Another stuck cotter pin. Keep hammering or drill it out?

[Brand X]

Stuck. Very, very stuck. I suspect the other one will be exactly the same. I've bashed this one so much that it has collapsed and bent.

 

[Brand X]

Well, that settles that. I tried heating up the crankarm with a blow-torch and gave it another round with the mallet, and now it's bent even more. I'll have to saw the end of the pin off and try to drill or drift it out.

 

[Brand X]

[QUOTE 4515249, member: 9609"]you should have maybe left the nut on the end (wound back a mm) before trying to hammer out.
Its going to be a nightmare to drill as the chainring is going to get in the way - if the BB is replaceable just cut it at the spindle between crank and BB and replace BB and crank[/QUOTE]

That doesn't sound like a bad idea. I'd like to replace the bottom-bracket with a modern cartridge type anyway. I *think* it can be replaced, I remember a video on YouTube where a guy replaced the BB on a Raleigh with a modern one, I'll look it up and see what the Raleigh Twenty aficionados say about it.

 

[raleighnut]

That doesn't sound like a bad idea. I'd like to replace the bottom-bracket with a modern cartridge type anyway. I *think* it can be replaced, I remember a video on YouTube where a guy replaced the BB on a Raleigh with a modern one, I'll look it up and see what the Raleigh Twenty aficionados say about it.

There is a good chance that the BB will be Raleigh threads (not standard) you can 'work around' this by using the original cups with a square taper shaft to fit a more modern crank (That's what I did on the Raleigh 'City' that those old handlebars I sent to you came off)
@User9609 is right though leave the nut on but the trick is to give it one serious whack to 'shock' it free, little 'half-hearted' knocks just bend em. I'd grind the threaded portion off and use the drift but see if you can rest the crank on something more hard than that block of wood (a big socket maybe)

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Your support is partly to blame for the fiasco. The wooden block and workbench underneath it absorbs too much of the energy delivered at the pin's head. This spreads the energy over a large area at the bottom of the crank and cushions the blow from underneath. This has the effect of having to keep on hammering at the pin until it mushrooms and bends.

You may have a second chance. Is there a way you can reach the top of the cotter by pushing a pin punch through the left of the chainring and straighten the bolt that way? Then, one good solid whack (onto good solid metal and concrete supports) will drive the pin out.

 

[davidphilips]

if you want to remove the bent cotter put a bit of lub round the pin try to straighten it up as much as possible then cut of flush support with something more solid than wood like a car axle stand then with a long parallel punch and hitting it down as straight as possible a few hits should have it out.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

All your going to achieve now by hammering is getting it stuck even tighter, your hammer blows are coming in an arc not from above, bending cotter pin & causing more friction to bind it in

 

[MichaelW2]

Support the crank around the cottar pin with a steel tube so the pin is free to fall out. Use a softer metal such as aluminium to protect the pin when you hit it.
If you want to stick with cottar pins, the older ones are much higher grade than modern ones, which are made of cheese, so it is worth taking care.

 

[gasinayr]

Place your mallet on the underside of crank and hold it there to absorb the " spring " in the metal , use another hammer to knock the pin out, should come out ok.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

This brings back memories from my youth. I didn't think cotter pins still existed. So glad to have the modern(?) square taper.

 

[robgul]

I had the same issue last week with an old but classic Peugeot Mixte - one cotter pin on the non-drive side tapped out very easily (nut wound out, tap/hit with hammer) - the drive side was impossible. I didn't want the chainwheel (fiting a modern cartridge BB) so took an angle grinder to it - cutting from the outside face of the crank and into the cotter pin - once I'd reached the cotter hole (and effectively opened it up) the pin fell on the floor and the chainwheel came off the axle . . . and into the bin. Drastic, but if needs must.

Rob

 

[raleighnut]

[QUOTE 4515686, member: 45"]
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQg89p6gcjk[/QUOTE]
That would have been more convincing if the guy had rotated the crank 90 degrees to allow the penetrating oil to get into the pins surface.

 

[Drago]

Ball joint splitters get these out a treat. You want the screw type, not the crude wedge type.

 

[Brand X]

I think I'm being told-off.
"Fiasco" indeed! It's not a fiasco, it was an experiment - not a successful one, but it's all trial and error. Mostly error perhaps, I wouldn't call it a fiasco though, it almost worked, sort of. Well it might have worked, a bit.

If I can straighten-up the pin (it's looking a bit more squashed now than it does in the picture) I might give it a try in a vice; at least the other side will probably still pop out if I try the vice method. If nothing else works I'll just have to saw off the crank and get a new one - annoying, but not the end of the world; I haven't checked the size or anything yet, but a quick look for "Raleigh crank" on eBay suggests they cost around £20, which I know is pennies compared to the money people spend on exotic modern racing bikes.

 

[Brand X]

Ball joint splitters get these out a treat. You want the screw type, not the crude wedge type.

Ball-joint splitter? I think I've got one of those somewhere.