Picked this up recently. From serial number I believe Nottingham/Jul/1979. Trying to decide if I restore or leave frameset as is but do a major cleaning? Any advice or insight appreciated.

Just clean it up as best as you can.

That rear hub should have a date stamped on it. 1979 is a good estimate as those ribbed Sturmey Archer hubs were a later 70s into 1980s thing.

Looks nice! I know pics don’t show the whole story but that doesn’t look like the clean up is going to be too expensive.

Love to see it when you are finished!

Nice find! I would also get a Brooks b66 or b72 . I think someone painted the rear fender white as was done from factory until maybe ‘75 . I would only repaint that portion with some oil based rust oleum you find in a small can at hardware store and apply by brush. Use painter tape to get a clean line and remove before dry. Source the accompanying rear reflector and chain guard if you can find. Service the hubs and BB and HS. You can make a cotter press from a motorcycle chain tool from harbor freight for less than $15. Instructions can be found somewhere on forum just use search. It looks like it will clean up well as I see no rust apart from small surface rust on chainwheel.

Nice looking DL-1! Like others have said, it doesn't need much to clean this up. Post this on 'For the love of English 3 speeds' thread and you'll get good advice, particularly if you're needing or wanting to pull things apart to clean or service. And they'll tell you how to set up the brakes to work as well as they can.

Thanks so much for your advice ... really apprciated