Any advice on removing this stupid design of BB other than hitting it with a hammer?

[KneesUp]

I am trying to remove a bottom bracket because it's too short for the triple I want to fit. It is the one fitted to the bike new in 1989.

The drive side came out really easily, and the lock ring only put up token resistance, so it was all going fairly well until I got to this bit.



This stupidly designed part won't turn at all. I've been advised that a pin spanner will just bend / snap and the best bet (given that I don't want to re-fit it) is to poke whatever will fit into one of the holes and hit it with a hammer until it moves. So far I've chewed both corners off the edge of a flat head screwdriver in the 9 o'clock hole and it has not moved in any perceptible way. I'm just off to buy some penetrating oil even though I've never had much luck with it in the past - but in the meantime I was just wondering if anyone has any recommendations for getting these out? Hopefully someone with more experience of fixing up old bikes than me (@biggs682 ?) has an ingenious solution?

 

[Drago]

Find 2 x slim screwdrivers that just fit the holes. Or even nails.

Insert them in the holes opposite one another.

Then use a large screwdriver between the two as a lever to twist the cup off.

 

[GuyBoden]

A pin Spanner

You'll need the correct pin size and distance between pins.

These type:
4mm diameter hardened drive pins with 10-47mm spacing.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/hilka-pr...N1-_-TOKEN2&ds_rl=1244066&gclsrc=ds&gclsrc=ds


4mm diameter hardened drive pins with 10-47mm spacing. Angle Grinder Pin Wrench 7 1/2" Screwfix £2.99

 

[richardfm]

You are trying to turn it the right way aren't you? It's a normal right-hand thread on the non-drive side, so unscrews anticlockwise.
You could try a pin punch and a hammer.
e.g. https://www.diy.com/departments/5-p...520656cac7ab1e8be7fe32055fd66875&gclsrc=3p.ds

 

[Ian H]

Ideally, a pin spanner plus a large nut & bolt through the centre to hold it in place. But there's no reason a good-quality pin-spanner should bend.

 

[All uphill]

I removed one of these a couple of years ago using a threaded rod, big serrated washers and nuts.

With the rod put through the BB and washers placed either side of the cup all tightened together with the bolts. More nuts locked against each other either side of the BB and placed in the vice. I used the frame as a lever to rotate the cup out.

 

[wonderloaf]

I've found Plusgas is the best penetrating oil, used successfully on the car where WD40 or similar failed:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/plusgas-formula-a-dismantling-lubricant-200ml/328ht

 

[biggs682]

Get a 12/13mm thread size nut and bolt with some spring washers of same size push the bolt through the hole from the non drive side add some washers and the nut then just keep tightening the nut eventually it will lock up solid but keep turning the nut and it should start to turn the stuck cup whilst you keep turning the nut, always worked for me without fail

See my thread on Dawes Debonair

 

[KneesUp]

Thanks all. Pin spanner is out of stock at all Screwfixes with 20 miles unfortunately- but I’m not sure 4mm pins would fit. I’ll measure when I get home with my penetrating oil.

@biggs682 thanks for the link but this is non drive side, so I need to rotate it the other way to the drive side one. I guess I could get a left hand threaded big but nut and bolt though.

 

[GuyBoden]

A pin Spanner

You'll need the correct pin size and distance between pins.

Make sure you measure the BB and get the correct size Pin Spanner.

Ideally, a pin spanner plus a large nut & bolt through the centre to hold it in place. But there's no reason a good-quality pin-spanner should bend.

Yes, I also use a large nut, bolt and washers through the centre of the BB to hold the pin spanner in place.

 

[fossyant]

I was going to suggest a Campag Pin Spanner, but checked ebay and they are £70. I've got the full set - £210's worth !

 

[Paulus]

Thanks all. Pin spanner is out of stock at all Screwfixes with 20 miles unfortunately- but I’m not sure 4mm pins would fit. I’ll measure when I get home with my penetrating oil.

@biggs682 thanks for the link but this is non drive side, so I need to rotate it the other way to the drive side one. I guess I could get a left hand threaded big but and bolt though.

The non drive side undoes the normal way,
the drive side is a reversed thread so undoes clockwise, the opposite way to normal.
As it's the non drive side which is a problem, you can do the threaded bolt and nut technique, but use an extension bar from the drive side to do the nut up. Eventually when it is tight it will turn.

 

[GuyBoden]

I am trying to remove a bottom bracket because it's too short for the triple I want to fit. It is the one fitted to the bike new in 1989.

Another idea.

Why don't you just buy a longer axle for your triple?

Extra 5mm drive side?

£5+PP
https://bankruptbikeparts.co.uk/pro...bike-racer-fixie?_pos=47&_sid=faf8ccaee&_ss=r

 

[KneesUp]

The non drive side undoes the normal way, the drive side is a reversed thread so undoes clockwise, the opposite way to normal.
As it's the non drive side which is a problem, you can do the threaded bolt and nut technique, but use an extension bar from the drive side to do the nut up. Eventually when it is tight it will turn.

Thanks - feeling stupid that I didn't think of this now - so much so that I've made myself a very rare afternoon coffee on the basis that I must be half asleep :-) I still don't have a big bolt, but the hardware shop down the road is open at 9am tomorrow. That gives me a few hours to find the extensions for my ratchet set ...

 

[KneesUp]

Another idea.

Why don't you just buy a longer axle for your triple?

Extra 5mm drive side?

£5+PP
https://bankruptbikeparts.co.uk/pro...bike-racer-fixie?_pos=47&_sid=faf8ccaee&_ss=r

Thanks for this - another good idea, but not something that would work here for a number of reasons, mainly that I like BBs I can get out with tools that engage in multiple places, but also because the bike was bought from a guy who lived a few hundred yards from a beach and so the old one has had sand in it for - potentially - 35 years or so, which would explain why it felt so rough. To be fair everything inside looks ok, but there is definitely sand in there too.

I have an Campag BB of the correct length and a Camapg triple for it sat on the shelf of bits cannibalised from other bikes. I was going to put a spare Shimano triple on it to replace the current Shimano double but when I removed those cranks from the bike they were on I noticed that the threads on the drive side were damaged and I reasoned it might be almost impossible to remove it again if I fitted it. Because I'm using the Camapg triple it needs to be an ISO bottom bracket not a JIS one anyway, although Bankrupt bikes do say they have lots of types available.