Revenant

[us56456712]

Say everybody, does this qualify as a RT Rod Bikes tool?View attachment 194817

Works good.

 

[Frankie plekhand]

Great work so far, i like the fauxtina on the hubs and spokes.

For the crank, have you tried stretching the metal? You put a big hammer underneath one side of the crank and you hit the top with a smaller hammer. And then repeat the proces from all sides a few times. Best to use a copper hammer for the hitting, so the crank doesnt dent.

It is a square taper right?


I removed a lot of cranks that wouldn't come off that way. If i ever had a aluminium crank with busted thread where you insert the puller it would come of in 4 or 5 hits.

How did you heat it up? With a gas torch of with a acetylene torch, because heat only works if you get it red hot.

 

[Frankie plekhand]

Say everybody, does this qualify as a Rat Rod Bikes tool?View attachment 194817

If this isn't ratrod...

 

[us56456712]

Great work so far, i like the fauxtina on the hubs and spokes.

For the crank, have you tried stretching the metal? You put a big hammer underneath one side of the crank and you hit the top with a smaller hammer. And then repeat the proces from all sides a few times. Best to use a copper hammer for the hitting, so the crank doesnt dent.

It is a square taper right?


I removed a lot of cranks that wouldn't come off that way. If i ever had a aluminium crank with busted thread where you insert the puller it would come of in 4 or 5 hits.

How did you heat it up? With a gas torch of with a acetylene torch, because heat only works if you get it red hot.

No not tapered or square. The crank arm has a rectangle machined into it which fits onto a rectangle on the crank spindle. The slotted bolt forces the two parts together. These old two piece cranks are difficult to remove and there are many different designs, everyone had a patent based on a slight variation, so you don’t know what you got until it’s all apart. The spindle is pressed on by the bolt and rust frozen.

 

[us56456712]

One faux wood fake patina wheel is done. I put the tire on, took it off and put it on again. There was no chipping of the fake wood. It takes two top cotes of flexible marine epoxy or else the rim edge chips when using plastic tire irons to remove the tire. I had to patch the rim edge in three places when I mounted and dismounted a tire on the bare rim earlier. You have to rub the epoxy into the rim edge real good with a gloved hand.

 

[us56456712]

They went out of their way to engineer the crank so it won’t come off without their special tools, whatever the heck they look like. I tried a bearing splitter and puller. One bolt interfered with getting it on straight so I took it out and used a clamp to hold it in place. A two foot wrench extension only resulted in the push bolt bending and metal grinding out the pressure point. No budge. Next, air hammer with a pickle fork on a red hot crank arm. I may have to use it as is but it would be nice to service the bearings. They must have made tight tolerances and used heat and a giant press to put this on at the factory.

 

[us56456712]

I would use a two piece bearing splitter with a two jaw puller.

I thought this idea would work but the only way I could get one of two sizes of splitters I had on had the crank arm in the way. I took out the splitter bolt and used a clamp to hold the splitter end in place. All it did was sink the extractor bolt into the spindle and slightly bend the extractor bolt. I used a two foot extension on the wrench.

 

[Oldbiscuit]

Well maybe heat will be the answer. In my experience, you just need to super heat it, just shy of red hot.

 

[us56456712]

Well maybe heat will be the answer. In my experience, you just need to super heat it, just shy of red hot.

I tried this with my MAPP torch, while even more pressure was on the puller. I really cranked that baby down, probably further wrecking the puller. After 10 minutes of burning bb grease and paint it suddenly loudly popped and jumped out. I can see it‘s about a quarter out. I’ll cool it, put on some penetrant and see if it comes all the way out. I think it will. Now I have to get the bb bearing adjustment nuts loose and that should do it. Then there’s that goofy headset. This has been a RRB group project. I never would have been able to get this apart without everyone’s ideas. This form is the only place to find friendly help. No other rival bicycle forum members seem to know their way around the tool shed. I’ll also have to rethread the bolt hole in the spindle. It’s probably nothing standard with my luck.

 

[us56456712]

Here is a photo so you can see why the retaining bolt had to be removed and a clamp used instead.

 

[us56456712]

The next challenge. I wonder if I have a thin wrench that fits in there? Probably not.

 

[Frankie plekhand]

I tried this with my MAPP torch, while even more pressure was on the puller. I really cranked that baby down, probably further wrecking the puller. After 10 minutes of burning bb grease and paint it suddenly loudly popped and jumped out. I can see it‘s about a quarter out. I’ll cool it, put on some penetrant and see if it comes all the way out. I think it will. Now I have to get the bb bearing adjustment nuts loose and that should do it. Then there’s that goofy headset. This has been a RRB group project. I never would have been able to get this apart without everyone’s ideas. This form is the only place to find friendly help. No other rival bicycle forum members seem to know their way around the tool shed. I’ll also have to rethread the bolt hole in the spindle. It’s probably nothing standard with my luck.

Oh yes!! Great job, you sure have some perseverance! This won't be the last problem i think but it was a big hurdle! I'm really happy for you!!

 

[us56456712]

Oh yes!! Great job, you sure have some perseverance! This won't be the last problem i think but it was a big hurdle! I'm really happy for you!!

Yes it was a big hurdle, everyone was so helpful.

 

[us56456712]

Well maybe heat will be the answer. In my experience, you just need to super heat it, just shy of red hot.

Your suggestion worked, along with the bearing splitter. I just wasn’t heating it hot enough before. I was worried that it would burn off the nickel plating but that’s falling off in sheets already without the heat. It’s off.

 

[Oldbiscuit]

I’m glad my suggestions panned out for you. That is such a cool old bike, it deserves a second chance at life. I have confidence that you’ll get it done !

 

[us56456712]

The crank is apart. The bearing races are worn. You could never find replacements. I’m thinking about replacing the ball bearings, having them wear in. They will need adjustment as they wear in. Does this sound like a good idea, whatch all think?

 

[Couch tater]

Dang, you are having to battle with this bike. A couple of things I would consider (a) hardening the races to keep future wear to a minimum (b) using a high performance grease high in PTFE content to keep it as slick as possible in there. New bearings are almost a given because they are probably spalled which will continue the wear cycle.

 

[us56456712]

Dang, you are having to battle with this bike. A couple of things I would consider (a) hardening the races to keep future wear to a minimum (b) using a high performance grease high in PTFE content to keep it as slick as possible in there. New bearings are almost a given because they are probably spalled which will continue the wear cycle.

I’m not sure how the races could be hardened as they are part of a nut, similar to modern one piece races? I’d be afraid to harden them myself, no control on how hard. The only time I did a home hardening job resulted in the piece shattering when it was put into a vice. The grease is something I didn’t consider, good idea. At least there is no rust brindling in the races, at least their smooth. I would like to replace all the bearings like I did on my 1931 Claud Butler track bike. I still need to disassemble the pedals and head set. Measuring and ordering bearings could be slow. I wonder if the LBSs would have what I need on hand? This whole bike was pretty heavily used, the cog teeth are worn to points, the chain has groves. Modern and frequent lubrication and adjustment is the best I can do to maintain ride ability.

 

[Couch tater]

As long as the race contact surfaces are smooth and shiny, home hardening would be overkill. I have a Park Tool spoke and bearing ruler which makes bearing measurements a breeze. It has holes to pass the ball through to gauge them. I buy bearings in the commonly used sizes in bags of 100 on EBay.

 

[us56456712]

As long as the race contact surfaces are smooth and shiny, home hardening would be overkill. I have a Park Tool spoke and bearing ruler which makes bearing measurements a breeze. It has holes to pass the ball through to gauge them. I buy bearings in the commonly used sizes in bags of 100 on EBay.

My problem is I’m a slob. I order 100, use what I need and then they end out mixed with used ones, lost or stored in a can in a place I don’t remember. I have to buy a lot each time I need some. I didn’t know about the Park hole/spoke gauge. I have a few hole gauges for drills and bolts. I use my electronic caliper for size. The guys at the lbs look at my bearings and can usually guess what they probably are based on common sizes. Sofar their always right. I can never remember the common sizes. Its an excellent bike shop, they start at 8 am, but don’t answer the phone or open the sales room until noon so they can concentrate on repair. The sales staff comes in at noon, but there are always questions for the mechanics. Sometimes their so busy they have a night shift. They usually have five work stations going. There are 5 other local bike shops, six in all and only one is mediocre.