Hi Howard-- I worked with Spence at CBS and did some Alpine conversions/service in the early '80s-- but only to keep some of them on the road. Spence would be the first guy to tell you, as he did me, that his Alpine mods were in response to a lack of any other alternatives at that time and that the arrival of good-shifting wide ratio derailleurs like the Shimano Crane or SunTour VGT in the early 70s instantly made them obsolete. Keeping an old one running seems like a good thing to do, IMHO. But to make another new one? Man, you've got a lot of free time on your hands! ;-) But be advised that despite your efforts, it will not shift as well or wrap as much chain as the Japanese derailleurs mentioned above, nor any of their more modern offspring.
FWIW, last time I was in CBS there were some clear, detailed B&W photos of the Alpine mods on the wall. Maybe you could pay Vance Sprock, the new CBS proprietor to photocopy some and mail them to you. I think there might even be some old Alpine parts still kicking around in the 'morgue' (we ran out of enough parts to make an entire product in 1981 and it was not worth paying for another run since modern derailleurs were so much better), maybe he could measure the swing-arm dimensions and drilling locations if those parts are still there. Come to think of it, I think Vance still has an entire Alpine on display in the shop, maybe you should make a road trip to Cupertino to look it over? Or another CR member could disassemble theirs and make you the drawings you'll need? They were very easy to take apart in order to service the jockey pulleys.
Good luck with your project, Bill Bryant Santa Cruz, CA
on 4/18/03 8:37 AM, heddarr at heddarr@indianaconnect.com wrote:
> Greetings
>
> Would anyone have a picture of a Spence Wolf Conversion for a NR rear der.
> I have a new friend who is a machinist and thought it might be a fun
> project. There might even be a list member who did the conversions and if
> so I would like to hear all about it.
>
>
> Howard Darr
> Clymer PA