[e9999]

Originally Posted by wxm

Eric, The liquid wrench is useless for aluminum oxide. Try soak it in household ammonia. I've never tried coke, but was able to twist mine after soaking the post in ammonia for less than a week.

well, I didn't hope that the LW would dissolve the corrosion (if that's what that is), just would penetrate and facilitate motion of the parts.

But I may try ammonia, though. How hard did you have to twist? Did it kinda fall off or was it still necessary to ruin the post?

[e9999]

Originally Posted by Butt Ugly Chuck

Jetboy, you've been fighting your stuck post for more than two months, and now e9999 is joining the fray with his own battle. How many weeks are you guys going to let your frames soak in how many solutions of caustic crap before you attempt my brilliantly simple (and quick) approach? Am I going to have to find my own bike with a stuck post to prove my genius?

Butt

yea, yea. Been meaning to do something like that for a while now, but I'm aiming for liquid N2, that should be better. Logistics a bit of an issue, though.

[wxm]

Originally Posted by e9999

well, I didn't hope that the LW would dissolve the corrosion (if that's what that is), just would penetrate and facilitate motion of the parts.

But I may try ammonia, though. How hard did you have to twist? Did it kinda fall off or was it still necessary to ruin the post?

It was hard. I had to grab by my biggest pipe wrench, and put a foot against the head tube to make the first twist. (I would definitely give your hitch idea a try if it came around again! ) Anyway, this was the bike carrying the "death sentence" by my local bike shop, it was a 1985 Miyata, who knows how long the post had been stuck there. I did not have to think about saving the post as I had first tried the LW and pipe wrench with no luck, sent it to local bike shop, they had no success. At that point the post was already ruined...

[e9999]

Originally Posted by wxm

It was hard. I had to grab by my biggest pipe wrench, and put a foot against the head tube to make the first twist. (I would definitely give your hitch idea a try if it came around again! ) Anyway, this was the bike carrying the "death sentence" by my local bike shop, it was a 1985 Miyata, who knows how long the post had been stuck there. I did not have to think about saving the post as I had first tried the LW and pipe wrench with no luck, sent it to local bike shop, they had no success. At that point the post was already ruined...

OK, good to know. So ammonia is not a miracle cure either then. But may be a step in the right direction.


FWIW, I am now leaning towards the use of a reamer. Probably a 1" since those are likely most common, and it would remove very little material. I'd then use a skinnier 1" post in there and deal with the adjustments by having a number of holes in the post and using transverse pins. A bit clunky but would work for sure if I can find a longish reamer.

[Jetboy]

Update: To answer a few questions. My bike sat in Ammonia for about 3 weeks. And after that period I was able to get very minimal, but verified movement of the post. I was able to pound it in about 2mm. I have not been able to move it anywhere from that position. I have even used a bottle jack braced off the bottom bracket and pushing against the top of the post and was concerned about ruining the bike frame. It was creaking and groaning so I stopped. I'm not sure what would give first. I also have not gotten any twist out of it with a pipe wrench. Since then it has been sitting in Coke for about 3 weeks now. I've been super busy, but I want the garage space so I'm hoping to get to it this weekend. We'll see how it works. And as a recap I was able to find 100% Ammonia at big lots for cheap. Most floor cleaners and such probably have a dilute formula.

I'm kinda tired of fighting this thing. If I'm not able to remove it after 3 weeks in coke I may just go ahead and start cutting. I don't think I want to go back to Ammonia again.

As a side note, be aware that ammonia is a base and coke is acidic. it should be rinsed between use of the other and expect a chemical reaction when mixed... ie it will foam out and go all over the place. Ask me how I know...


Finally I don't know where they are available, but a ski shop owner I know who's big into biking said that he's heard of small diameter seat posts that just fit right inside the cut off post. You just cut the old one off at the top of the frame and cut a slit to match the slit in the frame tubing so it can be tightened, then put the new small diameter post inside. That actually sounded like a pretty reasonable solution, however there are likely lots of seat post ID's and it may be difficult to get an exact fit, further I have not even looked into where they are available and what the cost would be.

[e9999]

I had sort of concluded that if I didn't hear of a great chemical solution, I was going to try and ream mine and just use a skinnier post. Seemed to me like the smallest size that would be realistic is a 1" post. Some of those around, less reaming to do, and likely more reamers around too.

can't wait to hear that your post just fell out after the Coke bit, though...

[Jetboy]

Good news!!

I had a few minutes to play with it when I got home today. It twisted with a pipe wrench. I twisted it around about 3 times all the way. I didn't have time to work it all the way out, but it moved relatively easily. I had a 3' pipe on the wrench, but it wasn't super tight. As I twisted it started to move up and out. I had to go to diner, but I'll get it the rest of the way out tomorrow for sure. I'm not sure if it was the coke or the Ammonia or a combination of both. I know I couldn't twist it with just the ammonia, but it did move a bit when I pounded on it before the coke.

It's still really tight though. After twisting it around it the tube got nice and warm from the friction.

I'm fairly sure the post is ruined. It's still round, and I might be able to sand down the damage from the teeth if the pipe wrench. Either way I'm stoked it's coming out. I was surprised how easy it turned after sitting in coke for a while. I'm a believer in the coke. I'd give it a try. This bike was sitting for close to 20 years and it came out.

[e9999]

excellent!

I almost have to try it now, eh?

mmm.... just when I got some reamers to play with....

I imagine you have coke everywhere inside your tubes now. Do you think it got into the headset and need to relube?

[Jetboy]

Originally Posted by e9999

excellent!

I almost have to try it now, eh?

mmm.... just when I got some reamers to play with....

I imagine you have coke everywhere inside your tubes now. Do you think it got into the headset and need to relube?

Yeah, I'm pretty excited. I was about to give up on it. It's an old junkyard bike, but it should make a nice commuter which is my plan. I might put a flat bar on it too. Not sure yet.

I got coke everywhere. I'm going to have to tear down the headset. It had coke pouring out of it. When the coke hit the ammonia it was like the mentos thing and it went everywhere. Fortunately I had a tarp under it and it kept most of it off the floor. But the bike is in rough shape so I'm planning to paint it once I get it all in good riding condition. I've already gone through the hubs and wheel bearings, brakes, and derailleur so most of the maintenance has already been done. I'll be tearing all down again for paint after a good shake down ride tomorrow and will have to do the headset.

[Jetboy]

Got it all the way out this morning.

[wxm]

Congratulations! Glad to hear you get it out.

[wxm]

Originally Posted by e9999

excellent!

I almost have to try it now, eh?

mmm.... just when I got some reamers to play with....

I imagine you have coke everywhere inside your tubes now. Do you think it got into the headset and need to relube?

I still think you should give ammonia a chance. So far I have not heard it had failed on anyone. Especially in your case - you have an aluminum frame (at lease it looked aluminum to me). It will not yield under stress the same way as a steel frame. Be patient, it is not like you are getting snow where you are anyway.

[e9999]

I am thinkin' that if Coke works, it's gotta be because of the Phosphoric acid. Maybe buy a bottle of the stuff (pretty cheap at HD IIRC) and use that and be done in a day or 2?
That is unless the steel develops a phosphate layer and welds on to the aluminum even more...
Off to the garage to play with phosphoric acid....

[e9999]

OK, that was a bad idea. Some timely thinking suggested that filling the frame full of acid might end up being a nightmare if the post does not loosen.

So, the heck with Chemistry. Went with Mechanical engineering.

Got a 1" hand reamer. Reamed 9" worth of post to 1" (more or less). That was a long tedious job, something like 1.5 hrs or so, maybe 2. Tried a 1" drill bit but that did not work so well with the alum post.

Unfortunately, it's only 1/2 done. My 25.6" post does not fit. (What's with that weird size?). So I'm gonna put it on the lathe and trim it down a tad. Fortunately, I like to work on the lathe....

[Butt Ugly Chuck]

Seriously. I'd spend $5 at my local grocery store for dry ice and borrow my wife's simple hair drier to heat the seat tube good and warm. Total process time from trip to the store for ice to super-cooling the post to see if a yank on it will set it free would take me 20 minutes.....


Damn it! Anybody closer to me got a stuck post so I can give it a try?






Butt

[e9999]

the deed is done.

Only took couple of hours wasting time figuring ways to go about it
1 hr to locate a reamer
2 hrs to ream the thing
1 hr to go to the shop, chat a bit, put the post on the lathe, true it, and thin it out 10 thous
1/2 hr to cut a slit in the stuck post and fool around with it.

Seat is doing fine, thank you very much!

[craptabulous]

so now i remember why my seat post has tonnes of never seize on it .

[patpend2000]

coke works every time, once you see it work its action you don't ever want to drink it again

[MT-PTK]

Originally Posted by Butt Ugly Chuck

Seriously. I'd spend $5 at my local grocery store for dry ice and borrow my wife's simple hair drier to heat the seat tube good and warm. Total process time from trip to the store for ice to super-cooling the post to see if a yank on it will set it free would take me 20 minutes.....


Damn it! Anybody closer to me got a stuck post so I can give it a try?






Butt

A buddy had a similar problem recently with an aluminum post. Sprayed the post with something that iced it up. Freezing it caused it to contract enough to break it free. It certainly works.



William

[Butt Ugly Chuck]

Originally Posted by MT-PTK

A buddy had a similar problem recently with an aluminum post. Sprayed the post with something that iced it up. Freezing it caused it to contract enough to break it free. It certainly works.

William

[Jetboy]

Now I've got the same damn problem with the head sets. Aluminum riser in steel fork. I just cant win. I might just clean and regrease the bearings and leave it together. I've got both old frames (I got two old school road bikes from the parents that haven't been touched in 20yrs) sandblasted and ready for paint this week if I get a night to work on it. I think I'll start another thread on paint.

[wxm]

Originally Posted by Jetboy

Now I've got the same damn problem with the head sets. Aluminum riser in steel fork. I just cant win. I might just clean and regrease the bearings and leave it together. I've got both old frames (I got two old school road bikes from the parents that haven't been touched in 20yrs) sandblasted and ready for paint this week if I get a night to work on it. I think I'll start another thread on paint.

Headset races are pressed in with a huge force. They can be punched out with the headset removal (similar to this one). Where are you located, if you are close by, you can probably borrow mine?