Things to do....

I did publish the post before but a finger malfunction led me to delete it! I'm sure this version is much better....

I hate writing lists but I suspect that I will be writing a few with this build.
Firstly I need to take 2 mm from the bottom of each rear drop out. This is due to the spindles on the rear wheels being 10 mm in diameter and the drop out slots being a bit different!

Rear drop out

The size difference is due to the fact that the frame is an old Raleigh type frame. Raleigh were well known for not conforming to the usual standards and decided that they would stick to the old whitworth standard to make their bikes. Now days we work on the metric standard which is slightly different. Lucky me!
This link explains the history of Raleigh.

When this is done I can mount the rear wheel and work out the chainline.

The chainline needs to be straight otherwise there is a risk the rear cog and the main crank will wear in such a way that the chain will come off.
I have put the rear wheel on roughly where I think it will go and measured the rear chainline at 44 mm. Now I need to transfer that to the crank by measuring 44 mm from the center of the seat tube to the center of the crank. The main stumbling block for this is I don't yet have a crank.....or a bottom bracket...YET! The length of the axle in the bottom bracket together with the design of the crank will influence the front chainline as the diagram on the left illustrates. 
Sheldon has more info on the early Raleigh issues.
Just wish I knew about it before I'd started!

As for the bottom bracket, when I have mounted the rear wheel correctly I can accuratly measure the rear chainline, I have my eye on a Sturmy Archer 44 teeth crank on E-bay which the manufacturer states has a 45 mm chainline on a 110 mm spindle. All 'English thread' bottom brackets these days are for a 68 mm shell. Of course it would be too much to ask for this frame to have any thin standard on it!! My shell is 71 mm ish. This is due to the fact it used to use an old style cup and cone arrangement which was nice.

Bottom bracket shell

Cup and Cone

So the choice is I can either spend ages looking for the right size cups, the correct length spindle together with the right bearings or...........I just say bugger that and buy a threadless bottom bracket (BB)! Which is what I'm going to do. A threadless BB does what the name suggests, It doesn't use the threads in the BB shell. Instead it tightens up against the outside of the shell and uses a tapered shim inside to stop it all from working loose.  A lot less mucking about. 
Due to the fact that the specification of the crank suggests a 45 mm chainline for a standard 68 mm BB with a 110 mm spindle (Oh do try and keep up!) My BB shell is 3 mm wider so I need to take that into account. So if I had a 110 mm spindle my chainline would actually be 48 mm which is wider than that on the rear. I could have problems with wear on the crank and the chain coming off when I'm trying to pose whilst cruising around! Not good. So looking at the options for the threadless BB, they do it in a 107 mm version. Which is only bloody perfect! 
These measurements will only ring true when I have fitted the rear wheel. 
So to work then. Where did I put that angle grinder! 

And so it begins.........

Well, I have received my wheels, fork and headset in the post and I have tried them on for size.

 Its a mixed bag! The front fork and front wheel look good. I will have to press the headset into the header tube, which could prove interesting. There seems to be a specialist tool For everything as far as bikes go.

The rear wheel.....now.....deep breath.....the axles are too big! That is due to the fact the frame is from around the time when standards throughout the bike industry were a bit sketchy to say the least. As its a Triumph (Rayleigh) frame it seems that trying to pin down the exact specification is nigh on impossible. As a result I am going to have to do some fettling! Firstly I need to make the drop-outs on the rear of the frame wider to accommodate the new axles. Nice!

I also need to cut down the steerer tube on the fork. My specialist tool of choice for that is the humble hacksaw. This will have to be done after the bearing cups (the fitting that takes the ball bearings in the headset) have been pressed into the frame. This is normally done by using a specialist tool called, surprisingly a headset press. I have done it in the past with a hammer and a piece of wood. I may have to revive that method. So it seems that as per usual with these sort of things there is more work to be done before any progress is to be made.

Ever onwards....