Victor was busy with questions yesterday and asked how to remove unwanted water bottle bosses.
I'll add my variation to the method Norris Lockley described. Most water bottle bosses are M5 thread. I clean the boss and a M5 bolt and silver braze it into the boss. After cutting off the head of the bolt, I file this combo flush to the tube being careful not to have my file bit into the tube itself. I start with course big files and when I get close, I use smaller, finer cut files and finish with emery cloth.
Question for Norris: a customer brought a 1969 Jack Taylor into my shop for restoration (that needs to be done to stop bad rust areas). It has some damaged water bottle bosses that I presume have Whitworth threads. What thread size would have Norm used in building this frame and are those standard nuts he used (and a tap) still available in England? Thanks
Doug Fattic
Niles, Michigan