Stuck seatpost, mangled inside the frame - what now?

[95explosif]

I recently bought a Kilauea frame from weechimpy from this advert: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=63590

Looked good I thought and a good price. It was delivered to my house so I eagerly got home from work wanting to strip it down and start the restoration. Looking good so far...

Turn the bike upside down to start taking out the BB and this lot falls out...

Blimey, what's going on here I thought! Took a look inside the seat tube and...

Great, the mangled remains of an alloy seatpost about 2 inches down from the top of the tube. Now I see why the brown burn mark on the side of the tube is there.

A bit annoyed to be honest and no response from the seller. No mention in the ad of a stuck seatpost.

So any ideas on how to get this one out? or have a bought an expensive ornament?

 

[Dr.Robotnik]

Do not despair there are a number of ways of removing a stuck seat-post. However in this case I am afraid it will not be easy and it will be time consuming, but it is still possible.

Sheldon Brown offers 15 ways to un-stick a seat-post in this article here;

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/stuck-seatposts.html

However I believe the parts of most interest to you are;

# Aluminum seatposts frequently become stuck by corrosion also, and penetrating oil is almost useless against aluminum oxide. Fortunately, aluminum oxide can be dissolved like magic by using ammonia.

# The torch technique is worse than useless when you are dealing with an aluminum seatpost stuck in a steel or titanium frame, because aluminum expands twice as much as steel, and 2 1/2 times as much as titanium for the same increase in temperature. In fact, the exact opposite technique will often do the trick for aluminum seatposts--cool the seatpost down as rapidly as possible. The contents of a CO2 tire inflation cartridge applied inside the seatpost can shrink it down just enough to do the trick.

# If nothing else works, the final resort is the old hacksaw blade trick. Cut the seatpost off so that about 1/2" is left sticking out, then insert a hacksaw blade into the seatpost and carefully cut a slit in the post. This is very laborious, and you run the risk of damaging the frame if you cut too far, but this approach cannot fail. Once you have cut the slit, grab one edge of the cut with a locking plier and roll the seatpost up inside itself and pull it out

Now get yourself a nice set of hack saw blades, some ammonia, a good film to watch while doing this and a nice pot of tea and some biscuits.

Best of luck.

 

[dyna-ti]

Theres good hacksaw blade holders about
these grip the blade from one side only[much like a conventional saw]

Start your cut at the end of the post then try to lengthen the cut without going to deep.
Once you have cut a slot, the length of the stuck post start cutting through the whole length at the same time getting closer to the frame.
This way you wont risk cutting through the start of the post but not the end you cant see.

Somebody should do a youtube vid on this
Wheres a Gibble when you want one :?


The seller should be bloody ashamed of himself :evil:

 

[perry]

i have a plumbers hacksaw thing , would be ideal for doing it that way . so yes they do exist

yep , naughty of the seller . bad seller , dont do it again . at least you didnt open it inside in the living room like many of us do

 

[gibbleking]

most engineering firms could ream that out in about 15 minutes.a lot of bike shops will have the tool too...ps i do have a large splitting maul if u wish to borrow it.
oh u can also use a rechargeble pad saw type device .shoulde .. save a lot of time and u can adjust the speed and blade type.

just break the glass of a gibble in case of emergancy..

 

[gibbleking]

as a footnote selling a frame like that is worse than stealing a bike..it takes away the trust this site has in its posters. :twisted:

 

[Retroms68]

Take it to a nearby engineering shop. It needs clamping down and boring out. A reamer is no good as it only has cutting edges on its fluted sides. Once bored out they will clean it up with a reamer. Sounds worse than it is actually, not a big job for engineers. Hope this helps.

 

[AMPrider]

That brown spot on the seat tube is worrisome.

 

[dyna-ti]

That brown spot on the seat tube is worrisome.

:? Yeah,looks like he has been torturing it with cigarettes

 

[95explosif]

Pretty sure the burn mark is from the previous owner trying to heat the tube.

I couldn't fit a pad saw down the mangled remains so am going to try the caustic soda method now...