Just a RANT about Necks / Headsets

[dougfisk]

I'm having the same problem with a J.C. Higgins. The bolt is out but can't get the stem to twist out of the fork.

I have had luck with the following procedure:

If the bolt is out or broken off, stick a punch or rod or bolt down the hole and drive the wedge down 1/2 in or so to where it is no longer "wedging".

Fill the cavity with penetrating oil through the bolt hole. Walk away and forget about it for about a month.

I have been able to save a few stems this way. I had one where it didn't work. I took it to my LBS who heated and beated it out. :shock:

 

[Sinner4]

Ive been working on a plane jane DB with a stuck alloy stem in the fork. Drilling, hammering, heat... After a few hours and a bottle of MAP GAS, Its half way melted out. I should have taken it to a machine shop to have it drilled out.

Last stem I had rusted in forever, I cut the steer tube and welded in a new one. Practically and instant fix.

 

[Ldog33]

Kroil for two days, spraying the heck out of it, then try locite freeze an release.

 

[Sinner4]

i have a seized aluminum stem in a steel fork on a bike i found in the dumpster. the thing is, that i really like both fork and stem and the stem is positioned just right as far as riding and i also have no problem accessing the bearings to grease. is it dangerous to ride a bike with a seized stem as far as rust becoming brittle?

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The alloy I hacked off was real thick, steel is thinner so it could rust out and snap.

 

[Turtlesixfour]

I got the wedge free by inserting a long threaded rod an beating it a little. Now I have turned it upside down and shot more PB Blaster down the hole in the bottom of the fork. Want to save the stem and fork because they are original to the bike and the bike belongs to a friend. "Gotta have patience" I guess.

 

[aratman]

I had a fork I could not get the neck out of, pb blast tap tap pb blaster, tap tap for a week. No good, then torch nothing another week of pb blaster and nothing finally gave up on the tap and wait method and cut the neck off with a grinder. Someone back in the 50s had tightened the wedge so much that it had broken the fork down tube. 60 years later the fork buldge had rusted to the point that the wedge and tube were one. My point is some times patients doesn't work and you just have to break something.

 

[Lil' rat rod]

I think every bike I've ever worked on had the stem stuck. Just tonite I tried and successfully removed a stuck one from a '58 Schwinn. I had been soaking it in blaster since Sunday. I've always left the front wheel on and put it between my legs, keep the bars in and start twisting back and forth while pulling up, it will come free with a little tap here and there to loosen the rust. That has always worked for me except once. My Hornet had an old aluminum stem in it which was seized something awful and to make it even better the fork was bent to where I couldn't put a wheel in it. It got ruined by a torch, too bad because it was a really cool stem from a Rollfast or something.

Jon

 

[Iceboy133]

Try using a 50/50 mix of dexron automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Works 10 times better than any other penetrating fluid and it is cheap.

 

[asjr0803]

Instead of heat, try an ice bag metal shrinks in the cold. Done it twice.

 

[mobilrods]

Re:

I have had great success with a product called PB Blaster.

It's like WD 40 on steroids. I think I like it better since it works much faster as I am the impatient type. Actually its more of a penetrating oil and WD40 more of a water dispersent/lube.

You can find it at Auto Zone, Advance Auto, Wallyworld, even Big Lots.

Rust never sleeps.

Wd40 and pb blaster are both water based lubricants. Another good oil based lube is thunder bolt. It doesn't dry up and works great.

 

[nomad-dyno]

There is a product called Evapo-rust, for sale at AutoZone and Harbor Freight. This product disolves rust without harming the metal. You have to be creative and devise a method of soaking the parts for a day, without losing the liquid by leaking out of the neck/fork tube. I have used a glass baking pan to soak the neck and top of fork in to allow time for the product to work. I set the pan on the floor and hung the frame neck down.

You can also use a cleanser called Bar Keepers Friend, and mix it with water until thin enough to pour into the bottom of the fork tube. Again, you have to seal the other end to keep the product from running out. Give it a day or 2 to do it's work. I used this method to free a stuck neck from a Schwinn Stingray fork/frame.

Good luck, and let us know the results.