Adding chainring to vintage dawes 12 speed.

UltraCulture

I just paid 35 quid for a late 80s Dawes Orion. I have found zero info online and retrobike seem to take forever to reply to new posts unless its a colnago :roll:
Anyway the bike was all original and barring the multitude if spiders webs it cleaned up easily.
It has a stronglight 80 raptor crankset and i would like to take the bb apart to chlean and regrease mainly as ive never serviced one before myself apart from rebuilding a 70s raleigh cotter pinned one.
Do i need any special tools to remove the plastic cover on the crank bolt/spindle. It says S and france underneath so i know this us a french stronglight 80 which is different from later ones.
All very confusing.
Is it a sealed unit that can be swapped out or is it a cup and race of bb's affair?
Thanks for any help!
Iove this bike. Hate its current accessories. Horrible big foam grab in grips. Nasty cheap black pleather saddle. With a nice b17 and matching tape it will transform the bike.

gozzy

A picture would be useful. However the plastic cover probably just pulls or screws right off, does it have a slot in the front? Jam a screwdriver in and give it a twist. It'll be a square taper bb so you can just buy a new one and fit it. Although given the age there's a good chance the old one will be serviceable, depending on what condition the bearing races are in.