1948 Holdsworth La Quelda, Bill Hurlow stamped, completely original :)

[Peachy!]

BB came out without any effort, remarkable. Cleaned up its in amazing condition also.
Slight ‘snag’ is the plan to use the bb end to flood the seat tube with plus gas to try and free the post… and the reason for the bb quality is a kind of shim inside the bb casting action as a shield of sorts. Never seen this before. Not sure if should / try and remove it? Will have a look later to see if there’s a join (so if it’s ‘sprung’ in.)
Hmm.

Found one of those in a number of higher end 50’s Clauds. All were sprung in.

 

[fiveSixteenths]

Found one of those in a number of higher end 50’s Clauds. All were sprung in.

Right, will investigate further.

Edit.
Well, it appears that’s how the thing is cast. There’s no hairline joint / where a shim could be overlapped to spring in and the bb threads run right in, so appears to be a continuous surface. Could that be possible?
Is it a ‘holeless’ tube for structural reasons, given the lugless construction?

 

[Old Ned]

My lugless Dave Russell has a 'tube' BB shell, no holes for seat tube or chain stays.

 

[fiveSixteenths]

Meanwhile, snagged this. Battered but lovely Milremo pump. Needs new washers but that should be simple enough ha ha

 

[fiveSixteenths]

As it’s likely this will need to go to the seatpost man, stripped it all down.
Drilled a tiny hole in the top of the seatpost (well, it’s going to die if I can’t free it) and filled the seat tube up with plusgas. Easier to keep it level so as the gas has a chance to seep in. Nothing ventured etc.
Took the chance to do a weigh in.
Frame, even with the post, is lighter than some of my mid-90’s Columbus bikes ha ha

 

[fiveSixteenths]

Meanwhile, these arrived tonight

 

[fiveSixteenths]

Milremo bargain pedals for people too poor for Allez!
And the seat pin has been soaking in vinegar which the seat tube I filled up with and sealed since Sunday… and something is starting to work lol

 

[fiveSixteenths]

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuucckkkkkk
Bumped into the frame.
The seal failed, cue a high pressure spray of vinegar, plus-gas and rust all up one wall and the ceiling and me.
Indoors.
Not a garage indoors.
Indoors the house.
This weekend I will now be mostly redecorating.
And the feckety fecking seat pin is still stuck. Fml.

 

[3wheeler7]

"Also learnt there’s a guy in Booker who can repair the Reynolds steerer top cap, so will look into that and report back"

Hi, that steerer top cap is Hiduminium (RR56 alloy) which is - technically - not weldable.
Welding and polishing may hide the crack but it won't be possible to regain the strength of the original part due to the post processing solution and precipitation heat treatment required. The weld filler material will not respond to the heat treatment and the repaired stem will only be as strong as its weakest area.
Could look OK on a show bike I suppose.

How do I know this? 45+ years working in aerospace and defense manufacturing.

Regards
Tony

 

[fiveSixteenths]

Ah. Bummer. But thanks for the info, I did get the pointer secondhand so good to know the facts from someone actually in the know!
Looks like I’ll be sticking with the GB stem for now…