchases to North America is certainly no guarantee you are not being "middlemanned" from who knows where.

BC makes some good points here.
Most of us got into this with the same level of experience...none.
learning to to do the work yourself has several advantages:
-Your labour is free
-Knowledge. You learn as you go
-Satisfaction and pride in a job well done.
-It's good to have a project on the go.
There are very few bike shops around that have the skills (or interest) in working on these bikes.
I was in the bike shop around the corner to buy some cotters last year and his response was
"Why bother? I just cut the cranks off and replace with a cartridge..."
Most of these machines have lasted for 50+ years and with a little TLC will last another 50.

Your right JohnnySpaghetti I don't know where parts might be coming from. I guess even if I go to Harris Cyclery I have no idea. Hum.
Charmlessman: 4 months ago my cycle knowledge was over 50 years old. I knew what most kids growing up in the 50's would know. Since August I have taken 3 Raleighs apart and I'm learning every day how to put them back together. This site is absolutely your best source of experience and knowledge.

I understand and I know that I got the bug, I want to get a superbe after this one and I know at some point I will try to do harder stuff. I really want to ride this bike so i appreciate all the help here. I know I will get there but I have to take it one step at a time.

I still haven't got to the brakes but I will in time. It is the front brake that is stuck

Usually you fill a bearing race with as many as will fit and then subtract one as a safety margin to prevent a jam up.
Sutherlands manual says it should take 10 3/16" balls.

It's easy to forget how essential good reference books are compared to sifting thru net pages. From Sutherlands 4th edition, a scan of the chart. Axle lengths and model of hub determines the correct indicator(s) needed for a hub. It also goes on to say most are interchangeable but shorter usually works best if you dont have the right one.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/vK...w1331-h1022-no

Put up a picture of your front brake from lever to the wheel so others can see if an is obvious.

I see the rear brake adjuster is all the way bottomed out if you turn the adjuster out it will give you more brake.

This one looks nice small frame in Toronto
https://toronto.craigslist.ca/bra/bi...341708042.html

Attachment 590122

England should be fine. I've bought a few things from there, no problems and surprisingly quick delivery.

There's a pair of pre-reflector Raleigh logo pedals on eBay. A bit pricey, but they are exactly what you need.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1950s-Ralei...EAAOSwyi9Z6mNr

@clubman Thanks for posting that chart. Seems that AW hubs were all either 5 3/4 or 6 1/4. HSA 125 and 126 indicators. Pretty sure they only used the longer axle on AW equiped bikes with wire fender stays that attached to the axle like DL-1s.

I rode bikes for 30 years with really only knowing how to patch a flat and change a tyre, that was pretty much the extent of my knowledge. I got bitten by the internal gear hub bug in '95 with a modern SA hub I built into an old MTB, and fell for vintage hub gears & bikes soon after that. The 1st Raleigh I worked on had me trawling this site for weeks :) Someone mentioned orphans a while back... I wanted to clean them up and give them a good home...I didn't plan to but I just brought this Australian Speedwell 'popular' roadster home on Thursday...

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4551/...5d4aa1ac_b.jpgs-l1600 (1) by arty dave armour, on Flickr

I've already broken the front axle getting the front wheel off, but I have a front hub from a DL-1 I can build into the wheel. I'll put an SA 3 speed hub on the rear. I think this bike might be a '57, not sure. It has a nice colour scheme and pin-striping under the rust but the chrome is shot on the stem and cranks.
Hope it's OK to post this here - it has an old english 3 speed hub in its future!