The bike worked fairly well in Italy although bottom gear was way too high for the loose surface on the white roads. I also rode the Kent 12 on it that year without trouble - at least so far as the bike was concerned- the same could not be said of the rider!
I may be able to find more pictures if people are interested.
Your restoration: Since the Gnutti BB spindle probably cannot be replaced I feel it is necessary to dismantle the BB bearing to clean and relubricate it. The bike looks as though it's been left unused for a few decades so whatever lubricant was in the bearings will probably now have the consistency of mature cheese. It shouldn't be too difficult to get the cranks off now that you know about that left hand thread - take the retaining bolts out, dose the splines with penetrating oil, apply a little heat to the cranks and they should yield fairly easily.
If the gear goes onto the bottom sprocket fairly well but you wish to renew the chain (probably a wise move) make sure the new chain is cut to the same length as the old one (well almost the same, since the old one will have stretched) because, unlike a modern gear, chain length is critical.
I built a similar Gillot with Simplex TdeF derailleurs for L'Eroica in 2012. If you're interested you can read the thread here:
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/212893/?offset=25
The bike worked fairly well in Italy although bottom gear was way too high for the loose surface on the white roads. I also rode the Kent 12 on it that year without trouble - at least so far as the bike was concerned- the same could not be said of the rider!
I may be able to find more pictures if people are interested.
Your restoration: Since the Gnutti BB spindle probably cannot be replaced I feel it is necessary to dismantle the BB bearing to clean and relubricate it. The bike looks as though it's been left unused for a few decades so whatever lubricant was in the bearings will probably now have the consistency of mature cheese. It shouldn't be too difficult to get the cranks off now that you know about that left hand thread - take the retaining bolts out, dose the splines with penetrating oil, apply a little heat to the cranks and they should yield fairly easily.
If the gear goes onto the bottom sprocket fairly well but you wish to renew the chain (probably a wise move) make sure the new chain is cut to the same length as the old one (well almost the same, since the old one will have stretched) because, unlike a modern gear, chain length is critical.