Threadless headset question

My bike was assembled incorrectly and I'm R&R'ing my headset.
The lower bearing isn't inserted fully into the frame bearing cup. Not sure whether it's binding or if something is blocking it. As a result the fork isn't sitting as deeply into the frame as it should.
I have tried to sink the the bearing deeper but it's stuck. Trying to remove it has resutled in the sealed bearing coming apart, leaving the outer race in the frame. I can see that it isn't seated as deeply as it should be...probably 3/16ths short of bottomed out. But I can't budge it. There is no lip on the inside for me to get a punch or any other kind of tool on it to drive it out either.

Any ideas? Not sure I want to drive the cup out of the frame although I do have a new one to push back in if I need to.

I already know I need new bearings as the old one fell apart during my efforts. I was wondering about grinding some of the cup lip away so I could get to the back of the race.

Ideas?

 

I'd drive the old cup out of the frame and simply replace everything. There is a special tool for doing that but you can work around it by tapping a sacrificial screw driver on opposite sides of the cup from the top.

If you're dealing with bearings that have a retainer, take a minute to think about how everything fits together. It sounds to me like your's might have been installed upside down.

 

Thanks RG.
I have checked it out again and it's in the right way. the steering was perfect. If it had of been in upside down, tensioning the star fangled not would have been applying pressure that would have tended to force the bearing apart...which it wasn't doing.

I think I'll maybe bash the cup out even though I sort of like the idea of not doing so.

brian

 

What brand/model of headset is it? You might be able to track down an assembly diagram, or at the very least some instructions for how to remove the bearing without knocking the cup out.

 

It is a finger tight fit...or at least it should have been from the factory. The problem was that it was assembled incorrectly ... I expect the bearing was cocked in the cup, distorting the walls of the cup in the process. That's why it's not coming out easy.

I would be OK with going over the inside of the cup to smooth out any damage with a very fine grinder IF I can get the bearing race out.