I was never expecting this to come back a nicely as it did. This is my all time favorite Sturmey Archer shifter design, where the handle bar clip it held in place with a screw to the side, and not going through the shifter. After a while the plates of the shifter stretch out and away from each other, but can be adjusted by gently pressing back together. The later models had the fixing screw run through the shifter, to hold it together, but when tight, could hinder the shifting smoothness. Clamping the shifter tightly that I'm working on now ,keeps it from moving, the later version needed to be a bit loose, or else it would crush the works and cause sticky shifting.
I first went over the face of the shifter with a damp cloth and the White polishing compound. Carefully working around the etched logo's and printing. Once the chrome surface came clean. I moved onto the sides and back with the 0000 steel wool dipped into the polishing compound. Finished with a nice coating of wax and a good buffing, this is now ready for use. Here are the before and after photos:
The Sturmey Archer 3 Speed Shifter in all it's Glory!
hi scott,
ReplyDeletemy shifter is a 3/4 speed with what looks to be a cosmetic brass face plate. the face plate is bent away from the body of the shifter. do you know any tricks to get it to flatten out?
do you know if these shifters are screwed together or rivited? i'm tempted to try and see if i can dismantle it in order to flatten it out then put it back together.
thanks for your time
They are riveted together. They can be dismantled and straightened. I have done it before with success. Just be careful when knocking out the rivets. Maybe set up a little wooden bench with holes drilled in it it send the rivets into so you don't distort the face plate more then it is already. Good Luck with that Dave and thanks for posting your comments.
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