For those CR members who actually give a damn about cottered cranks - you know who you are - I went by the hardware store this week and picked up a 7mm x 1 bolt, and that fits the thread on the old steel Stronglight crankarms, the thread in the arms that attaches the chainring bolts.
Someone suggested that 7mm was a bastard size, not really considered a "proper" metric dimension. That seems to be somewhat true, as the online fastener places only seem to carry 7mm bolts in zinc coated hex head bolts. I was hoping for nice stainless button head bolts, but no such luck. But I guess the Zinc coated hex bolts are probabaly closer to the original.
BTW of the three TDC cottered axles I bought, the one that didn't fit the "English" Stronglight cottered arms did fit French Stronglight cottered arms. I am talking the fit of the arm onto the axle - whether the cotter surfaces match we shall see. So perhaps TDC made both French and English dimension cottered axles.
Anyone know if the cups of cottered and cotterless BB's of the same marque are interchangeable? Sutherland's seems to suggest they are not.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
\r?\n> Subject: Update on Steel Stronglight and Duravia project
\r?\n> To: "CLASSIC RENDEZVOUS" <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
\r?\n> Date: Sunday, June 14, 2009, 2:37 PM
\r?\n> Eddy's update on the Caminargent
\r?\n> motivates me to post an update on the 1954 Duravia, just as
\r?\n> his original post of his exquisite eBay Caminargent purchase
\r?\n> caused me to unbox the Duravia frame and start collecting
\r?\n> parts.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> As discussed here previously, I'm using the old nice
\r?\n> slender and surprisingly light Stronglight logoed cottered
\r?\n> steel crankarms, the ones with the logo very similar to the
\r?\n> 49D alloy cranks. But I discovered a problem with the
\r?\n> fit of arms to the unknown original cottered BB axle, which
\r?\n> was clarfied by CR members who explained that there were
\r?\n> "English" version Stronglight steel cranks that took an
\r?\n> English-diameter axle, whereas the home market arms used a
\r?\n> French-diameter axle.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I subsequently bought three English-made TDC axles on UK
\r?\n> eBay - the seller seems to be Nick at Lloyd's, better known
\r?\n> for decals for old English and some other frames. I thought
\r?\n> all three axles were identical, but two fit the crank, while
\r?\n> one did not. And as Murphy's law would have it, after
\r?\n> checking the fit on one axle, I installed the only one that
\r?\n> didn't fit, but the second worked. Not sure why the
\r?\n> variation in TDC axle diamaters. This TDC axle seems to run
\r?\n> smoothly in the unidentified original French cups and the
\r?\n> English version Stronglight arms fit well. I kind of
\r?\n> thought the arms might take an English-size 9.5 mm cotter
\r?\n> pin, but the French-size 9 mm turns out to be the best
\r?\n> fit. There could be an issue with fit of French key
\r?\n> with English axle, but it seems OK, although I won't know
\r?\n> for sure until I hammer or press the pins in tight and
\r?\n> actually ride the cranks.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> By the way anyone know the chainring thread dimensions on
\r?\n> the old Stronglight steel cottered arms (the arms are tapped
\r?\n> for the chainring bolts)? The original bolt are larger
\r?\n> than 6 mm, 7 mm perhaps?
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Still seaking advice on an appropriate build. I've
\r?\n> bought a Simplex RH brazeon shifter on UK eBay and a Simplex
\r?\n> Rigidex 4-spd chainstay mount RD missing the return
\r?\n> spring. Bought assorted throttle return springs at the
\r?\n> auto parts store, but they are all too short, at least to
\r?\n> reach the eyelet on the chainstay that I take to be the
\r?\n> forward anchor point of the return spring. Any
\r?\n> suggestion? For HS, is a Stronglight P3 old enough to
\r?\n> be correct? What about hubs? Not sure I want to
\r?\n> shell out the price of Maxicar. What are the more
\r?\n> affordable options? It looks like some of the older
\r?\n> Normandy hubs have circular holes in the flanges as opposed
\r?\n> to more recent oval holes. Is this what I should look
\r?\n> for in period Normandy? What other marques/models
\r?\n> would be correct? What 700C clincher rims are correct
\r?\n> and obtainable? I've bough some AVA "South of France"
\r?\n> bars Hilary recently offered to the list and will use an old
\r?\n> faux lugged alloy stem that seems
\r?\n> period correct. Saddle will probably be Ideale mod 44 or
\r?\n> 52.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Regards,
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Jerry Moos
\r?\n> Big Spring, Texas, USA