Originally Posted by
Barry2
Just to add a little to the above….
That cap must not be tight. Tightening it with a tool will cause BB bearings wear!
That weak plastic cap does not retain the crank arm, it is there to preload the bearings before you tighten the two retaining bolts on the crank arm.
It is tightening the crank arm bolts that causes the cap to stick in its threads.
Loosen the crank arm bolts and the cap should come out with not much more than your thumb.
Barry
thank you.
my Today project was not a permanent installation of the cranks but rather just to temporarily remove the LH arm so I could access something near the bottom bracket.
Understanding how it all works (i.e. that the cap doesn't actually hold anything in place) was the key.
Loosening the two bolts relieved the pressure on the cap and allowed me with piece of correctly sized metal (to span the cap) to remove the cap.
I have the correct tool in my shop, though it is 2 hours from here.
mission accomplished