Old bike restoration - cotter pin stuck

[laraiz93]

Hello guys.

I recently bought an old bike with the idea in mind of fixing it and hopefully give it a second life.

The bike is from a brand called Eska, built in the non existent czechoslovakia.

The dissembling process was going good until now, when I reached a point where I really do not know what to do.

I´m trying to detached the pedal from the connecting rod. In order to do so, I have to get rid of the (Mod Edit to clarify description) cotter pin you can see in the pictures, but is not moving at all.

There's a video in Youtube where someone fixed a bike like this, but he skips this part. min 4:00.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8-ITTG187U


I asked him. He suggested hitting it with a hammer, but my polish is not that good and I'm afraid of breaking something.

Any suggestion?

Regards.

 

[matticus]

I asked him. He suggested hitting it with a hammer, but my polish is not that good and I'm afraid of breaking something.

Aaaah, a bike with cotter-pins! It's been a long time ...


Yes, hit with a hammer. They are a wedge design. Perfectly normal on old bikes. Good luck!

 

[laraiz93]

many thanks for the insight guys, really helpful!!

 

[Dogtrousers]

Here's a section from "Richard's Bicycle Book" by the late Richard Ballantyne. This is a great book but a bit out of date. But it looks like your bike is of the same vintage! If you can get a second-hand copy you might find it useful.

 

[Milkfloat]

Cotter pin =

 

[si_c]

I think you've got possibly the "best" suggestion above.

I had a bike a few years ago that came to me with the cranks still attached and cotter pins. I solved the problem by using an angle grinder on the axle and replacing with a sensible square taper crankset and bottom bracket of the same vintage.

 

[Cycleops]

As above. It doesn’t look too corroded so you might have it easy. Hit it with the nut on to avoid damaging the thread. Penetrating oil might help.
As in @Dogtrousers illustration the crank must be supported, if you try while the bike is on its tyres the force will be absorbed by the inflated tyre.
And if you want to remove the pedals remember one thread is reversed. To undo both sides unscrew moving the spanner to the rear of the bike.

 

[weareHKR]

Get some penetrating oil in there as @Cycleops has suggested, Leave it soaking overnight, if it disappears just top it up again!
Then commence with @Dogtrousers procedure, preferably not @Milkfloat 's...

 

[classic33]

Try standing on both pedals, as though you were riding out of the saddle, with the cranks reversed(weight being applied the opposite way round to normal).

 

[figbat]

Some people use a ball-joint separator to press out a cotter pin. As mentioned a few times above, loosely fit the nut to avoid ‘mushrooming’ the pin and also to avoid it flying across your work zone and into one of those black holes that seem to pop up at just the wrong moment.

 

[raleighnut]

Best bit of advice from the Sheldon article,

Hold the hammer by the end of the handle, and give it everything you've got! It may work, or you may just bend the end of the cotter over. If you bend it, use the claw of the claw hammer to straighten it, then try again. If you repeat this cycle unsuccessfully a few times, the threaded end of the cotter will snap off.

 

[roadrash]

@laraiz93 if you have access to a vice then this video should help, big hammer may not be needed

 

[RichardB]

Here's a section from "Richard's Bicycle Book" by the late Richard Ballantyne. This is a great book but a bit out of date. But it looks like your bike is of the same vintage! If you can get a second-hand copy you might find it useful.

View attachment 567542

I had lent my copy to someone and it had gone for ever. The lost copy was already a replacement for my original copy that someone else had 'borrowed'. And this Christmas, guess what Father Christmas brought me in my stocking? Yep, another one! Happy as Larry, as RB's book covers the bikes of an era that I happen to like, and I felt lost without it.

Been a long time since I had to deal with a cotter pin, though. Probably 50 years. I could never get them tight enough. The development of the magical 'cotterless crankset' was a major step[ forward for me.

 

[Andy_R]

@laraiz93 if you have access to a vice then this video should help, big hammer may not be needed

I've done something similar in the past, but with a screw clamp. The principle is exactly the same.

 

[Gunk]

Some people use a ball-joint separator to press out a cotter pin. As mentioned a few times above, loosely fit the nut to avoid ‘mushrooming’ the pin and also to avoid it flying across your work zone and into one of those black holes that seem to pop up at just the wrong moment.

I’ve removed one using a cheap bearing puller and the block of wood with a V cut out of it. If you clout it unsupported it’ll never come out.