Bicycle Mechanics - Vintage rehab

I'm cleaning up a old 77 Fuji I picked up. The neck is stuck in the stem. I was finally able to get it to turn and have been spraying the crap out of it with PB blaster. I'm able to turn it by putting a 2x4 into the fork and really forcing the neck to turn. How the hell do I get it out of there so I can pull the forks.

Acasper: You did loosen the wedge bolt at the top of the stem a couple of turns and gave it a sharp rap to loosen the wedge, right?

The neck is stuck in the stem.

You mean the stem is stuck in the steerer, right?

Check out the C&V forums - lots of creative ways to get a stuck stem (and seatpost) out.

Yea Loosened the bolt. The big problem is that it's a steel fork and a aluminum stem/neck. Probably hasn't been adjusted for the past 30yrs. They tend to seize.

Yea Loosened the bolt. The big problem is that it's a steel fork and a aluminum stem/neck. Probably hasn't been adjusted for the past 30yrs. They tend to seize.
True they do tend to seize but loosen the bolt several turns and give it's head a sharp rap with a mallet. That will drive the wedge down and away from the quill and should help.

Yea. I'm gonna have to try that. I haven't messed with threaded necks in a long time. Forgot about that.

Nope. That stem is goin no where. it will spin with a lot of force but it's not comin out.

Acasper: Maybe Kroil will work if PB Blaster isn't.

When you whacked the bolt with a hammer, did it go down?

I can't imagine how the stem could not slide out if the wedge has been dislodged and the quill can spin in the steerer. Once the wedge is unwedged there's nothing forcing the quill against the steerer and the fact that it can be turned means the quill and steerer aren't seized together.

If the bolt didn't go down from the hammer, hit it harder. Don't be timid. You've got to unwedge the wedge before the stem will come up. Without doing so, it'll be stuck in there as if you never loosened the bolt.

Acasper: Maybe Kroil will work if PB Blaster isn't.
This.
Kroil is truly magic sauce.

Also, if you're not concerned with saving the stem, there's always the last resort of clamping the frame upside down and whacking the crap out of the the underside of the horizontal tube of the stem with a hammer. I had to do this to a stem I thought was a lost cause, and years later, the stem's still in use (albeit a little dinged up on the underside). Also, ammonia can help break down the corrosion that forms between steel and aluminum, although that's probably not pertinent if you can turn the stem.

As a last resort, there are chemicals which eat aluminium but don't touch steel...

Try heating it up with a heat gun /blowdryer until it's too hot to touch then put pour some ice water on it, Do this a few times, use Kroil & heat it up some before trying to move it / whack it with the hammer.
Good Luck