Any suggestions for loosening a seat post? Alum inside Steel
- Thread starter Jetboy
- Start date
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Glad to hear you get it out.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.
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....
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....
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....
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
Fish Biologist, DOGE-retired. S#iT!
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
Damn it! Anybody closer to me got a stuck post so I can give it a try?
Butt
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!
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!
so now i remember why my seat post has tonnes of never seize on it .
coke works every time, once you see it work its action you don't ever want to drink it again
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
Fish Biologist, DOGE-retired. S#iT!
- Thread starter
- #51
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?
