BigChief 

I love project bikes like this. The chrome fork ends look good in the picture. I hope you can keep them after the repaint. Nice feature and rare on the Sports type models.

gster

Yes, it's amazing how well vintage Raleigh chrome will shine up.
Watched the classic British film "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning " (1960) the other day and Albert Finney works in the Raleigh factory (filmed in the REAL Nottingham factory) making spindles all day for 14 pounds ($300.00 in today's money) a week. Well worth watching.

markk900

@gster: what tires are those and where did you get them for $16 ea in Canada? I assumed they were Kendas from Crappy Tire...

BigChief 

Nice find! I like that color, very dignified. Now you need a wool jacket and houndstooth Wigens cap to go with it.

gster

They're "Hang Zhou" from China
Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber CO.,LTD.Yonggu Rubber Factory
I get them from my pal George at Parkdale Bicycle
New Parkdale Bicycle Shop | dandyhorse magazine

I like the tread pattern and of course, the price!

jamesdak 

I've got to find time to get back to mine and fix it. I need to source a replacement crank setup. I bought it cheap with welded on pedals and a bolt driven in to replace a cotter pin. One pedal broke off (poor weld job) so the bike is inop. Thinking I need crank arms, and then figure out how the crank/axle or however that is setup is put together to see what else I need. Had just finished getting the rear hub dialed in, new seatpost, and LEDs in the lights when the pedal fell off during a ride.

SirMike1983 

A ride to drop off some mail, then down to the local park: 1946 Hercules Model C.

Dsprok

Could have been made during WW2. Conserving certain metals.

ollo_ollo

Just a quick question. I recently acquired a 74 Superbe and plan to do a complete teardown this Winter, meanwhile I lubed it up to ride a bit this Fall. While the bike was on my workstand, I spun the rear wheel and was surprised it only went 2 or 3 rotations before stopping. I have another bike with a Nexus 8 speed IGH and is similar, maybe a bit better at 3 or 4 rotations before stopping. I commuted on a 3 speed back in the 80's but don't remember, is this normal or not? Hub seems to operate fine, shifts and seems to coast OK when riding, but I know any of my derailleur bikes would spin longer. Don

gster

Something's not right back there. The rear wheel should spin freely. Perhaps it's rubbing on a brake pad.

BigChief 

If the wheel is dragging the crank around, your wheel bearing cones are a bit too snug. If the crank stays still, but the wheel still seems sluggish spinning, you could tear down the hub, clean, replace the ball bearings and repack with fresh grease. Alternatively, you could just flood the hub with oil and let it leak out and make a mess for a few days and see if it improves.

noglider 

I find it's a choice between cones too tight and cones too loose. I find the hub works better, and it's probably better for its long term health, when I leave the cones loose.

BigChief 

I have one of these too and I've seen others. Same early 50s 3 or 4 speed without a trace of plating on the faceplate. It seems odd that an owner would take the trouble to so thoroughly remove the plating. All of the early shifters had embossed brass faceplates with chrome plating and color added to the embossing. Maybe some left the factory this way. Possible, I guess.

BigChief 

+1 I err on the side of loose also. I find that shifting is smoother when the wheel spins freely. Although, new bearings help too. Even if the the old ones look good, I think all new grade 25 balls make a difference.

Fidbloke

I've seen a lot of these brass-faced selectors turning up on the 'bay and the 'brassiness' does seem somewhat variable. Some are all one colour and others look very patchy.
I suspect that they started off as chrome plated (with the lettering picked out in paint), but the chrome has probably just worn away over time.

ollo_ollo

Thanks all. I already did the "flood with oil and make a mess" to get the rear hub where it is now. Not rubbing on a brake pad, so I'll try setting the cones looser and also have a look at my Nexus 8 speed since it seems to slow down quickly also. Don

rhm

No, that trigger is from the early 50's. The chrome has flaked off, that's all. Looks pretty good in copper, though!

Salubrious

If the hub is set up correctly it will be much freer than the Nexus hub, and in fact should easily rival a Campagnolo hub. IOW they are very free. The service manual (always a good thing to refer to) suggests the slightest amount of run out (play) to be seen on the rim. The cones should not be set up for zero slop.

BigChief 

Here's how they looked originally. I think I see some red color in some of the letters. I took a close look at mine with a 5x eye loupe and can see traces of plating. To me, it looks like someone deliberately worked on removing the plating. The odd thing is, I have only seen this done to this particular model of shifter. All of the early "upside down" shifters had embossed brass faceplates.

Dsprok

Same here 90 grade gear oil.

BigChief 

Here's the brass one. You can see traces of the original plating in some of the embossing.

markk900

Looks a bit like its been blasted or treated with a wire wheel - note the stippling to the left of the SA logo. Wouldn't be surprised to find out in its life the chrome started to wear off and someone removed the rest of it - it does look good like that!

BigChief 

I think you're right. Somebody put a lot of effort into stripping off the plating. I got the stripped one in a auction lot.
A whole box of Sturmey Archer hubs and parts for 20 bucks. Those days are over. eBay is nice for finding parts you need, but it sure did in the old ways of finding bargains at auctions and flee markets.

SirMike1983 

Correct-- window shifter is 1950s era.

1938-48 is the long lever:




1948-49: the uncommon "silver" or "black" solid face (two types)


Starting around 1950, and for much of that decade you see a variety of window shifters with various faceplates. They indeed were plated to start with, and lose their plating easily. If you have the short lever, window shifter, it's 1950s-era.

See: https://genetics.mgh.harvard.edu/hanc...satriggers.pdf

for an excellent resource.

capnjonny 

After agonizing over it for a whole day I finally decided to do a "rustoration" on the Raleigh Sport I picked up last Wednesday. Although I really would like to sand blast and repaint I also wanted to see what it would look like with a coat of clear over the old paint. Today I went to Home Depot and bought a can of Rustoleum clear lacquer. After painting it again with naval jelly then going over the frame with 0000 steel wool I took everything outside and hosed it all down and wiped it with a clean rag. Then I brought it into the shop and blew out any remaining water with compressed air. Laying down a large piece of cardboard I coated the frame, fenders, and mudguard with the clear lacquer. I used lacquer because the bike was originally painted with it at the factory and I wanted to be sure there wouldn't be any compatibility issues.

The clear actually improved the look of the original paint quite a bit. Lacquer will dissolve into itself and this smoothed out the original paint quite a bit. The new paint also improved the color and gloss of the old paint.

There is still plenty of patina but somehow it looks intentional now.

Last Saturday I found an aluminum wheel to replace the old chrome one that was terminal. I am still going to use the steel rear as it has the internal gear hub and I don't want to go to the time and expense of changing it for a lighter aluminum one. Every thing else is going back on the bike including the steel cotter ed crank .

All in all the bike should go back together easily and look and work much better than it did when I found it. When done it will go back to the Bike Exchange and be marked for donation to someone who needs it.