A further look at the Retro Raleigh site suggests 1975 might be the right date for the bike.
Steve "curious, not yellow" Freides
Steve Freides wrote:
>
> First, the characters under the bottom bracket shell make no sense to
> me. I see WP4 toward the left side, then some space and 4286 towards
> the right except the "4" looks a bit odd to me.
>
> Second, this bike has Nervar Sport cranks with no length indication.
> Are they most likely 170's? A set of modern pedals seems to want to go
> in only a few threads and not further so I did not force the issue - are
> the pedals holes French threaded? (Wouldn't that be odd for a
> Raleigh?) I've felt what English pedals into French threads feels like
> before and this feels like that. What would be the proper pedals for a
> bike like this, without cleats? The bike was a sport-tourer so I doubt
> many of its original riders used cleats and I don't intend to, either.
>
> Were/are period correct cranks for this bike available in 172.5mm, my
> preferred length?
>
> My best guess, based on the tubing stickers, is 1971 for this bike but a
> friend tells me he thinks it's later.
>
> Many thanks in advance.
>
> Steve "greasy fingers at the keyboard" Freides