1980 Mercian 753 Special .

[squirrelchaser]

A unicorn from ebay .
Cosmetically not much to do , tidy up the touching up which is thick and applied with a stick . Fortunately the colour match isn't too bad I'm going to have to be careful though because whatever paint has been used is waaay more durable than the original paint . The fork crown has been drilled for a recessed brake which is a shame but I reckon I can get around it with a cut down recessed brake nut . I may have to lengthen the thread on the brake spigot .
Unfortunately I think it took a knock in transit on the non drive side drop out . It was supposed to be 126mm oln it's now between 123 and 124 mm . It seems straight with the wheel in and theres no visible cracking to the paint so I'm not sure what , if anything to do about that .
The fork crowns are more in line with 70's Mercians than 80's also it has no bottle cage or lever brazings , though the cable routing is under the bb so it seems to me to be on the cusp of ideas/fashions .
There were some badly placed replacement 753 fork decals and the Campag sticker on the top tube which I took off . I'm undecided about the chainstay protector .
It came with a nearly new Record headset and very clean Record gear levers .
After a lot of making up my mind and then un making it up then making it up again I decided , probably , to use Suntour Superbe , or the sub contracted equivalents , for the components I don't already have . This may change .
This may take a while but I'm pretty sure it'll be worth it . Chuffed .

 

[torqueless]

There's more than a few 123mm oln frames about- back then it was half-way-house so you could go 5 speed or 6. The only downside being that neither a 5 speed nor a 6 speed axle felt quite right in there until you tightened the qr. Is your bb shell 65mm or 68mm?
Regarding the front brake, I would find an appropriate bit of metal to fill the ak drilling and use a nutted brake, especially if you have one. Please don't hacksaw a perfectly good nutted-length bolt down to ak length. There's more than enough of that gone on already.

 

[squirrelchaser]

There's more than a few 123mm oln frames about- back then it was half-way-house so you could go 5 speed or 6. The only downside being that neither a 5 speed nor a 6 speed axle felt quite right in there until you tightened the qr. Is your bb shell 65mm or 68mm?
Regarding the front brake, I would find an appropriate bit of metal to fill the ak drilling and use a nutted brake, especially if you have one. Please don't hacksaw a perfectly good nutted-length bolt down to ak length. There's more than enough of that gone on already.

Unfortunately I can see that the drop outs are not quite parallel and that the culprit is the non drive side , which I suppose is lucky ?! It's a 68 shell too .
I agree entirely with the front brake fix . I was going to cut or drill , or both , a recessed brake nut and screw it down the spigot till it fills the hole , then bolt up as normal .

 

[squirrelchaser]

My solution to the drilled fork crown issue . Seems to work ok .

 

[squirrelchaser]

 

[squirrelchaser]

Close of play today . The XA stem will likely be changed for a 1a at the first opportunity and there are some Sylvan SY1 pedals on the way . The wheels will not be staying either . More on that when the rims arrive .
I had to pop a thread insert into the rear mech pinch bolt as only the last 2 turns of thread were any good . I've never done this before and am really happy with the result , it's so much better than retapping to the next size up .

 

[squirrelchaser]

I spoke of rims and they turn up the next day ! Magic . Pedals too ?!?

 

[squirrelchaser]

 

[squirrelchaser]

There's more than a few 123mm oln frames about- back then it was half-way-house so you could go 5 speed or 6. The only downside being that neither a 5 speed nor a 6 speed axle felt quite right in there until you tightened the qr. Is your bb shell 65mm or 68mm?
Regarding the front brake, I would find an appropriate bit of metal to fill the ak drilling and use a nutted brake, especially if you have one. Please don't hacksaw a perfectly good nutted-length bolt down to ak length. There's more than enough of that gone on already.

I thought about what you said and , given that the measuring stick lies less than my eyes and also that I won't be bending drop outs or stays , I'd get some 123 mm hubs and stick with things the way they are . Thanks .

 

[squirrelchaser]

I think she'll look better with silver rings . When the anodising wears they tend to look a bit tatty.