Right, this frame is giving me grief
started to strip the old components off it last night. There was still an old mudguard attached to the back, however it is bolted to the bottom bridge (where normally there is a clip), and the bolt has rusted, can't get a spanner in there easily, so I'm hoping I'll get it off with a junior hacksaw, but I hate the idea of having a hacksaw anywhere near the bike!
Then the cranks, can't get them off. They are square taper but instead of a female thread they are male, with a nut and washer holding the cranks on. I removed the nuts no problem, however because they are male my crank extractor will not thread into the cranks because the inner part of the extractor even when unwound fully is still flush with the start of the threads that screw into the crank, so the male thread of the bb is stopping me screwing the extractor into the crank, presumably I need a larger extractor that allows the center part to be wound further back into the extractor to allow a proper fit? Does anyone know of a particular model I can get off the web?
I tried to get them off without the tool but they are on solid, I tried swearing at it and even gave it a slight, ahem, tap with a hammer, no joy. I'm not overly bothered about keeping the cranks and the bb is shot anyway, are these easy to hacksaw off? If I could cut off the non drive side of the bb spindle, could then undo the bb and seperate it?
I am wondering if I should cut my losses with this frame. There is rust around the bottom bridge that is worse than I first thought, although I've had a dig at it with a screwdriver and the metal seems to be solid underneath. Last time I did a galaxy up I got some advice about the sound a frame should make when tapped. when i tap another frame I have, a 531 Raleigh, I get a bright ping noise from all the tubes. On this one it sounds deader, and the back stays are completely dull, is this because the bb and cranks are still on it? Or a sign that the insides are bad? I don't mind persevering with it but wondered if experience tells you guys that it might be worth giving up on this one???