Italian thread octalink BB?

[jacsmi]

I have a Golden Sports ZebraKenko Thunder bike from the late 70s that I'm trying to upgrade to modern parts. According to Sheldon Brown's guide, the BB is italian thread (70mm). After some research, I bought the shimano BB-5500, 70mm, which claims to be Italian thread, but alas, it won't thread correctly to my BB.

Are there any Octalink V1 shimano BB with italian threads or am I stuck with squared BB?

Attached is a picture of the etchings on my BB.
From what I can read:
top line: 77 J
bottom line: D7x4202

Should I just take my old one to the local bike shop to see if they have what I'm looking for?

Thanks for any help.

[Alex Ramon]

I found two lower priced bottom brackets on Amazon that may work: 113mm and 118mm.

[jacsmi]

UPDATE: After more research, it seems that the BB is not Italian threading after all, even though it's 70mm. I've done some research and looks like some older Japanese bikes have 70mm english threaded BBs, and my frame is one of them! And people have reportedly used 68mm BB on them without any problems.

I went out and bought an english thread BB, and was able to mount it fine.

[Jordan300]

make sure to post a picture of that bike when you're finished.

[jacsmi]

(01-08-2010, 05:26 PM)Jordan300 Wrote:  make sure to post a picture of that bike when you're finished.

I didn't finish yet, but here's pic of what I finished so far.

1) Cold set frame from 120cm to 130cm (to fit new wheelset)
2) installed 68mmx109.5mm BB on 70mm BB
3) installed shimano 105 double crankset
4) installed modern wheelset from my specialized allez (which I upgraded).

TODO:
1) install modern brakes (requires drilling into steel frame)
2) install derailleurs (front and back)
3) install barcon shifters
4) install chains
5) put old seat back (one component I'm not upgrading)
6) install pedals

[Alex Ramon]

Hey nice looking project... love the color. Nifty idea having a radial lace on the front, can't wait to see it completed!

[Jordan300]

That looks sweet. Great job