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Will keep an eye out. I'm on bells at the moment :)

@absurdbird cam across this advert in the 1948 Trader Handbook (in VCC library), so your green bottles are confirmed as full pc for your 1952 build 🤓

Just to be a total poindexter I think that’s a 55 or 54 or something. The 49a is the cotterless steel crank as far as I know. Still all the Competition steel cranks are nice imo, more slender and elegant!

Sorry, what a knob!

I still like them and at least the drive side is the old one, that’s what matters. And crucially your bolts are dome headed :)

The products I used on the original paint were Crankalicious and worked well. The wash and wax I guess nothing particularly special but the Mayo Jaune has a mild cutting compound that helps bring back the lustre of the paint. Most important thing is to go easy and test somewhere unnoticeable! I tried really fine steel wool to try and take off the patches of yellowed lacquer (on advice of someone that does a lot of this and a great job of it) but that was just taking off paint, so I stopped sharpish!

That’s my 2p. Certainly can’t claim any expertise but I would use those products again.

Re stem bolts yeah the two front please, although I’d take all if spare now you ask :)

Nice nice nice, fun project just cleaning and fertling about with that! The hollow Durax cranks aren't they? Just that rear light looks like a fun project :)

N.B. if you're binning the stem I'd love to take the 2 bolts off your hands! The ones I've got are not a pair and a bit pitted.

I was wondering the same thing, got a residual memory that 700c size were referred to as 27” tubulars. Might have imagined it.

I like that seller’s Jack Sibbit but looks like the forks aren’t original. [Doesn’t give me a lot of confidence in the seller that’s not mentioned.]

Fantastic, yep that's who I got mine from. Should have asked what to do with it!

this is new stuff to me

100% me too. I'm just waiting for a salty sea dog like @clubman to pitch in and tell us what's what :)

Afaik they are available, there are certainly plenty of Apex, Bluemels, etc. washers on Ebay. Whether they work or not I can't comment, I don't have enough experience. This was my question to the seller I bought mine from:

I have an old skinny Apex pump. I measure the ID at 14.8mm, I guess I need a 9/16” washer?

and their response:

The Apex skinny pump is normally 5/8 inches (16mm) If you go smaller there will be no pressure. The washers have to be an interference fit.

I swapped it over without cleaning or lubing or anything in a bit of a rush and there is no pressure with the 5/8" although it does seem like it is the right size. I need to have another go at it but would appreciate any advice from anyone with experience in the meantime!

Yikes! Lovely pedals but I hope that doesn't get set as a benchmark!

I’ve got a nos green large flange front, again courtesy of @Nbenja3 ... I’m sure there was a rear on Ebay fairly recently and I remember passing thinking “pff I’ll never find the pair...”

I was going to say in response to @absurdbird that yeah the ano stuff is a bit much for me. You’ve reminded me how much I like this green Airlite though, it’s lush, probably better for being toned down by the years.

Difficult rule to enforce that one.

I don’t think I’d be shy of using that green ano one. I suspect the coloured Coloral cage is a few years later too. So a full middle aged FTW putting that on a late 40s bike. Oh wait, is this for your 52 build? I think the 1952 Browns lists the colour ano Coloral products.

I’ve been trying to figure out when the coloured CL hubs came in and they weren’t offered when the hub was introduced 1946/47. That’s as far as I’ve got.

I got this skinny Apex Superlite for my late 40s lightweight ROH Lyta. Struggling to get it to pump properly though. I did change the washer but must be doing something wrong!

Pics please. Agreed re dating for the Ultralite if that’s the alloy one. I couldn’t pin it down myself but came to a similar conclusion.

Oh yes! Higgins Ultralite tandem, luckily way too big for me but looks like a bit of a bargain at £400 ...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144001053743

I’m trying to resist all my bikes just having Stronglight cranks, bb and headset, Lyotard MB platform pedals, ... I’m starting to add Airlite hubs to my list, there’s not much arguing against them.

😂 (that would harsh)

Wishing you a speedy and full recovery!

One thing, if those early delicate cranks snap often, you should be able to find another one 🙃 Not that you’re likely to fancy it.

That sucks. How bad is the knee?

Evaporust is pretty great. I’ve been put on to it through this forum myself. Not sure about derusting a frame though or if that would do anything to the paint. I did see someone somewhere talking about building a frame shaped bath with guttering I think. Not sure if they did it but could work.

@SideshowBob put me on to the Evaporust gel, which you can paint on. That worked extremely well on the chrome barrel of an Airlite hub.

NB thanks on the Hobbs. It’s definitely seen life! Looking forward to building it up. It’s at Argos though as a template for the one being refinished.

Here’s a little taster, 1948 Hobbs Criterium - special paint scheme for that model :)

@RgrahamH Apologies if I’m telling you stuff you know ... I’ve refinished a few frames (that had no original finish left) and there’s a lot of fun in that for me. But yeah the problem is the components. I started with 1970s bikes and it’s possible to get stuff looking really minty, different story going back another 20-30 years. I’ve largely been disappointed replating - it almost always looks replated, hard to explain. For me the look I’m now aiming at is a bike that has been well looked after for decades but is old. Let’s see.

One great project I’ll start a thread for some day is I have 2 Hobbs Criterium that can only be about a month apart. One is ratty but really cool original paint and one had lost all original finish and I’m getting that one repainted similarly. The best of both worlds :) At the moment I’m more excited about building the original paint fixed gear, rather than refinished Simplex TdF geared one. But that swings back and forth.

The products I used on the original paint were Crankalicious and worked well. The wash and wax I guess nothing particularly special but the Mayo Jaune has a mild cutting compound that helps bring back the lustre of the paint. Most important thing is to go easy and test somewhere unnoticeable! I tried really fine steel wool to try and take off the patches of yellowed lacquer (on advice of someone that does a lot of this and a great job of it) but that was just taking off paint, so I stopped sharpish!

I was replying to @RgrahamH :)

I have a 1937 Claud Butler Ultra Shortbase tandem