I have a Brooks B66 that is in reasonable condition considering its
history (which involved no maintenance and low use for the first 25 or so
years, and then several years lying outside under a tarp (although without
the tensioning bolt tensioned), and I've got a problem.
The leather appears to be in reasonable condition. I've greased it up a
little with some leather care product, and it probably won't even tear at
the rivets. However, I have the whole thing apart again now, and there is
one part which I cannot figure out how to remove: there are three sets of
rails running from the top and the bottom (twice) of the springs to the
tip, and the rails plus the bit that the tensioning bolt fits into are
fixed together by what appears to be a very large rivet. This fastener is
very loose (1 mm or so). Anyone know how to get it reasonably tight again?
Do I take it to someone with an anvil and a really large hammer? It looks
like you might be able to replace it with a bolt, although you'd have to
have the nut showing on the underside, which is I suspect why they don't
do it that way at the factory. If I can take it apart, I might also be
able to do some serious derusting and repainting.
Jasper