A S Gillott - L'Atlantique (I think)

Front derailleur had also had some of the silver /grey paint daubed over it in it's life -

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And you're "finishing" the parts with an oily rag you say? Is that just basically putting a layer of 3-in-1 (or similar) over to inhibit rust?

I've got a filthy yellow duster (oil and dirt from other parts /frames ) which I tip some light oil (3 in 1 or like ) onto and give the part a light polish with it with a view to stopping the rust from returning.

I avoid steel wool as it will scratch.
Chemically treating with oxalic acid, or Evaporust is better. Degrease the surface first.
Or electrolysis works.
For convenience and effectiveness use Evaporust.

any markings on the back of the rear derailleur?

nice work so far, keen to see the progress...what are the long term plans - rustoration or restoration?

Rear of the derailleur has -
5 Vit Chaine 238

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Thanks @campervangogh.
Rustoration is the plan.
Tyres, brake blocks and cabling to be changed in due course to provide safety.

correct for your 5 speed (3/32")

New tyre for the front as the previous one was starting to fall apart

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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.

Good thread @clubman, Please can I get more pictures of your finished build as it would be great to see.

I'm a bit wary of removing the cranks and apparently there is a need for a special removal tool to extract them.

The other options available to service the BB which have been recommended are to apply oil down the seat tube or use the oil nipple on the BB -

What are your thoughts on these methods?

Any suggestions /advice would be gratefully received

Here's a pic:

Sorry, it didn't load - I'll try again.

You may be able to see that this frame has an oversized top tube (I think it's actually a down tube) - I believe this was done for an aesthetic reason. The handlebar gear control was fairly typical for the period - this one is a Cyclo and it has just enough movement for the rear mech, but cable adjustment was critical.
The rims are 700's which make the frame seem a bit 'gappy', but there are limits to my tolerance of old kit and 27's go beyond it.

As I said in my original post, the frame was on loan, and it has now gone back to its rightful home, so the machine no longer exists. However all the components are in a box and writing this post has made me consider reconstituting the bike.

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Here's the bike in action:

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Another

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Another one

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Finally:

I should mention that these excellent action pictures were taken by Brad Sauber.

He rode alongside us and held a small camera in his hand - at the time I thought he would never get worthwhile pictures like that (I certainly could not have done it). As you can see the results were brilliant (I'm talking here about the photos, not the rider and his bike).

One small detail, which I mention to give credit to my partner who might otherwise go unnoticed: if you look at post no. 114 you may notice that my jersey has a shirt style collar. This was typical at the time that my Gillott was imitating, but the jersey wasn't genuine. My partner had taken the collar from a shirt made of similar fabric and inserted it into my Hounslow jersey - I thought it was completely convincing although I don't believe our racing kit ever had this feature. Sadly, I don't think anyone noticed this detail.

Looking at the first picture, the side on view of the bike, it's noticeable that the head angle is so shallow that the (contemporary) GB stem is pointing slightly upwards, which it was certainly not intended to do. I never felt this frame was anything better than average from the riding point of view, although to be fair to Gillotts, the front forks are not original and it's possible this may have been part of the problem.

One last pic:

My clubmate's Gillot after the finish

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Thanks for the photographs.

So just how do the cranks attach?

It would appear to be like an early version of Octalink,
Velobase has a picture of the crank and Splined BB Spindle together -
http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=9C269065-D293-4CE2-B227-3B24DB122D4E&Enum=115&AbsPos=2

I see. So I guess you'd need a bearing puller type tool to remove the cranks, yeah.

M Stevens VCC Gillott enthusiast warned me that they are difficult to remove without a specific extractor tool but that they knew someone who had made such an extractor.

I guess if they're not causing any bother, leave them be eh?