Well, it's finally done. The original stock air pump arrived from England in a tight little round tube, well packed in foam and packing tape. It took me a little while to get it out, it was so well packed. I finally liberated it, gave it a couple pumps and instantly thought that something was missing - the little dongle that connects the pump to the valve. It was in the picture on eBay, but I couldn't find it in the tube.
After a little poking around, I figured out the clever storage mechanism in the handle. It works like a charm.
The pump is made of white plastic with a dark grey end cap, also of plastic. The dongle screws into this plastic end. I wouldn't want to do this too much and risk the plastic threads stripping out. The handle pulls out to expose a silver metal plunger. Again, it doesn't look too strong and it had a bit of rust on it. I very lightly steel wooled the rust off with extra fine wool and applied a fine layer of machine oil.
I was a bit worried installing it on the bike. The pressure from the spring in the handle holds it on the prongs on the back of the seat tube. The pressure is strong and the prongs seem small and narrow. Would the pressure eventually crack the plastic? I placed a couple small washers over the prongs to distribute the pressure across a broader area. Worked like a charm.
So here are some final images with the Brooks B-66 and Challenge saddle bag. I mounted a brass bell on it, the original headlight and a trunk that I had kicking around. Looks pretty sharp!
The last image is of the crazy dude who chases down old bits o' bike stuff from around the globe just to have a bike in complete stock condition!
charles
