Pre 50's rear facing dropouts

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Frustrated with any reasonable response to a Sturmey Archer internal 3 speed axle .375 (10mm) that floats within the factory dropout that measures .480/.497 (14mm) the centering washers also measure .375 (10mm) thereby leaving the hub laying in the bottom of this dropout without any reasonable cure other than an SE "old Dropout saver" that centers the axle within this factory dropout. The only response to this was from a S&A Doctor on the Westcoast that indicates that these bikes were not intended for internal gears ... to which I'm confused since the normal hub axle is .375 (10mm) what am I missing here?
 
Frankly I wish they dropouts were a bit over 3/8" but they are very close to 1/2 inch and appear to be consistent in that measurement with little to no wear points.
 
Interesting...I haven't seen any dropouts the big on an old bike. How much pre '50s is it? Any pics?

I would guess you need to make buddies with a machinist to have some adapter washers made. You can probably modify some 3/8" to 14mm dropout washers fairly easy. File some flats on the washer to fit the drops. If you are using a modern SA hub, you might have to drill them for the 13/32" axles.
 
I was working on a mid-low end BMX bike with the big 16mm axles. I had to adjust his rear wheel bearings and come to find out, it had a standard 3/8” axle with a threaded sleeve over it that made it appear and function as a 16mm axle. I know that’s bigger than what you need, but there are things like that out there.


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