Originally Posted by
browngw
It occurred to me the other day that I had never had the bottom bracket apart on my Robin Hood or had any idea of its condition. The bike still looks almost new after 47 years. The chap who I purchased it from had mentioned he "greased all the bearings" and to his credit he had, BUT he did not mention the hammering and drilling to get the cotter out! When I went to check it the cotters came out fairly easy but the drive side was not the right taper, was showing wear and there were what looked like drill marks on the BB axle. The bearing was not smooth feeling but it was just a little crud had fallen in the grease and adjustment. I carefully blued and filed a new cotter, replaced the grease and adjusted the bearing. All is well.
I think from now on I will check everything at the start, not three years later!
Yeah, a pretty hambone job. If he had just taken the time to file the top of the cotter flat and center punch it, the drill would have stayed put and not made such a mess on the crank arm. A 180 degree spread of the crank arms would be quite the bit of luck with that shabby job of cotter fitting. Glad you got it sorted.