Help - Last resort tips for removing seized BB

[Hermit]

Ok, so I've soaked in WD/GT85 for days until it was coming out the frame holes, went to remove the plastic non-drive side and it snapped leaving most of it in there, tackled the drive side and couldn't budge it, put the tool in a vice and - making sure I was turning it the right way - put the frame on the tool and pulled gently, tried shocking it to budge it, no luck. Took it off the tool, tapped it with a hammer, more WD, left it for another day, emptied it and tried a bit of heat, more WD, back in the vice and pull. So, now it has also stripped the teeth off the drive side! :?

Any last resort tips for getting this thing out? Cannot get any BB removal tools on it now as there's no teeth left?!

I thought if I could get the axle out I could at least cut the remaining shell and cups out? But, how to get the axle out??

Thanks

 

[Corduroyboy]

I know it's a little late now but whenever I have removed a BB that looks remotely difficult, I bolt the BB tool to the BB using a crank bolt and an array of large washers. Much less likely to strip either the tool or the cup that way.

Forgive me if I'm being a little presumptuous but the 'plastic cup' leads me to believe that this is a 'low-end' BB right?
If so, this will work in your favour.
There should be a little plastic cover sleeve on the non-drive side of the axle. Prise this off, revealing a lock-nut. Undo the lock-nut (I can't remember exactly what size but I did use a spark-plug spanner!) and the larger nut behind it, and hey presto - out comes axle and associated gubbins.
Start cutting the drive-side cup (the BB outer shell is part of this) very carefully - you don't want to damage the threads of the frame! :shock:

Good luck!

 

[Void(EN12-82)]

Hi, had the exact same problem you have... please see my post about it:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10660&start=15

Just have a look at the last posts, it will come out that way (big hammer and hitting the drive side so the axle/bearings come out through the plastic thingie)...

Void(EN12-82)

 

[cannondale king]

can you not clamp the outer edge of the steel b/b cup in the vice and heat the b/b sheel of the frame till almost red if its steel then turn the frame sharply to brake the corrsion then turn slowly to remove faiing that give up and get a new frame and use that one for wall art after its cleaned up.

 

[Hermit]

Thanks for replies ....

Ooops, yeah should have mentioned, it's a shimano cartridge BB in a '92 cro-mo frame, probably LX as everything else is LX but could be one down from that, don't know if it's the original BB?

I've tried clamping the outer edge of the drive side into a vice as it's slightly proud of the shell but it just tends to slip, haven't tried seroius heat yet though as I'm trying to save the paintwork?

Also, tried cutting part of the drive side cup away to make an edge to tap around but this just squashed the metal of the cup around!

Thanks for the link, I read somewhere else about hammering it out but worried about damaging the threads of the bb shell?

I've got the seals off both sides so you can see the bearings and through one side to the other, thought if I could get bearings out from one side then the axle should come out easy, but the bearings are held in place by the bb shell and I still have the remains of the cups in both sides too so maybe forcing the bearings and axle out one side will be a bit hard? At the moment I'm trying to bend or make a bit of room to the shell on the non-drive side to get the bearings out?

I WILL do this, it's become a challenge now - can you imagine how good it's going the feel when it does come out!

 

[Void(EN12-82)]

What we did was just put the shell onto the vice, and the vice was enough opened so the axle/bearing cartridge could get through. Then we took a gas-torch and heated up the bloody thing.

Then, I held the frame in place and Mr. Void Senior started hitting on top of the axle on the drive side (because that plastic thingie will easily break when the axle goes out, the alu side won't and you probably WILL damage the threads or BB shell then).

After about 15 minutes of hitting it, the axle and both bearings just came out through the plastic thingie (and actually took half of it with them). After that I only had to break out the remaining plastic and bend out the other alu thingie that was left in.

And remember, this was an old ALU frame... not steel. So my guess is it should go just as well with your frame. Even the BB shell didn't damage from where we held it onto the vice, I actually expected to have a mark in the alu from that.

Anyway, good luck and let us know what happened ;-)

 

[stevet1]

I've had the hammer thing done to remove a stuck BB in my frame. its not pretty it needs some hefty whacks but it did work on the end.

 

[Hermit]

WOO HOO! DONE IT

At the end of the day, after trying everything else again, the 'whack it with a hammer' did the trick - not something I'd ever want to do again, taking a huge hammer to a bike and whacking it goes against the grain so thanks for the reassurance that it works.

The image is of the removed BB, that big chunk missing from the shell is still in the frame along with the remains of the plastic and alloy cups which will be removed tomorrow ... such a relief, I feel like it's christmas!

 

[stevet1]

Good job, take your time getting the rest out and you'll be fine...

 

[RichieB]

I see no reason why that BB would have been stuck in a frame...