Originally Posted by
jacksbike
Gee, folks, thanks for all the great suggestions ! I have tried PB blaster on the dust caps, with no go. I fully realize that the dust caps are toast, and that is all well and fine. In the past, I usually would try, as suggested, elongating the opening hole and trying a very large blade screwdriver. Yes, I do believe I surely have aluminum oxide seizure, etc. The idea of drilling 2 holes and utilizing a pin spanner sounds good. Freezing -good idea, but what substance do I use to do it ? I do understand that by freezing the outer cap, it might shrink so I can then unscrew it. What wonderful magic freeze goop could I use ? Thanks a million to everyone for the suggestions. I bet that after the dust caps come off, I will be dealing with frozen bb cups too !
"Freeze-Off" made by CRC, available in auto parts stores. You should be able to look it up in the internet.
I removed a really badly seized stem and BB cups from a frame with Freeze off last year. Cups wouldn't budge before that with PB blaster and lots of force with a big wrench. Freeze-Off made them move in like 30-40 seconds after blasting the cups with it. I don't guarantee that it will work for all situations, but sometimes you have to give anything you can find a try and that's how it worked for me.
I think it will really help if you analyze the situation and find out what areas/parts you need to freeze to "break" it off. In my case, I concentrated the spray on the cups and avoided the BB shell as much as possible so the cups shrank away form the BB shell.
Beware though as the product is highly flammable, so you have to stay clear of sparks, confined palces and pilot lights when you are using it.
Good Luck!
Chombi