thanks for all the positive comments!
i was able to get the bike taken apart today, everything came off smoothly. stem and seat post slipped right out.
clubman- i'll keep an eye on the stem, everything looks ok right now though. the hubs are indeed the BH Racelight hubs, the rims may be the Dunlops you speak of, i left them at the shop though, figured they were junk (i've since told my buddy who works at the shop to hang on to them). a lot of the holes that the spokes go through on the rim were pulled out (towards the hub) as if the spokes had been over-tightened. i didn't notice any cracks or splitting but would be shocked if none of them were. the spokes were toast and 2 of them had broken off at the head, a bunch of the nipples had been replaced and some were rounded off as well.
my intentions after taking a closer look at them was to rebuild the wheels with a modern 27in rim such as the SUN CR18's. i will probably hang onto the original rims though since you mention it. i would ditch the 27in and go 700c for tire choice options but i don't think the calipers would reach.
i found this in the bottom bracket shell:
IMG_2254 by
shnibop, on Flickr
appears to read 12-2-61, so my assumption that this is a 1962 model may be correct.
also the serial number is: RA 61319 N (and "SA" hand carved, thought it may have been the original owner's initial's but his son's last name starts with a 'K')
not sure how to decode the serial, i checked Sheldon's dating a Raleigh page but can't figure it out (
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/dating.html)
anyway, i'll be rebuilding the hubs, cleaning all the bits and pieces and be updating soon, stay tuned...