Resurrection of my Carlton (hopefully)

[audiman1]

Hi
I am trying to get my old Carlton back in working order. Looking at some of the photos on here, I have a long way to go!!!

Looks basically sound, but everything is dirty and needs a good clean.

My son had been using it for a few years, and its been in my shed since he went to the states a few years ago.

my first major problem is the rear brakes.
as soon as the lever is pulled, the brakes work, but the cable comes our of the lever and the cable doesn't return. the brakes appear ok, but not sure whether it's the cable or the brake set(if thats the correct term) that is causing the problem.
there is also what is think is a brass screw that the cable passes through at the rear of the frame, but i can't quite tell what it does, or whether that's causing a problem. Any ideas???

If I can get everything working, I wil probably strip it over the winter and get the frame repainted

photos are not great, but numbers are
rear base 139725
by peddle shaft 4 08418
there are also three letters on the front chrome BCM

I don't know exactly how old it is, but I got in about 1970, so any help identifying the model and year would be great.

 

[biggs682]

looks nice to me hope you are just going to clean and re lube with new cable which should help with your brake problem if you ask me .

the little screw is an adjuster for the brakes so screw it in all the way when you fit new cables and use that to fine adjustments , should be a similar on the front as well .

 

[Spokesmann]

Vry nice, always good to see a carlton getting some love and attention, year sounds about right. Can we have some more close up pictures please?

 

[midlife]

Very nice with that colour green I thought it was a Corsa but it's not. Nice chrome lugs number I think is from 1968-1972 when Carlton seemed to have lost the numbering plot.

I'll have a ponder on the model while you ride it...........

Shaun

 

[audiman1]

Thanks Guys,
Very much a novice with bikes, (and cameras!)
The screw in the third pic is broken at the top, and am a bit concerned about taking it out before finding a replacement.
I was hoping the rear brake problem was cable related.
I was thinking about getting the frame repainted.
Where is best place to get period items like lamps, saddle bag( are they still called that?) and things like that brake adjuster screw?
Some of the photos on here are awesome.

Thanks for the comments
Mike

 

[Dogtrousers]

Brake problem could be a kink or something in the inner cable, so it's not moving freely within the outer. You have the hand strength to pull the cable with the brake levers, but the brake spring doesn't have strength to pull it back. Equally it could be that the brakes are gunged up/corroded and sticking, so the brake spring is fighting against gunge and corrosion.

I had a similar problem with some sidepull brakes and was advised here (correctly) to disassemble, clean off corrosion and muck, and grease and reassemble them. They were like new when I'd finished, the spring felt so much stronger once it was all cleaned and lubed.

 

[audiman1]

Brake problem could be a kink or something in the inner cable, so it's not moving freely within the outer. You have the hand strength to pull the cable with the brake levers, but the brake spring doesn't have strength to pull it back. Equally it could be that the brakes are gunged up/corroded and sticking, so the brake spring is fighting against gunge and corrosion.

I had a similar problem with some sidepull brakes and was advised here (correctly) to disassemble, clean off corrosion and muck, and grease and reassemble them. They were like new when I'd finished, the spring felt so much stronger once it was all cleaned and lubed.

thanks for that - I will give that a try.
this may be a dumb question, but do you have to destroy the existing brake cable to remove it? is the outer cable separate from the inner?

Mike

 

[raleighnut]

Thanks Guys,
Very much a novice with bikes, (and cameras!)
The screw in the third pic is broken at the top, and am a bit concerned about taking it out before finding a replacement.
I was hoping the rear brake problem was cable related.
I was thinking about getting the frame repainted.
Where is best place to get period items like lamps, saddle bag( are they still called that?) and things like that brake adjuster screw?
Some of the photos on here are awesome.

Thanks for the comments
Mike

The broken adjuster screw is causing the brake problem, they're easy to get but can be hard to get out plenty of WD40 or similar and a pair of pliers should do it. As for brake cables inners and outers come separately, you just cut them to match the originals.