many thanks for all the information recieved from you guys on my tool questions. I'll be emailling you individually to thank you one on one. Well I've pretty much finished cleaning up the ted williams bike. the only thing left is the rear wheel.
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/
Here's a link to some pics of the finished product.
I tried to keep it original as possible but I did make some changes. The saddle was changed from a cheap vinyl to a B-17 which seems about right for this bike. I don't think sears would have used a pro on this bike. The shifters were originally stem mounted and I changed them to bar end shifters so I could still use the original shimano downtube cablestop. The brake levers were dia-compe with safety levers and no hoods. Since the calipers are weinmann I put some weinmann levers with hoods on it. the bars were bare when i got the bike, I was tempted to use some blue bennotto nylon tape but went with the black cork instead. The pedals were chrome quill style I went with alloy pedals instead. I haven't put the toe clips on yet. I changed all the cables and housing, original was black so that wasn't much of a change.
Some of the highlights of the original parts are the tires which are Semperit and made is austria and appear to be original. They are in fantastic shape, no cracks, not much wear at all. I really think this bike hung in a garage for almost 30 years. The crane derailleur looks practically mint.
The zinc plating on the spokes is all but gone and when I have the time I will rebuild them. I may use a different wheelset to preserve the original tires and wheels.
I'm liking this bike more and more, I can't wait to take it for a ride. Thanks again for all of your help.
marc garcia
chicago IL