bottom bracket troubles

chuckdupp

the metal dustcaps on my crank just broke out anjd left the treading in so there is no way to get in there. ive been trying to pick it out peice by peice but im getting no where. its more messed up than before if anything. so im pretty much giving up on that. is there anyway of taking out the bottom bracket without removing the crank arms? i dont have a sealed bb, its probably like 15yrs old and seriously needs overhauling. its almost to the point where i dont wanna mess with it anymore and just fork it over for a new frame set. but its a 80's paramount and im not willing to give it up that fast. so any help would be awesome, thanks. if i could just get the bolt out of the crank arm ive heard i could just cut the old threading out with a hacksaw blade

chuckdupp

the metal dustcaps on my crank just broke out anjd left the treading in so there is no way to get in there. ive been trying to pick it out peice by peice but im getting no where. its more messed up than before if anything. so im pretty much giving up on that. is there anyway of taking out the bottom bracket without removing the crank arms? i dont have a sealed bb, its probably like 15yrs old and seriously needs overhauling. its almost to the point where i dont wanna mess with it anymore and just fork it over for a new frame set. but its a 80's paramount and im not willing to give it up that fast. so any help would be awesome, thanks. if i could just get the bolt out of the crank arm ive heard i could just cut the old threading out with a hacksaw blade
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/206/482915920_37ae1ea62d.jpg?v=0

p38lightning

O.K. Now I see what you're up against. This is what I would try:

1.Take a Dremmel tool and hog out the area on the crank around the bolt so that you can get a socket (probably 14mm but maybe 15mm) on the bolt. The crank has already had it.
2. Squirt on lots of WD 40 from the back if possible and let it soak into the square shaft crank area overnight. Also on the bolt from the front hoping that it will penetrate into the bolt thread/bracket spindle area.
3. Back out the bolt 3 or 4 turns
4.On the non drive side use a large automotive gear puller bearing its shaft on the bolt head, using its 2 claws to grip the crank arm on the frame side of the arm. Extract arm until it pulls out to the bolt head then unscrew the bolt more and repeat.
5. On the drive side, remove the chainrings and cut off 1 arm so that you can positon the gear puller the same way on the drive side, and repeat what you did on the non drive side.
6. Your frame is probably English which means that the Fixed cup is reverse threaded. You can tell by measuring the frame shell. 68MM is English, 70MM Italian (Standard threads on the fixed cup) Here's a link to Sheldon Brown's article on cupshttp://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbcups.html

Such large pullers are available at tool rental enterprises. You have nothing to lose by trying, but you have your Waterford built Paramont frame to lose if you don't. Good luck!

alfeng

the metal dustcaps on my crank just broke out anjd left the treading in so there is no way to get in there. ive been trying to pick it out peice by peice but im getting no where. its more messed up than before if anything. so im pretty much giving up on that. is there anyway of taking out the bottom bracket without removing the crank arms? i dont have a sealed bb, its probably like 15yrs old and seriously needs overhauling. its almost to the point where i dont wanna mess with it anymore and just fork it over for a new frame set. but its a 80's paramount and im not willing to give it up that fast. so any help would be awesome, thanks. if i could just get the bolt out of the crank arm ive heard i could just cut the old threading out with a hacksaw bladeIf I understand you correctly, in the worst case scenario you are willing to sacrifice the the crank ... is that right?

MEANWHILE, to service the BB, you must remove at least one of the crank arms ... if you can remove the non-driveside arm -- and subsequently, unthread the BB cup -- then you can do a good-enough-for-now cleansing & regreasing of the BB's bearings.

DO THIS OVER A LARGE "PAN" of some sort:

Take a plastic milk/juice carton ... cut enough to create a sleeve that will fit inside the BB shell ... this is in addition to the sleeve that should be nestled between the cups -- this is just a "crude" barrier to limit the amount of oil/grease/whatever from entering the stays & downtube (heck, wedge some paper towel in-between the BB sleeve & the makeshift sleeve).

So, remove the non-driveside arm ... remove the lock-ring & cup ... dump a couple of ounces of 30W/whatever-weight motor oil in the BB & turn the crank slowly & continuously... you are hopefully "flushing" the remnants of the old grease & any grime -- additionally, move the crank arm in-and-out from the frame, too!

The less you pour in, the less mess will evacuate the BB!

REPEAT until you are satisfied that the bearings are as free of grit as you are willing to spend time getting them ...

Take some WHITE "lithium" grease, OR heavier ... and, squeeze it in between the spindle & the (original) inner plastic sleeve that should STILL be in place.

Squeeze whatever grease you are using into the BB until it comes out by the crank's spider.

Clean & grease the bearings from the non-drive side cup.

Re-assemble.

NOW, if you don't care about saving the old crank and/or spindle, you will want/need a HAND GRINDER to remove it ... there is little likelihood that you would have the patience to cut the crank's spider off the spindle with a hacksaw (and, several blades) ... well, I wouldn't have the patience to cut it off with a hacksaw.

Now, if you don't want to do all of that ... send ME the frame ... I've always wanted a Paramount!

Insaneclimber

I would just use a small chisel and a hammer to drive the left over around, slowly unscrewing it and a bit of wd40 to help it turn. It may sound impossible but it can be done with alot of patience and carful hitting. if theres not enough room for the chisel try driveing the socket in with a hammer and removing the bolt, then youll have more room. The bolt itself could also be removed with a chisel and a big hammer if you cant drive the socket in.

John M

I agree with the others that the crank is probably shot and you probably won't be able to get a crank puller threaded into the crank arm. One other option in addition to the other suggestions, is to drill out the crank fixing bolt. You can then use a gear puller or perhaps a fork-type puller such as this:

http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=8490

I think I would consider letting a shop do this--not because you can't, but because by the time you rent tools, take the time, etc... you will have more than invested more than what a good shop would charge since they should already have the tools.