I'm currently building my son a Viscount Aerospace and have run in to a major problem with the bottom bracket.

The drive side puller threads were bad when we got it and I had no luck with a jaw puller, I brought it to a LBS and they got the bottom bracket all out the drive side but managed to screw up the axle bolt threads in the non-drive side

So I have the frame cleaned up, a new chrome-moly fork, new bearings for the bottom bracket and I can't put it together.

My son even sold an old Fuji he built himself to buy a set of tubulars for the original Viscount wheels that came on the bike.

Anyone have a Viscount bottom bracket axle or possibly a whole spare bottom bracket and crankset?

The other thing that may save me is someone that could chase the threads in the axle for me, they're an odd English thread apparently 22tpi.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I can't help with the BB unit or thread chasing, but I do have a Viscount crankset, I think a triple but would have to hunt it down to verify. PM me if you need it.

I know when I needed new crank bolts for a Viscount I found some at a British motorcycle shop. They might be Whitworth.

I might have a Viscount BB laying around...... I'll have to go dig though my junk box.

you guys are unbelievable

I would drill out a short depth of the bb spindle threads and tryu again.

Oil the threads and try starting the bolt in. If it immediately binds, I would tap the bolt with a hammer and try turning again, repeating this hammer-and-turn process in an attempt to get the bolt threading smoothly.

What is the shop's story? They buggered the threads?

One fix would be a YST "threadless" bottom bracket, which is inexpensive and threads into itself so no bb shell threads are needed.

I have a whole pile of Vis parts in very good condition.


27 275 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

I would swap this for something interesting in a 58. This is a bit small, has good reinforced aluminum fork (good er).

Thanks guys, if you could check your old parts bins it would be great.

The bolts do have Whitworth heads for sure and an odd English thread as well, my fathers 1961 Austin Healey had a ton of Whitworth on it but all standard threading.

Frank, Thanks for the offer but yours is actually too small for my son at this point, the kid is growing like a weed. If I hadn't just sold that Superior I might have made an offer anyways.

As for the shop, they're great overall and I've never had a problem with them so I'm not going to kick up a fuss, I just need to make sure I know who's working on my stuff if I do bring them something.

Just like auto repair shops, some techs are better than others in the same shop.

Some Lambert/Viscount cranks were threaded 7/8" x 24tpi -- good luck finding an extractor for that! It's possible the spindle threads were also some obscure spec. Unless you're trying to keep the bike authentic, the most expeditious solution is probably to replace the cranks and bottom bracket with more standard parts. The YST threadless cartridge does not have a good reputation for reliability or longevity, but it may be adequate for your purposes. Velo-Orange also offers a threadless cartridge that has been well-received. Another option is to ream and tap the shell for Italian thread cups, which is what I did with my Viscount.

The non-drive side came right off, I'm pretty sure someone had screwed up the drive side previously.

I'm doing my best to keep it authentic but it may not be possible, we shall see.

The LBS mentioned the Italian thread thing, Sorry to sound ignorant but what would I run for a bottom bracket then? Campy or something else?

After the drive-side threads stripped out on my Viscount I got it off with a three-arm gear puller. The six-hole chainring makes it easy.
The spindle on mine is fairly soft. You might have good luck re-threading metric if you can't get the Withworth bolts to work.

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I tried a two jaw puller with no luck, didn't have a three jaw.

Metric re-threading is a thought, I may just give it a shot.

You could run anything for which Italian thread cups are available. In the past, all the major manufacturers offered Italian thread as an option.

New spindle and bolts on the way from Bigbossman, Thanks!!

Now to see what I can do with the stuck drive side crank arm.

This Viscount is turning out to be quite an adventure. The boys tubulars showed up the other day so he'll have to get out there and rebuild his hubs and we'll have a crash course in gluing tires.