Hi, how's the 1954 Lenton restoration going? Any chance of posting up a couple of pics on Retrobike?
I went through what you're attempting about 5 years ago, restoration of a green '54 Lenton Sports. The frame was a combination of green paint, black undercoat, and rust :? And I had the same dilemma:- how to keep it as original as possible, whilst making it presentable and useable.
By the way, don't worry about the Sturmey Archer hubs, they're rock-solid! I've found they tend to work 1st time after a few squirts of WD40 and some oil. Might be worth taking apart the FM hub, if you have time, just to clean it up - that's what I did on mine. Take a deep breath and go for it, not as daunting as it looks!!
