Originally Posted by
Andrew R Stewart
You might look into the
Lightweight Classic Vintage bicycles (classicrendezvous.com) google group. They collect and talk about restoring/fixing and assessing classic sporting bikes and have a few very active members in England. Norris Lockley and Kevin Sayles are two that have decades of experience in dealing with this stuff.
For the small screws and such- I've found the best way to restore/repair these things are to find donner components. At home wire wheels on grinders, brass brushes and metal polish are your friends. Andy
Thanks for the link. Very useful.
As for the donor components, I have some other Huret (sorry, newer ones, so Sachs Huret) derailleurs and shifters and some small parts can be cannibalised. Though the designs are very different, so things that can be used are the minor ones: adjustment screws or jockey wheel screws. I guess I will have to look for some other derailleurs and spare parts in a better shape.
I do have wire wheels and drill bits with brass brush endings. As for the metal polish, for now certain bits are beyond the point when metal polish would help. We'll see how de-rusting goes.