Bottom bracket wrench/spanner

[warey4life]

Hi,

I'm currently stripping down an old Reynolds 501 frame and I'm having issues getting the last part of the square taper bottom bracket off, a nut on the drive side, it's rusted on. There are 30/32/36/40mm wrench/spanners on Amazon and eBay but they look a bit flimsy. Can anyone recommend a decent make of spanner that will get this off?

Cheers

[rjb]

use a large nut and bolt and some washers with a socket. Its a left hand thread so tightening the nut from the outside should shift it. spray some penetrating oil on the thread and allow to soak in.

https://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbcups.html
Scroll down a bit to fixed cup tools.

[Nicholas]

Park Tool HCW-4

[gregoryoftours]

I'd say that access to a large bench vice with sharp jaws and someone to help hold the frame level as you have away at it might be best. I've tried the big nut/bolt/washers thing without success, but maybe I was not doing it right or just unlucky. Of course speak it in penetrating fluid before anything.

[warey4life]

Park Tool HCW-4.
Brilliant Bikes sell them.

That's what I need, thanks

[Nicholas]

You're welcome. I edited my post to remove the name of the supplier, but the tool should be widely available. Hope it helps.

[plancashire]

I second using easing/penetrating oil. That is NOT WD40, but a special mix of acids that convert rust to something smaller. Steel threads rust tight because rust takes more space than iron. Something else that will help is heat. If you plan to respray the frame you can use a higher temperature. Heat the frame. It may be worth doing this several times, letting it cool, apply easing oil, repeat. Let the chemistry and physics do the work. Another trick is to use impact to free the rust: clamp your spanner or self-locking wrench to the bearing cup then tap it with a rubber mallet. Don't whack it - just tapping can be enough to free the rust.

[Jdsk]

I'd definitely recommend a penetrating fluid over anything like ordinary WD-40. But I wish I had some solid evidence.

Penetrating fluids such as PlusGas are typically mixtures of oils and solvents, not acids, eg:
https://www.plusgas.co.uk/sga-common/fi ... S%20UK.pdf

Jonathan

[rjb]

The Park tool spanner referred too can easily slip off the cup flats due to the thinness of the cup. Replacing the axle and using a bolt and large socket with washer's may enable it to be retained on the cup. Or use a large nut and bolt with a few washer's on which one can then use a socket with a long breaker bar if necessary with a reduced chance of the tool slipping off as Sheldon advised.

[Stradageek]

Sheldon's big bolt technique has never failed me (long strong bar needed) and I've tackled loads

[LittleGreyCat]

When I had to do this I used a metal working vice screwed onto a piece of 2 * 4.
Lie the bike on its side and gently fit the vice so gravity helps it locate.
Then try and turn the 2 * 4 and in extreme cases insert a long bar in the gap in the teeth over the vice - the nut you are trying to shift is very shallow so there is plenty of room for a bar.

As with all things, proceed gently and cautiously!

[PT1029]

Heat is good. It isn't so much the expansion, but the drying out of the rust. rust absorbs water, and expands when it does so, making things even tighter, Drying the rust out shrinks it, making removal easier (or more often, less difficult!).

[mattsccm]

Stick it in the vice as above.

[Brucey]

... Its a right hand thread.....,,

no, it is a LH thread on the fixed cup.

[scottg]

... Its a right hand thread.....,,

no, it is a LH thread on the fixed cup.

Or it could be Italian or reverse Swiss.