Problem disassembling chorus shifters

[martinrjensen]

Anybody have this problem? I want to replace the g springs in my rear Chorus 9 speed lever and I look at the u-tube videos, doesn't look too hard. I put an allan wrench in the vice and remove the handle. put the bolt head in the end of the allan wrench, then take another allan wrench and go to unscrew the bolt on the back of the lever, the one where the g spring would be located underneath.

Try as I might, the bolt is frozen. all I can think of is that somebody must have used a ton of locktite on the threads. I broke several good quality allan wrenches in the process and now would not want to put this shifter back on. Well it needed rebuilding anyway as it was ghost shifting and had an orphaned click, that's why I removed it, but it seems that I won't even be able to use it as spare parts except for maybe the handle.

My only thought now is to get a grinder and grind the head of the bolt off so at least I have some spare parts.
I'm looking to replace this now but man, I can't believe how tight that bolt is and since it's pretty much inaccessible, I don't know what else to do.
My Corsa is now on the stand till I get this rectified, guess I will be "forced" to ride the Serotta....
suggestions?

[weaponsgrade]

I don't have anything new to offer since it sounds like you've already looked at the videos and instructions. I've replaced the springs on 2 sets of levers and never had the problem you described. If something truly is stripped though then you might have to drill it out. I had to do that on a Thomson stem once. Once you start drilling the bolt head out it'll eventually "pop" off because of the tension in the screw.

[martinrjensen]

It appears to be a hardened bolt. I might resharpen the bit and try again though.I don't have anything new to offer since it sounds like you've already looked at the videos and instructions. I've replaced the springs on 2 sets of levers and never had the problem you described. If something truly is stripped though then you might have to drill it out. I had to do that on a Thomson stem once. Once you start drilling the bolt head out it'll eventually "pop" off because of the tension in the screw.

[Dave]

Once the bolt head is ground off, you may be able to use vise grip pliers to grasp what's left of the bolt and remove it. Heat from a soldering gun will usually help to loosen a bolt that's loctited in place. Penetrating oil won't hurt either.

[weaponsgrade]

Put a few drops of oil on the drill bit to help cool and lubricate the bit. The Thomson bolts are hardened too.

[martinrjensen]

I was successful in drilling out the bolt. Looks like I just need the bolt and nut, (it's not actually a nut but a shaft with threads in it) and the repair parts. It doesn't look like anything is really damaged (other than I need to replace the hood, so I feel pretty good about it. What I did was to start with a smaller drill bit this time to get a hole, then just gradually go larger in size. drilling out the hex part was what was hard. Once the tension was gone I could actually move the drilled out bolt with a pair of plyers. I don't know why it was in there so hard but I'm thinking that a washer might have been missing. I can see the part where it came up tight, it was that large center gear. BTW this is a 1996 9 speed ergo lever. Unfortunately a little different than all the utube video's display, but they still help a lot.Once the bolt head is ground off, you may be able to use vise grip pliers to grasp what's left of the bolt and remove it. Heat from a soldering gun will usually help to loosen a bolt that's loctited in place. Penetrating oil won't hurt either.

[93LegendTG]

If this is a Campy pointed hood ergo lever and not the more modern rounded style, the problem was the bolt you were trying to loosen is a reverse thread. Turn left to tighten; right to loosen, (right hand lever only). "Campy Only" used to have the instructions for the older levers on-line.

[martinrjensen]

I actually tried that but didn't have much success turning that direction either. maybe I would have had more success if i had continued to try turning that direction, but "oh well" ...

I looked up all the directions I could find and actually until I downloaded a parts blowup from 1996 (Campy site) I hadn't really seen what my lever looked like. It's the pointy ended one, from (I'm guessing) 1996 or 1997, don't know which exact year. So I only have to buy those 2 bolts plus any normal rebuild parts. I'm in Seattle and only 20 minutes from Brandford Bike, which appears to be the local Campy shop, so I will take my parts over there and get what I need.

I did stop in there earlier before I took the lever apart and bought some parts. I would have to go back regardless because the guy gave me parts to the left, or front shift lever anyway. the only parts I could use are the g spring. The carrier is like a mirror image so I'm guessing it's for the front.
If this is a Campy pointed hood ergo lever and not the more modern rounded style, the problem was the bolt you were trying to loosen is a reverse thread. Turn left to tighten; right to loosen, (right hand lever only). "Campy Only" used to have the instructions for the older levers on-line.

[martinrjensen]

So I took the part with the female threads and chucked it up in my lathe. At soon as I hit the end of the bolt with the bit, it spins right out, reverse thread, just like you said. what's the word I'm looking for..... Opps, and maybe dumb fu*k....
So I learned a good lesson, one that in the end wasn't too costly. Now I really only need to buy the bolt. But in my defense, I did try wrenching it (in reverse) and it was just as hard, way harder than it should have been. Again, it wouldn't have hurt anything to "keep" trying in that same direction....
If this is a Campy pointed hood ergo lever and not the more modern rounded style, the problem was the bolt you were trying to loosen is a reverse thread. Turn left to tighten; right to loosen, (right hand lever only). "Campy Only" used to have the instructions for the older levers on-line.

[93LegendTG]

This is what you need:
http://www.campyonly.com/howto/ergotech.html
Good Luck