If this is a 1-3/8" x 26tpi shell, it's a very rare shop that has that particular tap.

A standard BB threaded into the other side of the shell, so it's most likely 24tpi.

It's good to know that there is such a substantial knowledge base out there for all this old or vintage or "bike mechanic" stuff! Don't anyone get their "pants in a wad", I'm really NOT making a comment about the significance of the craft! I'm hoping to learn from everyone! In the course of this thread i have learned a lot of stuff that will pay me dividends as I go thru these "projects." I have learned here:
* I can't tell the difference between 24tpi and 26tpi.
* What I thought I knew about "screwing" is all backwards...C vs CC! I'll bet you thought i was talking about something else.
* The value of threadless...well, at my age I don't have to worry about screwing to much, frontwards or backwards.
The VO threadless solution does sound like the easiest...all I have to do is "put in in!"
Thanks to all and I will post again as I move forward with the BB insertion!

I told you i would be back. I heard from VO regarding their threadless bb and this is what they said:
"Hi Doug,
I don't know if ours would work or not. My suspicion is that it won't work. I think that due to the narrow nature of the shell, the BB might run out of threads when you tighten it, thus not allowing it to properly expand."

Earlier in this post it was established that this was a pre-Raleigh Hercules and so likely that it had 24 TPI threads.

You can still get somebody to tap it slightly OS to Italian, I think, as was previously suggested.

Seriously, how valuable is this bike to you ? You could probably get a pretty good, tight BB cup
installation with red (high strength) loctite or even one of their bedding compounds, but you might
never get the cups out again. if you buy a pretty high quality sealed unit and slap it in there with
red loctite it will go for a long time......maybe longer than the rest of the bike or you.