Carlton Corsa?

[nonowt]

I take your point about values @nonowt but there is a certain pride and satisfaction in restoring an old bike back to its former glory regardless of the ultimate cost. Anyway it's the OPs call, he'll know what he wants.
I was hoping nobody was going to post a link to spokesmann's bike, the OP might just go out and shoot himself after viewing!
Please keep us up to date on your progress Glenn.

Agree, it's totally the OPs call. And about the satisfaction of restoring a old bike - it's very rewarding. That's why I included the Spokesmann link just to show how stunning these lower-end bikes can look when shown some TLC. I was more trying to caution against rushing into spending £100+ on paint before being living with the bike for a while and being sure that it is definitely a keeper. After 6 months - if it is a keeper - you might grow to love the scratches and the chips because they're part of the character of the bike but if not - get it to the painters!

 

[Glenn2605]

I think the paint looks fine (it's only original once!). I'd clean it up, t-cut, polish it and ride it for at least 6 months before thinking about re-painting/powder-coating. Speaking from experience, it's very easy to get caught up in the romance of a vintage bike and end up spending hundreds on a bike that's never going to be worth a fraction of that. It's a lovely bike with a timeless style but, unfortunately, even a pristine Corsa is unlikely to fetch more than a £100. A stated above, a better investment would be some alloy wheels (steel are heavy and don't stop in the wet!), some downtube shifters and then maybe a replacement central pull for the rear.

these are cheap and should do the job (assuming to the OLD is right):
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/27-x-1-1...224371&hash=item3aab01a6e8:g:wyUAAOSwiYlaAnoN

Spokesmann's inspirational Carlton's can be seen here:
http://spokessmann.tripod.com/id11.html

Cheers for the link to the wheels, I'll snap them up if you think they will fit straight in. Regarding the other link for the Corsa - that's got me started up now !

 

[nonowt]

Cheers for the link to the wheels, I'll snap them up if you think they will fit straight in. Regarding the other link for the Corsa - that's got me started up now !

just check they're the same size (!) and that rear spacing is the same. I couldn't see the OLD mentioned on the ebay page to it might be worth asking. More about OLD/spacing here:

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html