Malvern Star (3 Star) Restoration

[old steel Bikes]

Well it has been a while since I have put anything on here and had this old frame for quite some time. I would like to thanks Silverlight for pass the sale onto me as the frame was just up the road from and was delivered. Talking to the seller he had 2 of these that he purchased and pulled both apart and put the best parts on the best frame to use as a rider which he still does.

After receiving the frame as always put it together with any parts n the shed and take it for a ride which was done. After that it was pulled apart to keep going on building some late model bikes which are now completed. Whilst doing did some research on the bike Warren help me dating the frame as well and other info. Trying to source period correct parts has been difficult so it will not be totally correct but will do he best I can do.

Actually trying to find any information on 3 Stars is hard 2 Stars there is a lot of information so as I go along any help on where I am go wrong would be appreciated. And if anyone has any parts to sit the build and are prepared to part with again be appreciated

This build will take some time to complete so will add to the post as things progress

Danny

IMG_0670 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_0668 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_0671 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_0673 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

Found some parts to take for first ride.

IMG_0042 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

[GaryF]

This is a fame with great potential. Definitely worth taking your time and planning a 'special' build. It will be hard to source appropriate components but it will be worth the wait. I just love the Osgear rear dropouts. I'm very pleased to see Warren is involved.

Best wishes.

[Clydesdale Scot]

Will you be going with an Osgear? If you do I have a very comprehensive article on the Osgears.
A check on Trove would indicate that MS were heavily using BSA components at the time. Is this what Warren suggested you look for?
Does Warren have any catalogues from that period?
Did the former owner inform what was on the frame before he harvested the parts?

[WyvernRH]

Those long point, two position rear dropouts were also made by Cyclo to be used with their forward mounted derailleurs. The brazed-on gear mount on the stay looks very much like a Cyclo component to me with the square holes. Maybe a Cyclo 'Oppy' gear would be appropriate?
There are various Huret and Simplex tourist gears that you can cross mount on a Cyclo braze-on with a bit of tweaking but all the pictures I've seen of Malvern Stars of this period with forward mount derailleurs have had Cyclos of one type or another.

Richard

[old steel Bikes]

Will you be going with an Osgear? If you do I have a very comprehensive article on the Osgears.
A check on Trove would indicate that MS were heavily using BSA components at the time. Is this what Warren suggested you look for?
Does Warren have any catalogues from that period?
Did the former owner inform what was on the frame before he harvested the parts?

The bike will be fittered with a 3 speed Bayliss Wiley Freewheel hub with BSA wing nuts and Cyclo rear changer. First problem is the hub is 50s model as Warren pointed out which I did not know but will be installed. Also the gear setup is how it came and I know the changer is wrong as well but will look for the correct model.

bricon by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_0039a by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_0732 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_1737 a by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

I did have a problem fitting the cable as it would not fit around the rear changer. To fix this I had to remove some of both sides of the outer cable to make it fit. From this I think the rear changer cable wheel must vary in diamenter form model to model??? MAYBE


Cranks are BSA again I have not found the correct ones these belong to another bike and just on to get the gears working. The bike will be running two chain wheels the question is 2 BSA rings or Cyclo twin ring set up all of these I have found are 3/32 and the rest o the drive line is 1/8. I am lending to two BSA chain Rings at this point in time. The spring retainer is not the finished item before I get asked

IMG_1738 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

Front hub is a Bayliss Wiley as well with Rosa wing nuts

IMG_1743 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

There is a lot to do on this build and only just started. Like I said will take some time and all comments are welcome

Danny

[WyvernRH]

Hmm, I do know the levers and the cables differed twixt the Tourist and the Oppy gears. The Oppy cable drum is much smaller at both ends. Not sure about the other French Cyclo twin cable variants. AFAIK the Tourist model (like yours) basically stayed the same from the late 30's til the late 50's, only the mounts and bottom chain pulley varied. As far as the front rings are concerned, as long as you space them wide enough apart you can run 1/8th chain on 3/32" sprockets at the front. However beware matching up non paired steel 1/8" rings at the front. Rings designed as singles often have flanges etc to ensure straight running and do not play well as doubles.

Richard

[old steel Bikes]

Hmm, I do know the levers and the cables differed twixt the Tourist and the Oppy gears. The Oppy cable drum is much smaller at both ends. Not sure about the other French Cyclo twin cable variants. AFAIK the Tourist model (like yours) basically stayed the same from the late 30's til the late 50's, only the mounts and bottom chain pulley varied. As far as the front rings are concerned, as long as you space them wide enough apart you can run 1/8th chain on 3/32" sprockets at the front. However beware matching up non paired steel 1/8" rings at the front. Rings designed as singles often have flanges etc to ensure straight running and do not play well as doubles.

Richard

Thanks for the this information Richard

I had asked about some people about the cable and as I believed the only different one was for tandems being the length of cause.

Will take on the point about the chain rings especially how to support the inside ring to ensure it runs straight I know on the Chater Lea the outside ring has the inside lip machined off. This is still in the think tank.

Danny

[old steel Bikes]

Found some brakes at long last that will suit this build. Monitor Speedstar. These came from all over the place first the callipers then the levers and final the brake shoes where given to me by a mate with one other Monitor calliper. I will be able to use it for parts it all helps

The callipers not new but in great shape other then they are not a match set the return springs one is black and the other not coloured. They came without cable adjusters and two different size holes where these are fittered. In the brake parts bin and found what looks OK adjusters, drilled, tapped and installed.

The brake shoes are the right thing with all the supports but would not fit in the callipers either, the mounting bolts where too big anyway it now has brakes.

The levers where missing screws I have not fixed them yet but that will not cause to much trouble some stainless screws will be added when time allows. There is still some other work to be completed to finish off the levers so they look the same as they are not a pair either. The levers will be going on what looks to me to be Oppy Bars and period correct stem. Bars and stem will be replated at some point in time.

At this point in time is just getting the bike together to ensure it all works as it should.

Danny

IMG_1745 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_1744 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_1747 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_1748 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

[old steel Bikes]

Seat has been added old brooks around 1940s that will need some help.

Danny

IMG_1746 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_1677 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

[WyvernRH]

Those Monitors are in good condition!
So... that's what the matching brake levers look like. I have not seen any in the flesh before. I have a set of Monitors on an earlier Malvern Star but hav enever been sure what the levers looked like. Petty sure I have a very similar pair to those shown that were rescued from another bike in the box somewhere...

Richard

[old steel Bikes]

Todays project is stripping down a pair of old wooden wheels so the rims to be used in this build. Had these wheel for quite some time and as much as I tried they where be on bring back to life. The spokes where just about rusted through and could not be trusted to ride on. So with great care removing the nipples one 360 degree turn then moving to the next nipple. Some of the spokes broke as son as I started to turn them. Save the nipples was a must so to go back into these rims. Now all I have to do now is find some very old straight gauge spokes to suit these nipples. All of the broken spokes have now had the nipples removed. There where no washers under the heads of the nipples either first time I had seen this

Any ideas on where would be a good place to source the spokes required?

Some work will be undertaken to bring the rims back up to speed. Light rub with a fine steel wool then oiled with a natural decking oil. Something that can be tidy up easily in the future using the same process.

Danny

IMG_2155 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_2148 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_2156 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_2143 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_2146 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_2149 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr


The pedals showed up today as well

IMG_2142 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_2150 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

[Clydesdale Scot]

quality components rolling in; are you going to invest in a quality paint job?

[old steel Bikes]

As far as the front rings are concerned, as long as you space them wide enough apart you can run 1/8th chain on 3/32" sprockets at the front. However beware matching up non paired steel 1/8" rings at the front. Rings designed as singles often have flanges etc to ensure straight running and do not play well as doubles.

Richard

So I have been on the hunt to see what double chain wheel setup are around and to see if I can make something up that would be close to what is correct. I have found a few and I am shore there are more so here are what I have found at the moment. I am certain some people will have seen these before but some may not have so I am sharing these photos.

If you have other please add because I am not certain what direction I am going as yet so the all ideas welcome

Danny

BSA centre where the teeth have been removed then 2 rings added.

IMG_BSA Alloy by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

Oppy setup with second ring added these appear to be alloy

IMG_OPPY by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

BSA crank and what appears to be a Williams outer chain ring mounted to the crank then the inside chain ring modified then mount to the outside tidy setup.

Cottesloe20131112_0574 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr


This photo was taken from another post here. This is a complete BSA setup both cranks and chain rings. The outside ring has been mounted back the front. This would allow the strengthen lip on the inside to be maintained. I am thinking if it was on the right way round this would have to be machine off thus affecting the strength of the ring when under load and might twist. Then the inside ring appears to be mounted to the back of the chain ring mount with the use of longer mounting bolts and also nuts have been added as well. What you can not see if there has been any work done to assist the inside ring mounting to prevent twisting.

IMG_BSA 2 Rings by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

To this I have been playing around to see how the BSA setup would work. I just had the rings spare as a trial I plan on putting a normal set of rings on and trial it on a bike to see how it works. Here is a couple of photos of where I am at now.

IMG_2154 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr


IMG_Trial 2 rings by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

[old steel Bikes]

Sorry for the removal of the photos of this restoration but PHOTOBUCKET have changed the rules. Not only this post but any other post where I have inserted photos for illustration or specific information that is better explained by the use of photos.

To this there has been no prior knowledge that they where going to change the rules they just did. How can I or anyone rebuild the history is we have lost is unacceptable. You can get them back if you are in the position to part with $399.00. This is robbery in my way of thinking as they have allowed the process to go for so long.

I am not shore how to fix this and if we can remove the Photo Bucket Notifications from our posts then try and rebuild using another provider that BNA recommend. It would be really good if we could paste into this site.

Thanks for reading and Sorry again

Danny

[QuangVuong]

It is pretty poor service from Photobucket. It has steadily gotten worse over time, and now they decide to do this. From reading the updated policies, Photobucket does not allow any 3rd party hosting(which is posting images here on BNA) on free accounts anymore.

All our pictures are still in our Photobucket accounts, but aren't visible here. So the best thing to do is reupload your images to a different photo hosting site(Flickr or Imgur for example) and change all the image links here(although admin/moderator rights are needed). If you don't have the original pictures around, then you can download your albums from Photobucket.

7 years worth of my pictures on various forums are all not visible anymore. And many users(yourself, and Clydesdale Scot for example) here are affected too.

[hazarama]

It's awful. I went through a similar thing recently with Dropbox removing it's Public folder feature effectively killing links in posts I've made to forums since 2008. Word was that Dropbox did this because of implementation limitations, they weren't able to manage objectionable content effectively .. this is why we can't have nice things, blah blah

Photobucket's move is just grubby greed and I'm very glad not to be using their service.

Since getting bitten by Dropbox I've been using imgur which has become one of those ubiquitous internet services like Wikipedia and is not going to change anytime soon.

[old steel Bikes]

Just an update it has been a while since I have put anything here and the reason is I am not that great with computers so have stayed away. But with the help of Philip Knight I hope to update the photos on some of my post and also add some new posts of other bikes I now have been restoring.

I have still been visiting this site on most days as it is the best site to assist in the restoration of Old Australian Bikes

Danny

[old steel Bikes]

While I have not added anything I did come across this Malvern Star Catalogue which was on EBay and I did not win after trying. It said it was from 1940 my problem I did not take any screen shots of the rest of the Catalogue to prove this so only going on my memory of what was on the catalogue or was written on the add. It has changed my mind on some of the way this build will take going forward.

The frame as 1939 to 1940 and from what I have seen the paint and decals vary a lot from one year to the next. As is very hard to find much info on the 3 star compared to the 2 star. Which might be a good thing.

IMG_2764 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_2680 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_2679 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_2678 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_2677 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

While these photos are not exactly the same as mine they are a good start. There was better models again I should have captured screen shots of every page. If anyone here has info I would really like a copy if possible

Also found this on the internet BSA Oppy"s Gold Special

IMG_2989 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_2990 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

[old steel Bikes]

Wheels are now completed rubbed back, stained and sealed. The wheel where built with 4 cross on the back and 3 cross on the front. Nipples are from the original wheels that where stripped then cleaned up.

Components are-

Bayliss-Wiley Hubs (freewheel rear hub) later model than I was looking but the only one I could find

What I believe are Constrictor timber rims looking at the profile

15 - 17 Gauge chrome double butted spokes

Danny

IMG_3497 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_3526 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_3326 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_4631 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_4636 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

Wheels built by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

[old steel Bikes]

Some updates to the progress to this build.

After looking at the catalogue handlebars and stem have been changed. It has now Oppy handlebars and Major Taylor stem that has been restored. Handlebar grips also been added unfortunately Malvern Stars unavailable so period correct original Shockstops.

Also the cranks and chain wheel have been changed as well. The cranks are as the catalogue now. I did want ad twin chain wheels to this build and keeping with BSA equipment to be constant I have a later model BSA setup. To complete the driveline in keeping with the vintage Oppy wire toe clips have been added.

A water bottle has been sourced for the bike and now looking for a single handlebar wire bottle cage if anyone has one they are willing to part with.

Danny

IMG_4867 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_4865 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_4866 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_3707 by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_4873[1] by Danny Brooks, on Flickr

IMG_4872[1] by Danny Brooks, on Flickr