treebound 

Help, what tricks are there to:
First: extract a stuck water bottle screw when the threaded insert is spinning;
Second: how to tighten up the threaded insert once the screw is removed.

This is on the Motobecane Grand Jubile. I had the screws in the boss/insert without a cage, went to remove the screws to install a water bottle cage and one screw came out and the lower one did not - the insert just spins. I've put a little blue thread locker around the exposed shoulder of the insert, taking care not to get any/much on the screw itself, hoping that will give me enough grab to get the screw to break loose. If that don't work then I'll have to hit it with the Dremel and a cutoff disk. I'm not sure there is enough of the insert exposed to grab it with a wrench of some sort to hold it while I try to turn the screw. I don't want to mess up the paint, and I don't really want to grind it off and let the internal portion of the fall inside the downtube thereby making it a rattle source. But if I do have to grind it down then I'll figure out some way to keep the loose portion from becoming a rattle (probably some glue dripped into the tubing to secure the loose portion). I also don't want to grab hold and rip the whole thing out of the frame tubing like a dentist would extract a wisdom tooth in 1894, that would be painfull.

Help me before I make things worse. I do have enough stuff cleared out of the garage now so that I can get to the oxy/acet torch set, but I really don't want to go there. I suppose I could just attach the bottle cage with only one screw and then duct tape the lower portion (that would make Red Green proud), but I really don't want to do that either, but then the stores do have colored duct tape these days so it wouldn't stand out so much if I did tape it down.

Oh what to do, what to do, what to do. I think I'll go get in the car and take a lap for the afternoon before I proceed any further and while the thread locker is drying.

buldogge

Drill out the braze on and use a nut-sert instead...no brazing, no heat, no paint damage.

SteveSGP

Sounds like it's already a nut-sert that's spinning in the frame, it can be challenging drilling a part that won't stay still.

echo

This may help: https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-...ottle-fittings
Good luck, I just went through this not to long ago on a Raleigh I had. You could always take the bike to your LBS and they can fix it to.

Bianchigirll 

This is step one. Are the original brazeons on the DT? That may be a sign of a bigger issue. How does the paint look in that area?

treebound 

Thanks for the words and links. Just got back to the house so I'll have to look at it tomorrow. Interesting using a skewer to tighten the nut.

mudboy

Epoxy?

treebound 

Epoxy or JB-Weld or similar stuff might be an option.

I curious if other Motobecane Grand Jubiles have either braze-ons or nut inserts for the water bottle mounts. One of those minor details not thought much about until something messes up.

auchencrow

My 74 & 76 GJ's came without any H2O bottle mounts.

bobotech

I thought I had this problem recently with my old Schwinn. Brought it to my local bike shop. He had the proper Rivnut setting tool and said it would be no problem to reset it. Ended up being that my problem was that the rivnut was stripped out and needed to be drilled to the next size and tapped out to the next size. Works fine now.

My point is that the LBS said that they could easily reset the rivnut or repair it for a modest fee (5-10 dollars) if they have the setting tool.

puchfinnland

I work on boats and had the same thing on a rivnut on a mast.

the bottle bolts are most likely M5.

get a m5 bolt, and an m5 nut,

thread the bolt and nut in the loose rivnut,

hold the bolt, and then tighten the nut onto the rivnut, as you tighten it you compress the rivnut and it should do the trick,

now if the original bolt is spinning around in the rivnut and it cant come out..

this requires mechanical methods,
to save the paint- grind off the head with a small dremel tool, and be sure to tape up that frame well to protect,

when you have the head gone you can continue carefully untill the entire thing drops in th eframe.

I would have the fork out and the bike tilted forward so the debris fall out the front.

the bike shop can put you in a new one- a bit of polyurethean calking in the hole BEFORE he puts it in will help keep the rust away .

hope this helps

treebound 

Got the screw out with grippy toothed needle nosed pliers on the nut.

I then used the screw and nut with an oiled washer as noted above to try and get the rivnut to bite a little better.

Then I just went ahead and installed the bottle cage. I didn't feel like messing with it anymore.

Now I just have to lube the wheel bearings and finish installing the rear rack and it'll be ready to ride. Not going to run fenders on it initially.

Thanks for the tips and ideas.

Mike