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| Weapons of War |
I worked on sealing my deck on the porch that we had built a year ago, and I mowed the lawn. I spent time with my family, grilled out, played bass guitar at church, and generally was a slug. I even had some ice cream.
I have to say that cycling was always on my mind though, and by Monday, I was finding an excuse to ride my "townie" to fetch some sausages, and I procured a huge wrench to aid me in my battle with my Karate Monkey's stuck bottom bracket. Then, of course, I had to try it out.
The bottom bracket has been stuck for years. I've tried soaking it in different penetrants, the latest of which is pictured here. I only recently had any indication that I might be successful when the drive side cup of the first generation UN-52 bottom bracket came loose and I was able to remove that. You might be thinking that got the bottom bracket out, and if your knowledge only goes back about ten years, you'd be right. However; first generation sealed cartridge bottom brackets often had the "locator cup" on the drive side of the cartridge, while the cartridge proper was part of the non-driveside cup. This is what I have in my Karate Monkey, so the entire cartridge and cup are still stuck in there. Of course, having that cup come out really gave me a lot more access to the bottom bracket and has enabled me to really soak the thing.
So, I tried to bang the thing out, but it is so rock-solid stuck I am torquing the tool and wrench so much I can feel them twisting in my hands. Banging on the wrench, (poor man's impact wrench), has had zero effect on it as well.
I'll keep doing battle, but this is going to be a long war........
11 comments:
A bit of heat?
@Wally Kilburg: The "hot wrench" idea has crossed my mind a few times, I won't lie, but I really don't want to go down that route. Paint, heat stress.....yeah. That's adding more issues which I'd like to avoid if at all possible.
If you can heat it from the inside and use a low heat device like a propane or MAP torch it won't harm the paint - if you are careful. You could try freezing it but you need a pretty big freezer! Or try an impact if you can take the frame to a friend that has one with a nice compressor. I've had similar situations on bikes and motorcycles and the impact has saved my butt. Something about the sudden rush of power or something whacking the offensive part. I have also hit the part with a 3 lb. hammer and blunt ended chisel or punch - oh and used a impact chisel to bust loose the rust and the oxidized stuff. If you were here, we'd have that sucker freed in no time.
BB tool in a vise and use the frame as a wrench?
BB in a vise and turn the frame? (Drastic, I know, to use the frame as a lever...)
Have you ever tried Kano Aero Kroil? I've supervised pipe fitters working on three and four inch threaded fittings (gas meter sets), and they found this to work when everything else failed.
heat
I've heard Coca-Cola will also do the trick for a soak to unseize if you can get to stay in contact with the stuck parts.
I read all the words, but apparently do not look closely enough at the pictures.
A 60's-era Craftsman half-inch drive breaker bar with a 30" conduit cheater has never let me down. Set the frame on the floor on a mat, put a scrap 2x4 under the stays or downtube so the dropouts or headtube don't get bent, and crank on it. Sometimes I put a Quickgrip clamp on it to keep the tool from slipping out of the splines. I've even used my foot to put body weight on it. So satisfying when it finally gives.
I think we're all on pins and needles for him to get that BB loose now, haha.
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