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@edmundro
So, after seeing the freecycle ad and falling in love instantly, I just had to have this.
Not having a little girl of my own didn't stop me, the plan was to enjoy the work, then gift it on again to someone who'd grow up with it. Luckily, my friend Charlotte83 on here is a godmother to the soon to be new owner, Tilly. As Charlie is such a wonderful godmother she's agreed to bankroll the build(while trying to retain as much originality as possible).
Wheelsize is 500A, Seat tube measurement is 40cm ctt
The good:
It's complete, and entirely original. Lugs are lined on top of the lug(like a Pennine) which is at least 10x cooler than lined against the lug. It also has stunning pinstriping on the forks and stays.
It has the original owners name and address beautifully engraved on a little plate on the stem(french bike nerds will appreciate this I hope).
Dinky little pump still works perfectly!
The bad:
The mudguards are pretty shot, the alu has split completely around the stays leaving lots of horrible sharpe edges and no way of mounting them securely. Will either be replaced or bobbed shorter so the mounts can be redrilled. Presumably raleigh shopper-esque 'guards will do the job with a little work.
The rear brake is mounted to a hook type thingy that's part of the mudguard mount so will have to see if I can modify another caliper to fit the hook thingy(old caliper is rusted to hell).
Saddle has been bent at some point so will be replaced.
Pedal rubber blocks are quite perished and they sealed units so can't really get at the bearings easily. Will hopefully replace the blocks and pump grease in til the bearings are happy again. Replacing the pedals will probably be impossible as they're child size and french threaded. Double eek.
To do:
T-cut and polish the frame as best as is humanly possible.
Degrease and reuse as many of the moving parts as possible(freewheel is fine, hub cones and headset parts are currently soaking in jizer).
Get the cotters out and service the bb
Polish all the metal parts.
Fabricate pixie porteur rack.
Replace tyres.
Take photos for this thread before I get any further.
It's currently 90% stripped down so will be taking bits in to polish at work starting tomorrow.