Hacksaw and a Frozen BB

[weaponsgrade]

Last night I was swapping out the cranks and BB on my 90s de rosa. One cup came off fine. The other side was pretty stuck. At first the tool slipped and some of the splines stripped a bit. I ran a bolt through the bb to help secure the tool and tried again. Wouldn't budge. I slipped a cheater bar over the wrench, cranked down, and all the splines stripped out. @#$!@#!!!!

I tried pinching the cup between two nuts on a threaded rod, but the nuts kept slipping.

So, I took a deep breath, picked up the hacksaw, and went to town:

[Louis]

Wow - that look like one heck of a nasty job.

1) How long did it take you to finally remove it?

2) How did you keep from damaging the BB shell threads as you cut the threaded portion of the BB?

Louis

[dancinkozmo]

nice work !
if i see an ad from weaponsgrade for a "slightly used campagnolo bb cup" in the classifieds anytime soon, im steering clear !!

[Peter P.]

Great story!

But as Louis asked, do tell; how long did the operation take?

[jvp]

cycle surgery!

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . inside that BB shell and frame. Is that some sort of undercoating or is all that stuff in there rust?

BBD

[bobswire]

Bravo, a job well done. Like you I'm pretty much a DIY'r when it comes to tackling a job others will shy away from. No never say die.

[David Kirk]

I've done that more than once over the years. It's not bad with an alloy cup - steel cups are a bitch.

Nice work.

dave

[rice rocket]

You have some of this now, right?

[AndrewS]

Considering the "Italian Thread" thread, do you happen to remember what type of goo you assembled the BB with in the first place?

[dave thompson]

Originally Posted by AndrewS

Considering the "Italian Thread" thread, do you happen to remember what type of goo you assembled the BB with in the first place?

Not grease and teflon tape!

[aaronf]

Originally Posted by Louis

2) How did you keep from damaging the BB shell threads as you cut the threaded portion of the BB?

Louis

Anytime you have to cut a BB cup out of the shell, some threads will be nicked/damaged a bit. But the cuts are virtually perpendicular to the threads and are easily alleviated by running a BB tap through the threads.

Aaron

[Ken Robb]

one does have to wonder how much corrosion has eaten away inside that frame.

[weaponsgrade]

Probably over an hour for the hacksaw operation. Total time spent was maybe a good 3+ hours. That included exhausting all my other options, crying, and cursing. Prior to the hacksaw I let the thing soak in WD-40 overnight, but it didn't work. The hacksaw cut through the alloy cups very quickly. The part that slowed things down was when I got close to the BB threads. I wanted to be sure I didn't cut into them so after each swipe of the hacksaw I took a toothbrush, brushed away the loose bits in the groove, and had a look. I managed to not cut into any of the bb threads. I think the WD-40 is making the inside look worse than it is. There was some surface rust inside the BB, but I was able to carefully sand it out - the bb is pretty thick. Afterwards I sprayed framesaver through the tubes. I definitely don't want to have to do this again.

[weaponsgrade]

Originally Posted by AndrewS

Considering the "Italian Thread" thread, do you happen to remember what type of goo you assembled the BB with in the first place?

I got the frame used so I don't know what (if anything) was used.