Originally Posted by
conspiratemus1
Look again. Sheldon reminds us that French BBs are right-hand, i.e., rightie-tighty. And my old Jeunet does have a right-threaded fixed cup, which did unscrew once in 35 years.
As a previous poster said, you shouldn't need to remove the fixed cup unless it is pitted. (Usually the spindle and the balls wear out long before the cups do.) If your new spindle won't fit through the hole in the cup, then yes, of course you will have to replace the cup. (Been so long since I've seen a cottered crank spindle, I can't remember for the life of me if they are the same diameter.) I would replace just the balls (throw out the cages) and spindle and leave both cups alone if I possibly could.
Right, thanks, I'll try replacing the ball bearings first to see if that works.. it will by far be a cheaper fix. If not I'll keep on trying to unscrew this fixed cup.
My one question is: how should I place the ball bearings in the BB without having them in retainers? I'm trying to think of ways but it would seem as though they would be hopping around the BB without being held in some kind of placement. How should I go about this? Thoughts?