1954 English 3-speed

[DebW]

The 3-speed is going back together. The frame has been rust-treated for a month now, so I started putting parts back on. First the bottom bracket. The cups and spindle are slightly pitted, so it's not the smoothest bb in the world, but not too bad. I did have a problem screwing the adjustable cup in far enough and had to force it the last 2 revolutions. Maybe it's never been screwed that far before (was a bit loose when I got it).

I pressed the headset cups back into the headtube, then discovered that the fork didn't align properly with the cups because of how much it's bent. So I did a little cold bending of the steerer tube with a vise, pipe, and mallet. It's now straighter and aligns with the cups well enough to assemble, but binds at one point. Maybe someday I'll want to invest in a new fork for this bike, but for now I'm going to reassemble it and see how it rides. Felt like the frame gained 10 lb when I put the fork back on.

Also reattached the chaincase and did some de-rusting on that. Next task: cotterpins. Will they fit or will I be filing them down? You never know until you try.