UK Sussex- Aerospace Pro with porthole chainring

Mmmm, the chain's dead, but that's an easy replacement, headset's pretty rusty too, and that's not so easy.
The forks look like DF's, but have a bike-light mount, so may not be. The saddle is probably not original either.
As this is the blue livery AP, I'd expect tubular wheels ... hard to see from the one photo posted.
The right hand pedal is missing a cap, so that looks like a traditional Viscount one (!)
I wonder what size that frame is ... and what the price is ...

The set up of that bike with the bars and saddle, the fact the owner thinks its 28" wheels and frame would suggest to me that he either thinks it's worth £400+ or about £30 on a good day...he's open to offers

I agree with Jim and John. Take it apart and see what is wrong with each component, fork, and frame. I refurbish a lot of parts and bikes and here is my method. After disassembly, I divide components into two categories - ones that can be refurbished and ones that have too much lost material.

The former go through a process of de-greasing with mechanical scraping and wiping, followed by soaking in mineral spirits, steam, detergents, or whatever seems to dissolve this bike's particular grease, oil, and petroleum "plaque" with the least effort. Then the parts are soaked in Evaporust to remove light surface rust (plus it contains a very effective surfactant that removes residual grease/oil. Rinse in hot water and dry.

The latter usually cannot be refurbished because too much has been lost to rust and/or wear - examples are worn out chains, freewheels, chainrings, tires, cables, handlebar tape, brake hoods, brake pads, saddles and heavily rusted chrome plated parts. There is just no way to replace the lost material so these items are scrapped, although I sometimes remove hardware and small parts I might need somewhere else. Yes, always save those Suntour jockey wheels!

I do not try to restore paint and decals and leave the battle scars. This means I prefer bikes with "good enough" paint that can be brought up by polishing. Hats off to Jim, and others on this forum, who do nice paint jobs and get stunning results.

I also refurbish with period components rather than trying to find 100% original equipment. In many cases, very nice bikes of the past were originally outfitted with junk components that don't really work anyway (i.e. most saddles, Simplex plastic shifers and derailleurs, Viscount death forks, Viscount center-pull brakes, and pardon my saying, Viscount pressed bottom brackets.

Hard to say without pictures, but from the description, your bike sounds pretty rough. I would probably check the frame carefully, and if it sound, acquire a period Japanese donor bike and build a good-looking rider. If you have the Viscount pressed bottom bracket, you will have to work around that. There is a good thread on this forum about the Wheelson Hack, whereby you build a compatible and actually better pressed bottom bracket from off the shelf modern parts for about $20.

Welcome to the forum and good luck.

Brian

I wasn’t aware that Viscount bikes and components were more prevalent in the USA than the UK. It seems here in the USA that Lambert and Viscount bike and component prices have risen exponentially in the last few years. Also, there seems to be more component “mining”, perhaps in part because of the high cost of shipping complete bikes.
If anyone needs small parts, I suggest letting it be known here on the list, as well as at least your country of residence. Some small parts could be shipped even internationally for not too much, and a simple customs slip is not too difficult, especially for a low value “gift”.
Best,
John “wheelson”
USA

Hi there. Just wanted to check in on the Sussex aerospace. The restoration is 99% complete - but I wanted to ask what crank dust covers would fit, and also what pedal dust caps? Im guessing MKS for the pedals….? Thanks for your help!

When I figure out how to show photos I will, both before and after. I had to have a new top tube on the frame, and a respray. I also sourced Viscount hubs and Rigida rims for new wheels. The headset and brake hangars were too far gone, and I had to replace with Dia Compe at the front and Shimano at the back. I went for the YST Threadless cartridge as I thought maintenance of the original was never going to be easy (and would probably damage the paintwork). The rest was a matter of cleaning and polishing and a few replacements.

Most difficult parts (and relatively expensive) to source were I think new chainring bolts. Most useful tool was definitely a Dremel for grinding out the bottom bracket shell, and grinding down the tapered axle.

More coming…. Rusty