Hi all, I have an early eighties Raleigh Olympian Mixte (probably an '83) that I am trying to fix up for my wife. I pulled the old bottom bracket and am trying to instal a new cartridge bottom bracket (68mm english threaded) with little luck. I've cleaned the threads pretty well, but I can't seem to get the bracket to thread in at all. Are my threads possibly stripped or are some of the early-eighties Raleigh Olympians cursed with the wonky 26 tpi threading Raleigh used on some of their old bikes? Nothing on the internet has suggested raleigh olympians ever used a different threading for the bracket shell, but I'm having no luck at all getting it installed.

The only other problem I can think of is the derailleur cable guide is still attached to the bottom of the bracket shell. There is still a small bolt end that sticks through the middle of the shell to attach it as a result. Would that be enough to foul-up a bottom bracket installation? Any suggestions would be helpful. I'm also cross-posting this in the bicycle mechanics forum.

Thanks