Picked up this Old Armstrong Today...

[dnc1]

The bars have definitely been painted at some later point in time.
Celluloid covered ones would be black all the way to the ends. Powder coating the bars is something that people now do in place of the celluloid coating, it gives a very similar effect.
The aluminium mudguards are likely to be later replacements, aluminium components are pretty rare on pre war bicycles.
Bluemels are what you generally see on British lightweights of the '30s and usually of 26" size.

 

[SirMike1983]

I would take the aluminum fenders over the celluloid ones any day of the week. Those old celluloid ones get really brittle. I have aluminum bluemels on my '51 Clubman and love them. A modern plastic substitute, I think, is a fair compromise to make as well. Personally, I would not spend big bucks on celluloid originals if you plan to ride the bike much. I'd go with aluminum or ones of a more modern plastic.

 

[Schwinny]

The bars have definitely been painted at some later point in time.
Celluloid covered ones would be black all the way to the ends. Powder coating the bars is something that people now do in place of the celluloid coating, it gives a very similar effect.
The aluminium mudguards are likely to be later replacements, aluminium components are pretty rare on pre war bicycles.
Bluemels are what you generally see on British lightweights of the '30s and usually of 26" size.

Being that you probably have seen a couple of the Black bar style. Would the black color on the bars be a gloss similar to the frame? Satin, Flat?
Although a very good depiction, I can't tell by the drawing of the bike in the 36' catalog whether the stem was black or chromed. Some of the bikes in the catalog are definitely at least natural but some look black. My stem was the rustiest thing on the bike but I did detect what looked like black color in places before I dipped it. It is very light tube steel with brazed on clamp nibs.

 

[juvela]

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speaking of black finishes...

in this image the bottom bracket cups are clearly black oxide while the lockring shows a different finish

is it painted/dipped/other?

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[Schwinny]

I would take the aluminum fenders over the celluloid ones any day of the week. Those old celluloid ones get really brittle. I have aluminum bluemels on my '51 Clubman and love them. A modern plastic substitute, I think, is a fair compromise to make as well. Personally, I would not spend big bucks on celluloid originals if you plan to ride the bike much. I'd go with aluminum or ones of a more modern plastic.

I've found a couple sets of 50's / 60's plastic versions but not stamped Bluemels. Most likely Britannia it seems, which I think was in league with Hercules company from what I read. Direct competition so Im standoffish on those. The older parts get, the more pricey things become and Ive been stuck with stuff before that I cant use so Im going to be a little picky. Id try and straighten the ones I have but there are pieces missing. Also they are/were white whereas the catalog states black w/ white safety rear piece. With modern paints I can change the color of plastic fenders so Im not stuck on a color. They just seem to be the parts that are the most often crunched. Mine probably are post war fenders They are shark fin front style whereas the catalog shows pointed front. I do have an early steel pointed front fender that may see a little service if it comes down to it.
Also found the correct Lycette Aero saddle but it will need some work if I want to ride on it.... and I do.

 

[Schwinny]

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speaking of black finishes...

in this image the bottom bracket cups are clearly black oxide while the lockring shows a different finish

is it painted/dipped/other?

View attachment 1443821

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Looks more like blued, similar to gun metal.
Im going to have to file down the dents and burrs. It took a couple hits from the previous mentioned long ago pin pounding and the notches are gnarled up so Im not sure what Im going to do with it yet.
The plater here in town I use does all kinds of metal finish so I"ll see what they can do for it.
Im going to do all the plating in three groups over 3 months and I'll be going there next week to take the first batch.

 

[dnc1]

I would take the aluminum fenders over the celluloid ones any day of the week. Those old celluloid ones get really brittle. I have aluminum bluemels on my '51 Clubman and love them. A modern plastic substitute, I think, is a fair compromise to make as well. Personally, I would not spend big bucks on celluloid originals if you plan to ride the bike much. I'd go with aluminum or ones of a more modern plastic.

They do get very brittle and it's quite rare to see a bike that's regularly used with undamaged mudguards.

Being that you probably have seen a couple of the Black bar style. Would the black color on the bars be a gloss similar to the frame? Satin, Flat?
Although a very good depiction, I can't tell by the drawing of the bike in the 36' catalog whether the stem was black or chromed. Some of the bikes in the catalog are definitely at least natural but some look black. My stem was the rustiest thing on the bike but I did detect what looked like black color in places before I dipped it. It is very light tube steel with brazed on clamp nibs.

Usually a gloss black.

 

[Schwinny]

More musings and updates....

After I took the frame, fork and handlebars to be stripped and powder coated. I woke up in the middle of the night with something I perhaps should have tried first on the handlebars.
The handlebars were "celluloid" covered to begin with, which I imagine was a plastic coating or sheath. I realized that I could have had them plated and then slid them into some properly sized black shrink tubing. Shrink tubing comes in dinky to huge sizes. A few minutes in the oven and it would shrink down fine to a soft rubber coating, a few more minutes and it becomes hard.... I imagine, to what the original celluloid would have been. I may still do that.
Waddya think about that?
After looking at the pics I took Ive decided to re-chrome the hubs, but at first, in hand, they don't look too bad. At least they arent destroyed. But The rest of the bike will be new, so those should be also I guess. Just looking for ways to cut a few corners monetarily. Im already up around the $800 mark and all the plating is going to put the bike into the 1500 range before its done.
Got a few more parts in from around the globe. So far Ive found parts in Greece, England, Canada and Thailand. Shipping is a MF though, it brings the price of the parts up quite a bit.
Since I had one front axle wing nut broke anyway and the cost of re-chroming or even polishing was about the same as new ones, I got a new set of exact matching wing nuts. Also got proper cable clamps as they were previously being held to the frame with hockey stick tape.
Another question I've been mulling around is what to do with the other wheel bits. Should I re-use the nipples, and if so, should I have the nipples re-chromed? Should I re-use the spokes? they are pretty rusty but will come clean to natural. And if I do, cad plate or natural. What about the rim strips? they are still usable and one of the coolest old things on the bike. Cotton strips with a metal buckle eyelet. very cool old stuff that survived.
Also found this vintage Bluemels frame pump in Bronze that I think I'll use. The two colors Armstrong was using then were black and bronze. Some of their models had the head center colored bronze. I think I might do that to match the pump. And maybe even color the fenders the same..
One point I found while pouring over the 36' catalog was that the celluloid mudguards were and option over "metal" ones. So perhaps my aluminum originals are just that.
I was amazed to find an actual Lycette Aero saddle. You dont see saddles like this very often. Its narrow like a regular racing saddle but padded and covered like a comfort saddle but with no spring action. I'm going to have to get it recovered though. Its it really good shape for its age but won't last long being sat on. One weird thing about it is that it has a patent number underneath and it shook out to be a Brooks patent Number.
Hmmm

 

[3-speeder]

I wouldn't bother trying to re-chrome spokes or spoke nipples. Get yourself some shiny new stainless steel spokes and new chrome plated brass nipples and you'll be set. Hubs look okay to me. If the original rim strips were cloth I might go to rubber. It seems when I take apart old wheels that had the cloth rim strips the inside can get very rusted because the cloth held the moisture right up against the rim. Just my 2 cents.
Nice score on that pump!

 

[Schwinny]

I wouldn't bother trying to re-chrome spokes or spoke nipples. Get yourself some shiny new stainless steel spokes and new chrome plated brass nipples and you'll be set. Hubs look okay to me. If the original rim strips were cloth I might go to rubber. It seems when I take apart old wheels that had the cloth rim strips the inside can get very rusted because the cloth held the moisture right up against the rim. Just my 2 cents.
Nice score on that pump!

Thats a good point with the rim strips. These strips are proof that the bike saw little moisture in its life. The inside of the rims weren't near as rusty as I'd have thought. Just a little around some nipple heads, not even all of them. I'll have a few original parts I'll keep in a box to give to the new owner when I eventually sell it. I am going to eventually sell it, so I'm a little worried about doing a proper restoration.
I try not to "half-ass" anything but one never knows what they dont know.